The Rise of Enterprise Blockchain: Accelerated Adoption and Market Outlook by 2026
Editor
At the beginning of 2026, global enterprises are reaching a critical inflection point as blockchain adoption transitions from experimental pilot projects to fully operational systems. According to the latest report by Gartner, the enterprise blockchain market size is expected to surge from $6.7 billion in 2025 to $9.1 billion in 2026, marking a 35.8% growth. This growth reflects a mature adoption pattern focused on generating real business value beyond mere technological experimentation. Particularly in areas such as supply chain management, digital identity verification, and smart contract automation, the increasing number of cases demonstrating concrete ROI is shifting executives’ perception of blockchain from a ‘future technology’ to ‘essential infrastructure’.
Korean companies are actively participating in this global trend. Seoul-based Samsung SDS has been expanding its supply chain transparency projects for domestic and international corporate clients through its ‘Nexty’ blockchain platform since the latter half of 2025. The company announced a 127% increase in blockchain-related revenue in the first quarter of 2026 compared to the same period the previous year. This is a representative case showing that enterprise blockchain is no longer just a technology demonstration but is functioning as a practical revenue-generating engine. Samsung SDS’s success serves as an important benchmark for companies in the Asia-Pacific region considering blockchain adoption.
The practical value of blockchain is most clearly evident in the field of supply chain transparency. IBM’s ‘Food Trust’ platform, headquartered in New York, is currently utilized by over 300 food companies worldwide and processed 120 million transactions in 2025 alone. Global food giants like Walmart, Nestlé, and Unilever are using this platform to monitor the entire process from raw material tracking to final consumer delivery in real-time. According to IBM’s data, companies that have adopted blockchain-based supply chain management have reduced their response time to food safety incidents from the traditional 7 days to 2.2 seconds on average, and improved inventory management efficiency by 23%.
These achievements demonstrate how the core characteristics of blockchain, such as immutability and transparency, contribute to solving real business problems. In traditional supply chains, different systems and databases are used at each stage, requiring complex coordination to track the entire process. However, in a blockchain-based system, all participants share the same distributed ledger while protecting their sensitive information through encryption. This creates an environment where only necessary information can be selectively shared even among competitors, providing an innovative solution that enhances the overall efficiency of the industry while protecting the competitive advantage of individual companies.
## Innovation in Financial Services and Expansion of the CBDC Ecosystem
As the development of Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) transitions from the proof-of-concept phase to the commercialization preparation phase in 2026, fundamental changes in the existing financial infrastructure are becoming visible. According to the latest survey by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), 68% of the 130 central banks worldwide are working on CBDC projects, with 19 countries planning to complete pilot programs and consider full issuance by 2026. The Bank of Korea also announced a roadmap aiming for limited commercialization in the second half of 2026, based on the results of its second pilot test completed by the end of 2025. This proliferation of CBDCs is directly impacting the business models of existing banks while simultaneously offering new growth opportunities for blockchain infrastructure companies.
Notably, a hybrid model of private and public blockchains is becoming mainstream in the implementation of CBDCs. China’s Digital Currency Electronic Payment (DCEP) is based on a two-tier private blockchain structure, while partially utilizing public blockchain protocols for compatibility with the existing SWIFT network in international transactions. The European Central Bank’s (ECB) digital euro project is also adopting a similar approach, and the technical specifications released in the first quarter of 2026 indicate the inclusion of smart contract functionality compatible with Ethereum’s ERC-20 token standard. This suggests the potential for connectivity with the existing DeFi (Decentralized Finance) ecosystem and is evaluated as an important case of blockchain technology interoperability being implemented in actual financial systems.
These changes are having a significant impact on the strategic positioning of existing financial IT companies. Oracle, headquartered in Redwood Shores, is offering solutions specializing in CBDC infrastructure construction through its ‘Blockchain Cloud Service 3.0’ launched at the end of 2025. This platform provides scalability capable of processing one million transactions per second while allowing customization to meet the financial regulatory requirements of each country. In Oracle’s first-quarter 2026 earnings report, blockchain-related revenue accounted for 12% of total cloud revenue, a 340% increase compared to the same period the previous year. Additionally, Microsoft, headquartered in Seattle, is providing similar services through its ‘Azure Blockchain Workbench’, competing in the market.
Another major application area of blockchain in the financial services sector is the innovation of cross-border payment systems. Traditional international remittances take an average of 3-5 days via the SWIFT network, with fees reaching 6-8% of the remittance amount. However, blockchain-based payment systems are dramatically improving these limitations. Ripple’s ‘RippleNet’ is currently utilized by over 300 financial institutions in 55 countries worldwide, reducing the average payment processing time to 4 seconds and cutting fees by over 90%. In 2026, Japan’s SBI Holdings, Spain’s Santander Bank, and the United States’ American Express are expanding real-time international remittance services through RippleNet.
## Technological Evolution and Market Outlook of Enterprise Blockchain
As of 2026, the most notable technological innovation in the enterprise blockchain market is the maturation of ‘interoperability’ solutions. With cross-chain technology enabling the movement of data and assets between different blockchain networks entering the practical stage, an environment is being created where companies can choose the optimal solution without being dependent on a specific blockchain platform. Cosmos’s IBC (Inter-Blockchain Communication) protocol and Polkadot’s cross-chain bridge technology are representative, and enterprise projects utilizing these solutions have been rapidly increasing since the second half of 2025. According to IBM’s research, 73% of new enterprise blockchain projects starting in 2026 are expected to adopt a multi-chain architecture.
This technological evolution is also making a significant contribution to solving the scalability issue of blockchain. With advancements in Layer 2 solutions and sharding technology, the processing performance of enterprise blockchain has been greatly enhanced. Ethereum’s Layer 2 solution, Polygon, can process 7,000 transactions per second, with transaction fees reduced by 99% compared to the mainnet. The latest version of Hyperledger Fabric announced that it can process 20,000 transactions per second in an optimized environment. This indicates that a competitive level of technological foundation has been established for practical use of blockchain in large-scale enterprise environments compared to traditional database systems.
From a market outlook perspective, differentiated growth patterns are emerging by region. The Asia-Pacific region is showing the fastest growth rate, driven by government-led blockchain projects in China, Japan, and Korea. China is building a national blockchain infrastructure through the ‘Blockchain-based Service Network (BSN)’ project, with BSN nodes operating in 128 cities as of 2026. Japan is also promoting blockchain-based digitalization of administrative services under the leadership of the Digital Agency, with all local governments expected to introduce blockchain-based resident services by 2026.
In the North American market, blockchain adoption is accelerating, led by private companies. According to the latest survey by Accenture, headquartered in Dublin, 84% of Fortune 500 companies plan to operate at least one blockchain project by 2026. This is a significant increase from the 61% reported in the 2023 survey. Particularly high adoption intentions are seen in the manufacturing (92%), financial services (89%), and healthcare (78%) sectors. Accenture is also expanding its blockchain consulting business, announcing that it recorded $1.2 billion in revenue in this field in 2025.
However, along with market growth, new challenges are also emerging. The most important issue is energy efficiency and sustainability. The high power consumption of the traditional Proof of Work (PoW) consensus mechanism conflicts with companies’ ESG goals, accelerating the transition to alternative consensus algorithms such as Proof of Stake (PoS) or Delegated Proof of Stake (DPoS). A representative case is Ethereum’s ‘The Merge’ upgrade, which reduced energy consumption by 99.95%. Enterprise blockchain platforms are also adopting eco-friendly consensus mechanisms as a standard, which is expected to be an important factor in future adoption decisions by companies.
Securing talent and education is also emerging as an important challenge. According to Deloitte’s 2026 blockchain survey, 68% of respondent companies cited a lack of blockchain professionals as a major barrier to adoption. In response, major tech companies are expanding blockchain education programs. IBM announced that it would train 100,000 blockchain developers through its ‘IBM SkillsBuild’ program by 2025, and Microsoft has significantly expanded free blockchain-related courses on its ‘Microsoft Learn’ platform. In Korea, Samsung SDS is aiming to train 5,000 professionals annually through its ‘Blockchain Academy’.
Looking ahead to the second half of 2026, the adoption of blockchain technology by enterprises is reaching a critical point of transition from ‘optional innovation’ to ‘essential infrastructure’. Gartner predicts that blockchain will create $3.1 trillion in business value by 2030, with over 70% expected to occur in the B2B (business-to-business) sector. As the market expands around already validated use cases such as supply chain transparency, digital identity management, and smart contract automation, new areas of innovation through convergence with the metaverse, IoT, and AI are also being pioneered. This technological convergence goes beyond mere technical combination to enable innovation in business models themselves, providing a foundation for companies to evolve into ‘blockchain-native’ organizations beyond digital transformation.
In conclusion, as of 2026, the enterprise blockchain market has entered a trajectory of substantial growth based on the two pillars of technological maturity and proven practical value. Moving beyond initial speculative interest and excessive expectations, it is now showing a mature adoption pattern focused on solving specific business problems and improving operational efficiency. Over the next few years, the growth of this market is expected to be more influenced by companies’ digital transformation strategies, changes in the regulatory environment, and the expansion of the professional talent ecosystem than by the development of the technology itself. For Korean companies, in particular, an important window of opportunity is opening to establish themselves as a blockchain hub in the Asia-Pacific region, and strategic investment and capacity building leveraging this opportunity will be key elements in securing future global competitiveness.
*This analysis is based on publicly available market data and industry reports, and additional due diligence and expert consultation are recommended when making investment decisions. All mentioned companies and figures are as of the analysis date and may vary depending on market conditions.*
