Blockchain strategies  177

– Blockchain product selection should go through vetting

and validation of the company or community supporting it.

Organisations need to make sure that the product/platform con-

tinues to evolve and be supported.

• Legal: It is important to review local and international laws related to

blockchain. As policies and laws are still evolving and maturing in the

blockchain space, organisations need to keep an eye on the existing/

upcoming policies and laws. They also need to make relationship with

appropriate Government agencies, who are working on blockchain

policies and also contribute as much as possible to shape up the legal

system governing the blockchain eco-system.

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⚬Recommendations:

– As part of blockchain strategy formulation, organisations need

to make sure to assess local and international laws related to

taxation and blockchain.

– Before establishing blockchain consortium, it is essential to

clarify in writing about the intellectual property (IP) rights.

Legal contract at the start to clarify the ownership of the IP

would avoid any conflicts in the future when the platform or

product adoption goes mainstream.

– Legal factor deep dive would also highlight readiness and

challenges for an organisation to be more competitive.

• Environmental: Environmental factors have become more important

than ever due to a wakeup call on global warming. Organisations

need to assess their strategy and business models to make sure

that they are contributing towards net-zero to reduce the global

warming.

Organisations who can actively support environmental projects to

contribute towards reduction in global warming would have more

potential to have competitive advantages over the competitors.

⚬

⚬Recommendations:

– Assessment on Government’s environmental policies needs

to be done as part of the blockchain strategy formulation.

Organisations need to make sure that they comply with local

and international laws applicable to them. For instance, some

countries might not allow blockchain/Bitcoin mining due to

the heavy consumption of electricity.

– The blockchain product should be selected based on its low

usage of utilities like electricity.

– Organisations should assess the usage of utilities and increase

the adoption of renewable energy and showcase the contribu-

tion towards low carbon footprint (Figure 6.4).

In summary, PESTLE is one of the vital models to carry out a deep dive

and assessment for organisation external and internal factors, required

to achieve competitive advantages. The next section will discuss another

model called SWOT.