The Turning Point of Blockchain and Web3 Technologies in 2025: Accelerated Corporate Adoption and the Spread of Practical Use Cases
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The Turning Point of Blockchain Technology’s Practicalization
As of December 2025, the blockchain and Web3 technology sectors are moving away from the speculative frenzy of recent years and entering a phase of creating tangible business value. According to the latest report from Gartner, the global blockchain technology market size is projected to grow from $67.6 billion in 2025 to $123.5 billion in 2030, with an average annual growth rate of 12.8%. Notably, enterprise blockchain solutions, rather than cryptocurrency transactions, are driving growth, accounting for 68% of the total market.
In South Korea, blockchain technology adoption is accelerating under the government-led K-Digital Strategy. The Ministry of Science and ICT has allocated a blockchain-related budget of 89.2 billion won for 2025, a 34% increase from the previous year, with 60% earmarked for building public service blockchains. Samsung SDS, based in Seoul, recorded a 47% year-over-year increase in blockchain business revenue, reaching 23.8 billion won in the third quarter, particularly strong in supply chain management and digital identity verification solutions.
Globally, U.S. companies are leading the construction of blockchain infrastructure. Coinbase, based in California, is developing new revenue streams through its enterprise blockchain service ‘Base,’ moving beyond its traditional cryptocurrency exchange business. The Base platform surpassed 1 million daily active users within a year of launch, equivalent to 40% of the Ethereum mainnet’s level. MicroStrategy, based in Virginia, known for its Bitcoin investments, is now focusing on developing blockchain-based business intelligence solutions to secure corporate clients.
Tangible Achievements of Enterprise Blockchain Solutions
A representative field where blockchain technology is being validated in real business environments is supply chain management. Walmart has fully implemented blockchain technology in its global supply chain since 2024, reducing food safety tracking time from seven days to 2.2 seconds. This has resulted in an annual cost saving of approximately $12 million and a 78% reduction in the scale of damage in food safety incidents. In South Korea, LG CNS’s ‘Monachain’ platform, developed in Seoul, has been applied to the supply chain management of large corporations like Hyundai Motor and POSCO, improving parts traceability to 99.7%.
In the financial services sector, the practicality of blockchain is also being demonstrated. JP Morgan’s blockchain payment network ‘JPM Coin’ surpassed $20 billion in daily transaction volume as of November 2025, reducing international remittance times from 3-5 days to minutes. Domestically, Shinhan Bank has reduced the issuance time for letters of credit from 5-7 days to one day through a blockchain-based trade finance platform, cutting related fees by 30%. Based on these achievements, the Bank of Korea announced plans to expand its central bank digital currency (CBDC) pilot program in 2026.
The digital asset and NFT (Non-Fungible Token) markets are also transitioning from speculative nature to practical use. Nike generated $87 million in revenue in the first half of 2025 through its digital sneakers NFT ‘CryptoKicks,’ accounting for 23% of total digital product sales. In South Korea, the Klaytn network developed by Kakao’s blockchain subsidiary GroundX saw a 340% year-over-year increase in K-POP-related NFT transaction volume. Large entertainment companies like HYBE and SM Entertainment are utilizing blockchain technology to build fan communities and sell merchandise, creating new revenue models.
NVIDIA’s blockchain-related GPU sales are also noteworthy. Despite a decrease in cryptocurrency mining demand, the demand for computing power for blockchain network infrastructure construction and Web3 application development increased, resulting in a 28% year-over-year increase in related sales, reaching $4.7 billion in the third quarter of 2025. The demand for high-performance computing for enterprise blockchain solutions and metaverse platform development is driving growth.
Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs), a core of Web3 technology, are evolving beyond experimental stages into actual business models. Uniswap, as a decentralized exchange, surpassed $2 trillion in total transaction volume as of November 2025, with an average daily transaction volume of $1.5 billion. This is comparable to the daily transaction volume of traditional centralized exchanges like NASDAQ. Domestically, Dunamu, which operates Upbit, is investing heavily in developing decentralized finance (DeFi) services, allocating 16.7 billion won for related R&D in 2025, an 85% increase from the previous year.
Improvement in the regulatory environment is also a crucial driver for the spread of blockchain technology. With the full implementation of the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) in December 2024, blockchain companies are actively entering the European market. In the U.S., the second term of the Donald Trump administration is expected to strengthen the trend of regulatory easing for cryptocurrencies and blockchain. In South Korea, the Virtual Asset User Protection Act, implemented in July 2024, is expanding the use of blockchain technology within institutional frameworks.
However, challenges remain in the adoption of blockchain technology. In terms of energy consumption, while Ethereum’s transition from Proof of Work (PoW) to Proof of Stake (PoS) reduced energy consumption by 99.95%, major blockchain networks like Bitcoin still have high energy consumption levels. Scalability issues persist as well. Bitcoin can process only seven transactions per second, and Ethereum 15, which is significantly lower than existing payment systems like Visa, which can handle 65,000 transactions per second.
Future Prospects and Investment Opportunities
By 2026, blockchain technology is expected to spread across more diverse industries. According to McKinsey’s latest report, the economic value created by blockchain technology is estimated to reach $1.2 trillion annually by 2030. Of this, the supply chain management sector is expected to generate $420 billion, financial services $350 billion, and identity verification and security $280 billion.
The South Korean government has set a goal to elevate blockchain technology competitiveness to the world’s third-highest level by 2026. To achieve this, a total of 124 billion won will be invested in nurturing blockchain professionals by 2026, and blockchain-based public services will be expanded from the current 12 to 47. The adoption of blockchain in public sectors such as real estate registration, medical record management, and voting systems is expected to accelerate.
From an investment perspective, companies building blockchain infrastructure are expected to show the most stable growth. Samsung SDS plans to expand its blockchain business revenue from 95 billion won in 2025 to 185 billion won in 2027, increasing related R&D investments by more than 30% annually. LG CNS is also expanding its blockchain specialist organization from 150 to 280 people and accelerating its entry into the global market.
Globally, the convergence of blockchain technology and artificial intelligence is emerging as a new growth driver. The blockchain-based AI data verification system jointly developed by OpenAI and Microsoft is gaining attention as a solution that ensures the reliability and transparency of AI training data. This convergence technology is expected to begin full-scale commercialization from 2026, with the related market size projected to reach $45 billion by 2030.
In conclusion, 2025 marks a turning point where blockchain and Web3 technologies are moving beyond experimental stages to create tangible business value. As the speculative frenzy subsides, companies focusing on the intrinsic value of technology are leading the market, and government institutional support and regulatory environment improvements are accelerating this trend. Over the next 3-5 years, blockchain technology is expected to become indispensable in core infrastructure areas such as supply chain management, financial services, and digital identity verification, opening new growth opportunities for companies with technological prowess and execution capabilities.
The content of this article is for informational purposes only and should be carefully considered through additional research and expert consultation when making investment decisions.
