Blockchain has a perception problem that the technology itself has largely outgrown. New research published by OVHcloud on 2 June 2026 finds that nearly three-quarters of Web3 professionals believe blockchain can deliver meaningful benefits to enterprise — improved security, resilience, and transparency — while acknowledging that the path to mainstream adoption runs through a set of myths the industry has not yet managed to dispel.
The survey of blockchain and Web3 professionals found that 52% identified lack of understanding as the most significant barrier to enterprise uptake. A further 44% pointed to sustainability concerns — the association of blockchain with the energy consumption of proof-of-work cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. The parallel association with criminal activity persists too: 46% of respondents said the technology is still linked in professional perception to bad actors.
Omar Abi Issa, OVHcloud’s Global Lead for Blockchain, Web3 and AI, argues that the energy comparison is typically drawn from the wrong baseline. “According to a recent paper from UCL, the energy consumption per transaction of Solana — an energy-efficient proof of stake blockchain protocol — is approximately five and a half million times better than that of bitcoin, which runs on proof of work. Blockchain can be a power-efficient technology if used correctly and responsibly, but a lack of understanding across the industry has been preventing many organisations from embracing it.”
The enterprise use cases professionals identify are concrete rather than theoretical. Sixty-one percent specifically cited federated learning, where machine learning models are trained across distributed data sources without centralising that data, as a blockchain-adjacent application. Twenty-seven percent said the technology could improve AI explicability and traceability — a use case with obvious appeal as regulators press for more accountable AI systems.
On identity, Abi Issa pointed to zero-knowledge proofs as a practical illustration. “Many legacy systems are either controlled or hosted by centralized authorities. Blockchain provides a decentralized platform with independent trust mechanisms that can ensure transparency and explicability while preserving user privacy at the same time. For example, zero-knowledge identity mechanisms can provide proof of identity without exposing user data.”
Two-thirds of respondents said enterprise-wide blockchain integration was between one and four years out. One in six said it was already happening in their organisations.
To stay across the latest in cloud, AI and enterprise tech analysis from Compare the Cloud, subscribe to our weekly newsletter at https://www.comparethecloud.net/newsletter
