In terms of blockchain technology alone, it is not a profitable tool, but through the empowerment of blockchain technology, the industry or products can be improved or optimized, which is the value of blockchain technology.
2019-2020 can be described as the year when blockchain applications bear fruit. It can be seen that among the sample stocks of the Shenzhen Securities Blockchain 50 Index (hereinafter referred to as the index), there are already more than 30 listed companies with application cases. This is only the data of index sample stocks, and the application cases of non-index and non-listed companies are not included.
Judging from the annual reports of each constituent stock of the index and other public information, the coverage of blockchain application cases is very wide. In addition to the highly recognized supply chain finance field, it also penetrates into data storage, food and drug traceability, judicial and government affairs, and communications. , Epidemic prevention and control and other subdivisions.
However, as far as the financial data of each sample stock is concerned, the improvement of the company’s profitability by blockchain business is not obvious. Most of the listed companies did not disclose the relevant revenue, and some said that the blockchain business did not have a significant impact on the overall revenue, and only a few companies obtained obvious benefits through the blockchain business.
As far as the block chain business situation of the sample stocks is concerned, there are many applications and few business revenue generators. So, why is the blockchain business difficult to make profit?
Blockchain revenue does not constitute a significant impact
When it comes to the revenue data of the blockchain, I have to mention the Yuanguang Software in the index sample stocks. The creation of revenue through the blockchain business is one of the benchmark cases in the sample stocks.
Among the 50 sample stocks of Shenzhen Securities Blockchain, Yuanguang Software once showed the bright side of the blockchain business. The 2019 annual report showed that its blockchain business achieved revenue of 19,892,500 yuan, a year-on-year increase of 3886.03%.
However, this income only accounts for 1.27% of the overall operating income, which means that it will not have a significant impact on the overall operating income of the company.
It is worth mentioning that, from the revenue of Yuanguang Software’s blockchain, there are government subsidies.
Yuanguang Software disclosed a government subsidy project, the research and application of a trusted cloud service infrastructure based on blockchain technology, and an additional subsidy of 2 million yuan in this period. This is a manifestation of the fact that blockchain technology is in a policy dividend period, but it also reflects that blockchain as an innovative business cannot cover various operating costs with a single revenue and requires additional funds to support development.
Long business collection cycle
The reporter found that the payment cycle of general blockchain business is longer, and the blockchain revenue data in the 2020 semi-annual report of Yuanguang Software also verified this conjecture.
According to the latest 2020 semi-annual report of Yuanguang Software, the revenue of blockchain business is 0, a year-on-year decrease of 100%.
This is a big gap with the previous blockchain revenue data in the 2019 annual report.
Yuanguang Software explained in the report that due to the impact of the epidemic, the project approval time for customers in the first half of the year was delayed, and the approval and bidding of projects under construction were relatively delayed, and revenue would be reflected in the second half of the year.
Blockchain financial data or merge into related businesses
In addition, the reporter also found that other sample stocks rarely list the financial data of the blockchain business separately in the annual report. This may have merged the revenue data of the blockchain business into its related businesses for statistics, not separately listed .
For example, Donggang shares, which also have income-generating results in the blockchain business, will disclose financial data related to the blockchain and the related electronic bill business.
The 2019 annual report of Donggang shares shows that “the electronic ticket business has developed well during the reporting period. The applied electronic invoice blockchain, electronic ticket blockchain, electronic certificate blockchain and TK-BaaS-E platform The blockchain service products have been reviewed by the National Internet Information Office. The developed blockchain products have begun to be promoted or piloted in various fields such as finance and taxation, certificates, copyright protection, and electronic invoices. The electronic ticket business has increased its operating income by 28.48 in 2019. %.”
This may be due to the fact that the blockchain business has less revenue and does not constitute a significant impact.
High barriers to entry for supply chain finance
To a certain extent, the long payment cycle and the uncertainty of the payment return bothered companies in the blockchain industry, which caused profit difficulties. In addition, it may be related to the entry barriers of supply chain finance in mainstream applications.
In terms of the current application trends of various blockchains, the industry generally believes that supply chain finance will develop fastest, followed by government affairs. Among supply chain finance, the role of blockchain in the banking industry is particularly hotly debated, because blockchain as a digital and tamper-proof general ledger can achieve the functions required by banks. However, banks have high requirements for system security, stability, processing efficiency, and scalability.
In May of this year, the “Application of Blockchain Technology in the Banking Industry” published by China Financial Magazine mentioned that the large-scale application of blockchain technology in the banking industry faces multiple challenges.
Among them, for the matching of the banking system, it is mentioned that “the technology lacks universal rules and the application scenarios are segmented. At present, there is no unified industry standard and regulatory standard for the application of blockchain technology. In this context, the existing The application is relatively segmented and localized. When technology is used on a large scale among banks, it needs to be compatible with the existing systems of different banks and can be connected to most systems. The applied institutions and departments may face changes in application rules. risk.”
Regarding transaction performance, it is mentioned that “the processing speed of technology should be further improved. At present, even Bitcoin transactions have delays.” The transaction performance here generally refers to the system throughput (TPS) of the blockchain. It is the number of services that the system can handle per second. Bitcoin, Ethereum and other mainstream digital currencies, which are the first to use blockchain transactions, have a TPS capacity of about 7-15 seconds per transaction, while traditional financial institutions have thousands of transactions per second. Therefore, the current block Chain transaction performance is difficult to meet the needs of traditional financial services.
However, it is understood that only five companies in the index are involved in supply chain finance.
Based on blockchain technology, SVA Express has developed a supply chain financial platform, an integral platform, a cargo-based storage platform, and an intelligent lock system. Among them, the supply chain finance platform is the first joint innovation project of the intelligent finance joint innovation laboratory established by the company and China Construction Bank.
Yuanguang Software continues to deploy blockchain-related businesses, develops supply chain finance and other related products, and cooperates with related units to promote the application of blockchain technology in supply chain finance and other fields.
Ping An Finance OneConnect launched the one-enterprise chain intelligent supply chain financial platform by linking core enterprises with multi-level upstream and downstream financial institutions, logistics and warehousing, banks and other financial institutions to achieve blockchain multi-level credit penetration.
Relying on blockchain technology and platform, Runhe Software integrates its own technological accumulation in artificial intelligence, Internet of Things, big data, etc., and gradually forms a dual-chain ecology and dual-channel layout: that is, finance based on financial peers and bank-enterprise credit Chain, an industrial chain based on supply chain and trade finance.
SF Express cooperates with Fengshou Technology to customize the supply chain financial technology platform, which can form an electronic account receivable voucher for suppliers, and it can be transferred, split, held, and financed, and then can realize financing for multi-level suppliers. Help the industry chain to obtain lower-cost funds.
This means that among the sample stocks, only a few companies have the technical background to undertake supply chain financial projects.
to sum up
Although the profitability problem of the blockchain has been broken in earlier years, it is hoped that through the blockchain, there is still a long way to go to generate commercial value on a large scale. In the short term, the blockchain business of each enterprise has not yet reached the point of self-sufficiency, and the return period is long. Currently, other businesses are still needed to cover R&D costs. However, the development of the blockchain in recent years is still obvious to all. From only the concept to the application, and more relevant policies are supported, the value of the blockchain is gradually being tapped. Therefore, the current companies that have entered the blockchain have a worthwhile prospect. look forward to.
