Blockchain Investors Lose Billions to Projects with 'No Evidence'

Since 2017, investors have lost billions investing in blockchain and cryptocurrency projects.

The claims made by many blockchain projects are dubious, with many failing to provide any tangible evidence to support their claims.

"We found a proliferation of press releases, white papers, and persuasively written articles. However, we found no documentation or evidence of the results blockchain was purported to have achieved in these claims."

"There are many sales pitches available to convince development practitioners of the value blockchain will add to their work. But, there is a lack of detailed data about what happens when use blockchain technology."

CryptoSlate inquired with John Burg for his further thoughts on blockchain technology, he declined to comment.

Without clear regulations or methods of evaluating the merit of a project, a company can raise millions and engage in unscrupulous activity without repercussion, especially in many of the so-called blockchain safe-havens like Gibraltar or Malta.

In many respects, the nascent-state of blockchain technology is similar to the hype surrounding artificial intelligence.

Much like the blockchain space, it is still necessary to identify areas where blockchain has a "Real possibility" of fixing problems, and where the tech has "Clear criteria for success," as said by William Mark, president of information and computing services at SRI international.

Because of the decentralized nature of many of these projects, there will continue to be exit-scams, poorly executed ideas, and applications of blockchain that plainly do not make sense.

In the future, if regulators want to protect the public, it will be important for them to increase their scrutiny of projects, for new high-quality information channels to arise, and for investors to become more aware of what constitutes a trustworthy blockchain project.