Blockchain is turning heads. Find Out About the Most Common Uses of this Technology

Blockchain is the backbone behind cryptocurrencies such as Ethereum. It is a decentralized technology spread across a wide range of computers which manages and records transactions. Recently, there has been a massive increase in the use of blockchain technology by organization. But why the sudden need for blockchain technology? Many industries and organizations have been tapping into the potential benefits of blockchain. At the moment, there are many uses of blockchain, and we would be taking a look at them in this article.

Payments Processing and Cryptocurrencies

Many developers believe that the present banking industry has flaws and blockchain is the only viable solution. This is because bank acts as third-party and transactions fees as unnecessary. They also believe that payment validation and settlement processes taking as much as five business days in international transactions is time-wasting. However, with the blockchain technology, there is a possibility for real-time transactions (even international transactions), while transaction fees would also be reduced.

Presently, one of the biggest uses of blockchain is for payments or transfer of funds from one account to another. As stated earlier, bank transactions could take as much as twenty-four, five business days, or the entire seven days of the week. This is unlike blockchain, where most processed transactions are executed within seconds.

Cryptocurrencies such as Ethereum work thought the blockchain technology. By spreading its operations across a network of computers, blockchain allows Ethereum and other cryptocurrencies to work without any need for a central authority. This not only reduces risk, but also eliminates many of the processing and transaction fees.

Aside payment processing and cryptocurrencies, there are other important uses for blockchain technology. Below, we’ll discuss some of them.

Monitor supply chains

Blockchain comes in particularly handy when it involves monitoring supply chains. By removing paper-based trails, it enables businesses to pinpoint inefficiencies within their supply chains quickly, and also find items in real time. Furthermore, blockchain allows businesses, and possibly even consumers, to examine how products performed from a quality-control perspective as they are moved from the manufacturing point to the retailer.

Retail loyalty rewards programs

Blockchain has the capacity to further revolutionize the retail experience by becoming the go-to plug for loyalty rewards. By creating a token-based system that rewards consumers and storing these tokens in a blockchain technology, it might incentivize consumers to return to a particular store for shopping. It might also eliminate fraud and waste usually related to paper- and card-based loyalty rewards programs.

Digital identities

Over one billion people around the world face identity issues. Several companies such as Microsoft are now hoping to change that by creating digital IDs. This will give the users the ability to regulate their digital identities.  This will also promote the access of people in underdeveloped regions to have unfettered access to financial services, or start their own business. It must be noted that companies (such as Microsoft) attempt to create a decentralized digital identity are still within the early stages. 

Data sharing

Blockchain technology can be used as a marketplace to share or sell unused data. Since most enterprise data goes unused, blockchain technology could act as an intermediary to store and move this data to enhance a number of industries. This particular use is especially being maximized by tech organizations.

Copyright and royalty protection

As internet access continues to grow in the world today, copyright and ownership laws on music and other creative content has grown hazy. With blockchain technology however, those copyright laws have been considerably beefed up for digital content downloads. This ensures the artist or creator of the creative content being purchased gets their justifiable share or royalty. The blockchain technology also provides real-time and transparent royalty distribution data to musicians and creative content creators.

Digital voting

The worries about persistent voter fraud are gradually becoming a thing of the past with blockchain technology. Blockchain technology offers the power to vote digitally, and it comes with the extra benefits of transparency, which means that any regulators would be ready to see if something were changed on the network. It combines the convenience of digital voting with the immutability (that is, unchanging nature) of blockchain technology to make the electorates vote truly count.

Conclusions

The importance of blockchain technology cannot be overestimated, as it has been established in this article. Day by day, industries and organizations are developing more use for blockchain as they seek to leverage the potentials of this game changing technology to their advantage.