Blockchain, the technology behind the globally popular bitcoin transactions, has gained traction across industries in the past decade. It continues to disrupt varied industries as this content piece is being written. The highly advanced technology works on a software framework that is a database of transactions and records wherein every new entry is encrypted and verified by a peer-to-peer network of blockchain administrators.
At present, the use cases can be found in abundance, but in the years to come, they will multiply manifolds with advancements in the blockchain industry.
Here, we will discuss a few ground-breaking applications of blockchain technology across industries such as government, finance, real estate, and media, among many others.
Blockchain Applications in Finance
International Financial Transactions
Blockchain technology help keep a tamper-proof log of sensitive data related to digital transactions. It provides for a perfect solution to transfer money digitally across national boundaries.
Financial Markets
As per a McKinsey report, blockchain as fintech is capable of benefitting the financial markets globally. Some of its potential applications comprise:
- Integrated audit trail
- Operational process improvements
- Speedy clearance and settlements
Compliance & Audits
The security and the level of encryption offered by blockchain makes it an ideal technology to regulate auditing and accounting tasks as there is zero possibility of a human error involved with the said technology framework. Once the records are locked in the blockchain, even the record owner cannot alter it.
Prevention Against Money Laundering
The unparalleled encryption attached with the said FinTech makes it a perfect tool to combat money laundering. Blockchain, in its record-keeping functionality, keeps a robust KYC (Know Your Customer) element that carefully explores the identity of the participants involved in the transaction.
Blockchain Use Cases in Business
Supply Chain
Blockchain helps keep real-time track of parcels and goods as and when they move from one place to another throughout the logistics network. Exploiting blockchain allows multiple options for to companies moving their products. Entries of packages on a blockchain can help to queue up the events with the logistics network. The technology helps immensely in segregating goods received at a port with high accuracy and dispatching them to their specified destinations. You identify each parcel or container with much ease incorporating the said disruptive technology.
Healthcare
Blockchain in healthcare is doing wonders. With its use, a patient’s medical history can be pulled out within seconds on a computer as the records are accurately kept on a secure blockchain. The medical details of an individual that can be put on record on a blockchain include his weight, age, gender, and past data about the medical history.
Energy
Authorized blockchain professionals can securely keep a record of your energy usage that can be easily accessed by the government to bill you accordingly. Energy consumption related tasks such as billing, metering, and transaction-processing can be easily digitized with the use of blockchain, said PWC. Other potential uses of the technology could be asset management, emission allowances, origin guarantees, ownership documentation, and renewable energy certificates.
Blockchain Use Cases in Government
Public Record-Keeping
Governmental tasks such as keeping track of the number of births and deaths, property transfers in a year, marital status of people, the number of tax submissions by people, etc. can be managed to keep high accuracy intact using blockchain. Thus, the data regarding any kind of public-records can be pulled out with much ease by the government officials, if there is blockchain technology assisting the record-keeping task.
Identity Upkeeping
With blockchain at disposal, the governments across the world can be made capable of pulling out the entire data of a citizen using just one detail of him, say DOB, or social identity number. Citizens would not need to fill in the long forms at any government office to prove their identity.
Voting
The highest level of a secure environment for voting can be attained using blockchain technology. Voting can be digitized providing voters much ease to register themselves in the federal elections. Moreover, hackers will not be able to affect the process because if he will try to gain access to the technology framework, it would not be possible for him to affect all the nodes in a blockchain simultaneously. Every vote put in will be attributed to a unique ID, faking which would be an impossibility.
