While everyone has heard of bitcoin by now in some capacity, blockchain technology — the technology that powers bitcoin transactions – is just as powerful.
Blockchain technology has become extremely popular, with different industries are adopting the technology to revamp their processes. In fact, 2.8% of the global population is already using it in various ways.
So in this post, we’ll take a look at how blockchain is making its way in different industries. The following startups emerging in the blockchain space can be a great source of ideas and inspiration for your own entrepreneurial aspirations.
Plus, you can also consider if there is an opportunity to use these technologies in your business. Let’s dive in.
Uses for blockchain technology
Businesses have unique requirements. So the technologies they use must be forward-moving, effective and useful for alleviating the drawbacks of conventional processes. Blockchain has reached this level of advancement for companies and is being used heavily in modern businesses. Here are some examples of businesses that use blockchain technology.
Record-keeping in real estate
Although real estate may be a money-making industry as a whole, it’s not at peak optimization. But it can be with appropriate technology. The challenges of real estate include fraud, intermediaries, lengthy processes and an absence of transparency.
So there is a demand for a transparent, fast-moving record-keeping system in real estate that is protected from security risks. Since blockchain’s transparent operations are openly visible for all parties, it eliminates the intermediary as a required component. Real estate can then be registered digitally, which makes verification easy for the property and landlord.
Uniquity is a great real-life example of blockchain being used in the real estate market. As a pioneer SaaS business in the industry, it allows businesses to safely keep tabs on their properties.
It uses blockchain to provide transparency, security, and integrity. Users are given complete ownership of their information without needing to fulfill requirements given by an intermediate entity.
Fast data processing in travel and transportation
Blockchain has simplified the process of leasing vehicles and ridesharing, making it cheaper to use and faster to verify.
In fact, the technology has been picked up by massive airline companies. For example, Russia’s S7 Airlines uses a blockchain built from Ethereum to operate a ticketing system that uses smart contracts. As a result, its settlement times were cut from 2 weeks to only 23 seconds.
The hotel industry has used blockchain to handle several different services. This includes internal storage tracking, customer reward management and a foundation for open marketplaces.
Secure patient data transfer
Right now, we are in the midst of a global pandemic so large that our health care organizations aren’t properly equipped to handle it.
Over the past few decades, our health care system hasn’t had an effective method for communication from one hospital to another. The information we need to share is crucial, ranging from data on beds and medicine to individual patients.
Essentially, the absence of transparency within the entire system can be fixed with blockchain. By offering a see-through, unchanging and trust-less solution, blockchain is capable of transforming the way the health care system solves challenges.
For example, BurstIQ is a noteworthy med-tech company that is altering the health care terrain with blockchain implementations. It serves as a secure hub that helps organizations transfer patient information securely.
Supply chain monitoring
Blockchain’s transparent technology helps businesses work through the entire supply chain process. It allows them to precisely track products as they come from a source and make their way to delivery. Overall, this is a more effective way to handle products and monitor their conditions.
A strong example of a business that tracks food efficiently is IBM Food Trust. Its system of tracking goods from the source to the end manages to service everyone involved in the process, including the supplier, direct seller, manufacturer and consumer.
It uses blockchain to produce distinct barcodes that are associated with individual food items. Then, the code is carefully tracked all the way through its journey.
If a problem occurs, the system receives a notice and they can quickly figure out the necessary steps to fix it.
Energy distribution and trading
In the past decades, the energy industry has gone through intense reworks to extend its range and provide energy that helps large cities and their surrounding areas function.
Having said that, the system still suffers from fundamental issues like unreachability, a lack of transparency and reduced sustainability.
Luckily, blockchain will put an end to these problems and revamp a host of applications, including peer-to-peer energy transacting, wide electricity wholesaling and much more.
With this, people will be able to create energy and put it up on a shared platform for others to use. Smart contracts can then allow users to automatically trade energy with one another. This concept is incredible because it allows energy to move into areas of the globe where organizations can’t build infrastructure.
An example corporation that’s taking advantage of blockchain tech to enable wholesale energy distribution is Grid+, along with peer-to-peer energy trading.
Fair and fast insurance processing
Since the global insurance industry is quickly evolving, companies are already using distributed ledger technology. An advantage of having everything on a distributed ledger is that insurers reduce the time it takes for processing documents to minutes. Using an automated insurance reporting system to eliminate fraud is another plus.
There are plenty of businesses intently looking to implement blockchain into their insurance technology. For instance, Etherisc is an example of a business that produces an open-source development hub for insurance protocols.
Better data protection
There’s a demand for a superior, verifiable security system that shields user data more effectively than the former technology.
For example, GuardTime is a blockchain tool for cybersecurity that looks to use its self-created KSI technology. Purposefully designed for enterprise clients, the performance of their tech is unmatched.
In 2003, the company provided official security proof that was verifiable across the blockchain network. Now, they are teaming up with various businesses (like Verizon Enterprise Solutions, defense, Aerospace) that use and work with their KSI technology.
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Banking process improvement
Banks are another industry that can incorporate blockchain to revamp their process. By automating routine tasks, they can deliver a smooth consumer experience.
According to Tech.co, about 90% of the banks in the United States and Europe have been using blockchain-related technology since 2018.
Basically, banks use blockchain tech to help strengthen the internal mechanics and enhance the experience for everyone.
Barclays bank gets how effective blockchain is. As a result, they are creating their solutions around it. It will free up options for customers who can now do their banking from anywhere they please.
An ecosystem that is run on blockchain will also speed up the process of authentication, impeding fraud. Now Barclays is working to drive a trade revolution in which everything is monitored for the sake of transparency.
Distributed cloud storage
Using a distributed cloud storage, people can safely store and access encrypted data.
For example, STORJ.io is a distributed cloud storage solution that lets users control their own data with end-to-end encrypted storage. Only authorized users can access the data, powered by blockchain payments. In fact, the users are the only ones who can interact with their data.
Users rent out space in the network. When they do this, they can also make money by sharing an HD area. As an open-source and free platform, anyone is permitted to assist in development.
Democratic retail marketplace
A democratic retail marketplace is another use case of blockchain. It’s a platform without restrictions and platform fees.
For example, OpenBazaar is a free marketplace on the internet that pulls restrictions from everyone involved. People do not have to pay fees to use the site and they earn cryptocurrency by building stores, selling products, and reaching a new target market.
Cryptocurrency is the form of payment they use, which eliminates the need for a bank or even a credit card. Users get complete customizability and can interact with others on a peer-to-peer network. Undoubtedly, this is a premier online marketplace that utilizes blockchain.
Conclusion
As you can see, the uses for blockchain are limited only by your imagination.
The verdict is clear. Blockchain technology is a welcome update that will impact the way we see our world. In fact, it’ll enable us to better our world like never before.
