FACILITATORS AND BARRIERS TO THE MASS ADOPTION OF BLOCKCHAIN TECHNOLOGY: AN ORGANIZATIONAL LEVEL PERSPECTIVE

Abstract

The blockchain technology is gaining recognition in various sectors for its benefits in information exchange, digital currency, payments, authenticity, and anti-counterfeiting. Despite these applications, the adoption rate of blockchain has slowed down, pertaining to the obscure barriers and limitations of tangible benefits of the technology. Prior work has predominantly focused on challenges faced in application or sector-based adoption of the technology, lacking a holistic understanding necessary for mainstream adoption. The research aims to study the facilitators and barriers to the mass adoption of blockchain technology for better understanding of the ever-changing dynamics at organization level. TOE Framework is used as a theoretical lens to explore the technological, organizational and environmental factors influencing the technology adoption. Data is collected from the blockchain experts, analysts and developers though semi-structured interviews. The research finds prominent factors such as lack of knowledge and expertise, dilemma of blockchain etc. as the key barriers to adoption. Moreover, the facilitators such as higher profitability, decentralization and digital applications etc. are the drivers for mainstream adoption. The research proposes a theoretical framework for better understanding towards mass adoption of blockchain technology.