According to The Business Research Company, the blockchain market is valued at $28. 93 billion in 2024 and is projected to reach $49. 18 billion in 2025, signaling robust growth. While this expansion is partly fueled by the success of the cryptocurrency sector, the broader blockchain industry operates independently of crypto. Therefore, this May, attention is focused on blockchain’s diverse use cases and its future trajectory. Industry experts note that blockchain’s growth continues quietly alongside AI advancements, but question whether it will remain under the radar or re-emerge as a leading fintech buzzword within five years. Paul Brody, EY’s global blockchain leader, highlights that financial services are particularly poised for transformation. Blockchain promises lower costs and faster processing, enabling payments to shift on-chain and fostering a new wave of financial assets and banking services. Tokenization will revolutionize investment, allowing people to invest broadly—from international real estate to startups—though regulatory challenges will need to be addressed. Ultimately, financial services will become much cheaper to develop and provide, with lower operational costs translating into reduced fees for consumers. Beyond finance, Brody is optimistic about blockchain’s industrial applications, such as managing procurement contracts, tracking inventory, and verifying raw material sources. Adoption has been slow due to privacy tool limitations, but the emergence of scalable blockchain privacy networks this year, combined with falling costs, is expected to spur gradual uptake among enterprises. Thomas Berndorfer, CEO of Connecting Software, emphasizes blockchain’s forthcoming role as a “digital seal” to verify document authenticity amid rising digital forgery, which surged 244% between 2023 and 2024.

Blockchain-based verification tools will become indispensable within five years for financial companies combating fraud. These solutions generate tamper-proof digital seals—long hashes linked to document states with immutable timestamps—ensuring that any modification invalidates the seal. Importantly, only these seals are stored on the blockchain, maintaining compliance with data protection regulations. The decentralized nature of blockchain guarantees that once sealed and verified, documents represent the highest possible standard of authenticity available technologically. Grigore Roșu, CEO of Pi Squared, argues that traditional blockchains face obsolescence if they do not evolve toward modular, scalable architectures that verify rather than fully order activities. Systems like Linera exemplify a post-blockchain future dominated by flexible settlement frameworks. Market trends suggest that protocols adopting these lean, post-blockchain designs will lead the next wave of infrastructure, while older chains risk marginalization. According to David Henderson, head of marketing at Backed Finance, blockchain will excel particularly in markets demanding transparency. Its decentralized and inherently transparent infrastructure is already influencing global trade disputes. In the next five years, blockchain is expected to integrate more deeply with essential services, including goods trade, sustainability efforts, and consumer practices. Overall, real-world assets are undergoing a digital transformation powered by blockchain technology, shaping a future where financial and industrial sectors alike benefit from enhanced efficiency, security, and transparency.