From government to financial institutions like JPMorgan Chase, blockchain has its share of strong critics. This one was particularly true in early 2018, when the most well-known application of blockchain – cryptocurrency – was slammed by regulators and big banks. China, Japan, Russia, and Sweden had all stated ambitions to launch their respective digital currencies within 18 months.
In the meantime, big banks such as HSBC, Bank of England, and Deutsche Bank began to adopt the technology. A year later, JPMorgan Chase, a long-time "industry foe," reversed its opinion on blockchain, declaring that "much as the internet revolutionized how we exchange information, blockchain has the potential to transform how we way of collecting, transmit ownership, and verify transactions."