When Blockchain surpassed controversial entertainer Kayne West in all-time Google search popularity this past January, it highlighted just how lauded the largely unproven technology had become. But for some deep inside the financial industry, a nagging question persisted: when will the widely discussed technology finally deliver tangible results? With a recent blockchain hacking scandal derailing the price of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies that rely on the technical platform this week, those questions have been magnified.

The answer may be at hand, according to a recent Greenwich Associates study that shows the vaunted technology approaching a milestone as 14% of those working...

