A handful of well-publicized projects leveraging blockchain have been undertaken, and some insurers have experimented with the technology, but the vast majority of insurers are in the watch-and-wait mode. Even so, insurers are beginning to see the potential.

P&C commercial lines to see most potential

In addition to the digital currencies such as Bitcoin that first raised the visibility of blockchain, insurers expect the tech to be an important enabler for microinsurance, peer-to-peer insurance, asset tracking and authentication, smart contracts and the exchange of sensitive information and documents.

P&C commercial lines insurers see the most potential, given the more complex nature of their products and their ecosystem of partners.

Blockchain may well become foundational to the business world and pervasive in insurance, but it is likely to evolve gradually over the next decade. Ultimately, the technology may become invisible, just a natural part of the digital infrastructure that runs the world, much as key emerging technologies of a prior age.

Related: Blockchain in insurance: Guiding the hammer toward the real nails

Once-highly-touted technologies such as TCP/IP and HTTP are rarely discussed in business circles today — they are just there behind the scenes as pervasive enablers of the Internet and the digital world. A similar trajectory may await blockchain.

Likely to become a standard building block

So, the real story? Yes, blockchain is vitally important, and it's a technology with the potential to transform the way the world conducts business. But, as its usage evolves and expands across insurance and other industries over the next couple of decades, it will become less hyped and more of a standard building block.

Mark Breading is a partner at Boston-based SMA. Email him at [email protected]. This article first appeared on StrategyMeetsAction.com, and is reprinted here with their permission. Opinions expressed in this article are the author's own.