Blockchain is best known for being the technology behind Bitcoin, a cryptocurrency that was created in 2009. Since then, blockchain technology has mainly been associated with the finance sector where it helps to secure transactions and generally improve banking systems.
Being a secure technology for transfers, blockchain is not just affecting the banking industry, but changing its core, answering important questions related to financial fraud, transaction tracking, financial inclusion, and more. If you are interested in the latest and greatest updates in the software engineering universe, we have several articles catered to senior software engineers as well as industry enthusiasts.
But besides banking, blockchain technology can be applied to a variety of business sectors. Blockchain is a transparent and secure way to store the information which creates countless possibilities to use it in almost any industry.
For example, there are at least twelve industries where blockchain can be applied successfully:
- Financial Services & Fintech
- Identification
- Education
- Health
- Smart Contracts & Decentralization
- Voting
- Cloud Storage
- Government
- Retail
- Real Estate
- Mobile Payments
- Fun
During your reading, you will learn how these industries utilize blockchain to advance their efforts. Here at Trio, we offer the best content and the top software engineers in the market to assist you in efficiently and economically scaling and updating your business. And to find out more about how your business can use blockchain, continue reading!
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What Is Blockchain?
It can be rather hard to understand what blockchain is but the principle of this technology is a growing list of blocks that are linked together using cryptography.
Once a block has been approved by the network it can’t be modified. You can enter a new block with the information overwriting the previous one, but the network will have access to the earlier blocks.
It’s designed to create trust between transaction parties. Since the blocks are run on a decentralized platform, blockchain is theoretically resistant to fraud, making it an attractive technology for companies operating in risky markets that deal with sensitive information.
To ensure data security, all information in the blockchain is encrypted with mathematical cryptography, which only allows you to access your own information with your private key. This makes any kind of fraud practically impossible as the keys are absurdly long combinations of numbers and letters that would take years to decrypt.
Since blockchain is a decentralized system, it doesn’t require any governance from third parties as all transactions happen from one person to the other. It allows information to be distributed but not copied. This is what makes it unique and revolutionary.
Blockchain is more democratic and consists of several members, each member has an equally valid voice and all the decisions are made through a majority consensus.
Last but not least, blockchain doesn’t carry transaction costs. It is a simple yet subtle way to transfer information from A to B in a secure manner. It’s no wonder why it has been widely adopted by the financial industry, and the best part is that it can be used in many more ways.
Benefits of Blockchain
Blockchain technology is built on the principles of decentralization, immutability, and transparency. These are a few of the ways how it can benefit you.
Information Verification
Once the information has been submitted to the blockchain it can’t be altered.
This means identity cannot be stolen as there can only be one record for each person who makes a transaction. Such a system is useful for voting, fact authenticity, ownership rights, police, and court records.
Currency Transfers
As mentioned earlier, blockchain provides financial institutions with a secure and transparent way to make peer-to-peer transfers. Transaction fees are low or non-existent, blockchain is a threat to third-party platforms that regularly take cuts when transactions are made.
Smart Contracts
A smart contract is an algorithm that only allows a block to be added to the chain once all pre-determined requirements are met. This can be widely used in the insurance industry to mitigate insurance fraud.
Cloud Storage
Blockchain will allow you to store large amounts of information in a safe way and at a low cost.
Encrypting and distributing small bits of data among various devices in your network will protect sensitive information and – as you don’t have a third-party storage provider – you’ll be able to save as well.
Sharing Economy
A sharing economy is an economic system facilitating direct peer-to-peer transactions between private individuals. Blockchain provides a means for its users to get rid of the middleman and avoid third parties like Uber or Airbnb that will ask for additional fees.
12 Successful Applications of Blockchain Technology
Just about everyone has heard about how bitcoin has impacted the finance industry.
But blockchain deserves a bit more credit.
Blockchain technology is very capable and well-prepared to accomplish a number of tasks in diverse industries. Below you can take a deeper dive into what exactly blockchain can do for you.
1. Financial Services and Fintech
Financial systems need to work with real money, and this can be a challenge because of security concerns. Blockchain offers a fast, safe, and permanent environment for financial transactions to take place.
Itau, Santander, America Express, and even TransferGo are using RippleNet which enables these companies to make global payments through blockchain technology.
2. Identification
Blockchain is unalterable. Startups like OriginalMy use this trait to their advantage.
Forget about national IDs, passports, and other documents or bureaucracies. In the OriginalMy app, you can register through the “Know Your Customer” (KYC) compliance process. After validation, they’ll have proof-of-authenticity via blockchain.
Let’s imagine that you don’t need to register anymore on every website. To log-in you just need to use your OriginalMy credentials. And if you want to apply this kind of login into your business, it’s already possible with their API.
Do you need to sign a document? Don’t worry, just use your OriginalMy digital signature to sign any document. Are you at the airport and forgot your passport? It’s not a problem, perhaps in time, you will only need to show your OriginalMy credentials to board a flight.
3. Education
Blockchain is influencing every area of daily life – education is not an exception. Malta, a European island country, has announced that educational certificates will be stored on the blockchain.
Likewise, Sony and Fujitsu have revealed that they will store course data, grades, and certifications on the blockchain. Only a few years before, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology did the same, issuing blockchain-based digital certificates to over 100 graduates as part of a pilot program for the fall 2017 semester.
4. Health
A number of health plan providers including Aetna, Anthem, and the Health Care Service Corporation have partnered with IBM to create a blockchain network aimed at improving the way sensitive data is share and making transactions and health claims more efficient.
5. Smart Contracts and Decentralization
In Blockchain, there is a mechanism called smart contract which allows users to set up a custom digital contract. You can create a smart contract through code. These contracts need to have terms and conditions that will execute when triggered.
For example, in the event of a close family death, you may be wondering who has the right to the inheritance. Who is responsible to make this transfer? Who can guarantee that transfer will happen?
With a smart contract, you can decentralize the responsibility to the blockchain network, where a term is triggered and it will execute and make payment. While the internet exists, you can be sure the transfer will occur.
6. Voting
Agora has developed a secure and transparent platform for voting. You can imagine how sensitive personal information is as well as the consequences of voting fraud.
By using blockchain technology Agora provides a next-generation digital voting platform for governments and organizations.
7. Cloud Storage
Storj provides decentralized cloud storage, making it unhackable.
As mentioned above, blockchain offers great security benefits for cloud-based storage. The company is open about its code and operations and ensures the security with client-side AES-256-GCM encryption on every file.
8. Government
The Estonian government partnered with Eriksson to create a data center system to move public records to cloud storage.
9. Retail
OpenBazaar is one of the most salient examples of an online marketplace for goods and services with no middleman. Using bitcoin as its leading cryptocurrency, OpenBazaar offers peer-to-peer trading without service fees.
10. Real Estate
Propy is a blockchain-based smart contract company that aims at providing home buyers with a secure way to perform operations and minimize the risk of fraud in the real estate market.
11. Mobile Payments
iOS 10 opened the door for developers to allow blockchain payments. This is a monumental step for social payment systems.
Apple now lets users send blockchain payments through iMessage. As you can see, blockchain is well on its way to being a regular part of users’ digital experience.
12. Fun
It’s hard to understand the full potential of technology when presented with new territory. But one company, in particular, has surpassed this obstacle.
CryptoKitties is a blockchain game where users can collect and breed virtual cats. Due to the permanency of blockchain, these cats cannot be replaced, altered, or destroyed.
CryptoKitties launched November 28, 2017, and within its first week, collectors spent over two million dollars on the digital cats, with the highest price paid for a single kitten at $117,712.
Is Blockchain Right For You?
In short, blockchain decentralizes the authority of online transactions:
- It’s an anonymous system of verification and transaction initiation.
- It is egalitarian by nature and marks a revolutionary shift away from traditional payment methods.
Being able to leverage blockchain technology can open doors to a whole new world of consumer protection and confidentiality within your app. The community is confident that it will become the new industry standard for encryption and privacy.
Hopefully some of the examples you saw above illustrate just how useful blockchain can be, no matter the project. To see if you need this kind of technology, ask yourself these questions below:
- Does my service need to send global payments very fast with low costs?
- Does my service need to make a public report as evidence?
- Does my service need to execute a process with confidence?
- Does my service need to protect extremely sensitive data from hackers or frauds?
- Does my service need to process a lot of transactions and data very fast?
- Does my service need to provide data even if my company doesn’t exist anymore?
Blockchain provides safety through permanent, unalterable public or private data with low costs and great performance. If your business needs to guarantee these key points, maybe you need a blockchain solution.
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Conclusion
As innovative as blockchain technology may sound, it is a simplified mechanism of securing transactions while bringing involved parties to the highest level of accountability.
It provides business with crucial elements of transparency, security, and efficiency.
Blockchain technology is not only a privilege of large corporations and startups with millions in funding. Smaller businesses can also make use of this novelty to keep business operations secure.
Are you looking to incorporate blockchain into your software? Trio can be the software development partner you’re looking for.
From the methods of implementation to creating the final product, our software engineers will address all your concerns and help you find the best way of turning your ideas into user-friendly software.
Whether it is a mobile or web application, we have specialists ready to join your project.
Sound interesting? Tell us about your ideas and let’s see how Trio can bring them to life!