There is certainly no shortage of hype surrounding the technology that powers most cryptocurrency projects, the blockchain . The best part about this hype is that it is justified, as blockchain technology has already played an impressive role in disrupting several industries, and there is a good chance that this will continue to happen in the years to come.
Blockchain uses a so-called distributed ledger that is cryptographically secure and, like the Ethereum proves so well, it also has the ability to execute smart contracts. These key features have the potential to unlock hidden value in various industries and thereby reduce inefficiencies and even revolutionize them completely.
There’s a lot to talk about when it comes to the ABCs of blockchain as a technology, but for the purposes of this article, we’ll focus primarily on some of its coolest applications, the most compelling and surprising use cases, ignoring the quasi-mainstream financial markets industry, for which blockchain has already proven its worth.
Digital Identity
Due to their decentralized nature, blockchains are the perfect platform for establishing strong digital identity systems. This means there is no centralized point of “weakness” that can be exploited. With blockchains, a well-thought-out system of single-key identification means that users have more control over their private data, taking power away from companies and governments that want to monetize or control that data.
Supply networks
One could argue that global trade has seen phenomenal growth over the past ten or twenty years, especially since the internet has become an increasingly important part of our lives. There is a real need for organization in the supply chain industry today. Everyone from suppliers to warehouse managers to logistics providers can benefit from a less complex system. If there’s one thing blockchain is good at, it’s streamlining supply chains. Thanks to its immutable nature, blockchain can help track any product from supplier to shelf, regardless of the type of product in question.
Decentralized applications
Blockchain has also made it possible to create decentralized applications, or dApps for short. There are many advantages that dApps offer in general. However, two of the biggest are the way data is stored and accessed. Unlike traditional applications where data is centralized (in a single location), dApps store transactions and other types of data on the blockchain’s distributed ledger. This allows for greater democratization, a better consensus-based protocol, removes single points of failure, and the entire process becomes much more transparent.
IoT
We can’t talk about the future and not even remotely touch on the subject of the Internet of Things. In short, IoT can be considered the epiphany of all humanity’s efforts to develop automation. Imagine a future where all the devices around you are interconnected. Smarter cities, autonomous vehicles, and incredibly complex ecosystems where devices can “talk” to each other – all of this is possible thanks to the Internet of Things. Interestingly, the blockchain will play a major role in future IoT developments as they have the ability to record immense amounts of data produced by these systems. Best of all, blockchains can do this transparently, making it perfect for both the public and private sectors. A quick look at a project called IOTA should be enough to at least help you understand how valuable blockchains can be with their identification, verification, and data transfer capabilities.
Health care
Medicine has made incredible progress in the last couple of years alone. These days, thanks to some of the latest medical inventions and developments, there are very few things that we cannot cure or fix. Regardless, the global healthcare industry still has one very big problem. It is still incredibly difficult to transfer patient data across different institutions. As you can imagine, this is another aspect that can be fixed with the use of blockchain technology. By putting patient data on the ledger, any different interested party can access this data source. This makes patient health data more accessible, and this simple fact could very well be enough to save millions of lives.
Conclusion
It may come as a surprise to some, but blockchain technology is in fact so well-rounded and exhibits such incredible potential that it could very well be used in a multitude of other industries, and its use cases far exceed that of any other technology in the past. Blockchain could be useful in reforming voting systems, the energy field, the mortgage and real estate markets, as well as the charity “industry,” to name a few.