In its inaugural Worldwide Semiannual Blockchain Spending Guide, market intelligence firm International Data Corporation (IDC) estimates that the worldwide spending on blockchain solutions will reach $2.1 billion in 2018, more than double the $945 million spent in 2017.

"Interest and investment in blockchain and distributed ledger technology (DLT) is accelerating as enterprises aggregate data into secure, sequential, and immutable blockchain ledgers, transforming their businesses and operations," said Bill Fearnley, Jr., research director, Worldwide Blockchain Strategies.

IDC sees robust pace of growth in blockchain spending over the 2016-2021 forecast period with a five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 81.2% and total spending of $9.2 billion in 2021.

In its official release, IDC said that the U.S. will see the largest blockchain investments and deliver more than 40% of worldwide spending throughout the forecast. Western Europe will be the next largest region for blockchain spending, followed by China and Asia/Pacific (excluding Japan and China)(APeJC). All nine regions covered in the spending guide will see phenomenal spending growth over the 2016-2021 forecast period with Latin America and Japan leading the way with CAGRs of 152.5% and 127.3%, respectively.

Speaking of sector-wise blockchain spending, financial sector will be in the lead with an estimated $754 million spending this year, driven largely by rapid adoption in the banking industry. The distribution and services sector ($510 million in 2018) will see strong investments from the retail and professional services industries while the manufacturing and resources sector ($448 million in 2018) will be driven by the discrete and process manufacturing industries.

From a technology perspective, IT services and business services (combined) will account for roughly 75% of all blockchain spending throughout the forecast with spending fairly well balanced across the two categories. Blockchain platform software will be the largest category of spending outside of the services category and one of the fastest growing categories overall, along with security software.

"2017 was the year of experimentation as enterprises realized both the benefits and challenges of blockchain. 2018 will be a crucial stage for enterprises as they make a huge leap from proof-of-concept projects to full blockchain deployments. As a leader in blockchain innovation and integration, the U.S. will continue to invest in blockchain throughout the forecast, spending heavily in financial services, manufacturing, and other industries,” said Stacey Soohoo, research manager, Customer Insights & Analysis. “The U.S. will look to improve efficiencies in existing operations while promoting new applications in others, creating new streams of revenue and areas of spend. With increased investments driven by pressures to keep up with the accelerating pace in innovation, the world will continue to look to the U.S. for guidance as other regions forge ahead in their own blockchain projects and initiatives.”