Dive Brief:

• Global spending in blockchain technologies is set to hit $2.1 billion this year, more than double from 2017's $945 million, according to an IDC report.

• Last year served as a period of experimentation for blockchain, and 2018 is expected to be the year companies embrace and install "full blockchain deployments," said Stacey Soohoo, research manager at IDC, according to the report.

• The financial sector will lead spending on blockchain solutions with a $754 million investment this year, followed by distribution and services sector spending $150 million. However, professional services, discrete manufacturing and resource industries will see the most growth in 2018 as a result of blockchain.

Dive Insight:

Blockchain is becoming more than just a buzzword used to increase a company's stock. Regardless of how or why a company decides to explore blockchain solutions, the market is showing no signs of slowing down.

Last year, companies were striving to find the ideal blockchain platform, but experts agree that the winning platform is not yet available. The issue is that 90% of blockchain projects have a centralized design. And most POCs don't actually require blockchain technology.

To remedy this barrier, businesses need to ensure they have a clear cut strategy and business value proposition in place to justify the investment. But its ability to "fully enable bold platform and ecosystem strategies" while also maintaining security is a pitfall for blockchain.

Still, the disruption blockchain elicits is not deterring companies such as IBM to use the technology for "deployment of other cloud-based and open source technologies," which include AI, IoT and analytics.

As spending is expecting to increase, so will the job search for blockchain professionals. A 200% increase in blockchain job postings is causing companies to seek applicants for a market that is still developing, an obvious challenge for CIOs trying to justify further IT spend.