Cryptocurrencies may be associated by most people primarily with money transfers. However, the crypto industry’s blockchain technology has shown an incredible range of other uses, too, from security to media applications and beyond. This versatility and potential makes the technology so exciting, and much of the value of crypto tokens derives from the enormous future potential on offer.
Blockchain for Money Transfers
Let’s start with the obvious one. Starting with the pioneering cryptocurrency of Bitcoin some 15 years ago, blockchain tech is perhaps best known for enabling direct money transfers. Its popularity in this respect has grown significantly over the years (while in tandem, the value of Bitcoin and other tokens has shot up to astronomical figures), and particularly by the early 2020s, the introduction of numerous user-friendly and widely accessible cryptocurrency transfer apps has opened the door to countless new users.
The promise of a decentralised economic system, bypassing governments and bureaucracy, and backed by a real-time global ledger supported on the blockchain, makes this a revolutionary use for the technology, which we can honestly say has changed the modern world in the process.
Besides Bitcoin, some of the other notable companies making use of the blockchain for money transfers include:
- Chainalysis – This company offers a security-focused service with tools that are calibrated to investigate blockchain activities and monitor against fraudulent trading or tell-tale signs of money laundering. Chainalysis offers utility in gauging security risks, and it has been put to use by various governments as well as major financial institutions.
- Circle – Based in Boston, Massachusetts, Circle offers a fintech platform complete with a whole set of tools that help businesses to build on the blockchain. Their merchant payment system makes use of stablecoin technology in order to transfer between different digital currencies, such as stablecoins, including USD Coin and Euro Coin, and more volatile (high risk, high reward) cryptocurrencies, such as Ethereum and Bitcoin.
- Algorand – Layer-1 blockchains are used to provide scalability to Algorand’s service, which is designed to make crypto transactions more equitable. It focuses on security, and has the stated goal of reducing the gap between decentralised finance, and traditional banking methods. This technology has already seen application in the worlds of gaming, insurance and digital certification, among many others.
Democracy
Perhaps one of the biggest and most exciting potential uses of blockchain technology is for safeguarding democracy. Think back on how many times vote-counting has been called into question during election cycles… and then imagine a world where votes were secured and registered with blockchain technology.
Several whole countries have already made the move of adopting cryptocurrencies as legal tender (such as the Central African Republic, and El Salvador) and it wouldn’t be a huge leap for them to go one step further and incorporate blockchain-backed voting systems.
Estonia was the first country to offer entirely online voting for its citizens, and bringing the security of blockchain into the equation seems like the logical next step for societies. Not only would it streamline the whole process of going out to vote, slicing straight through bureaucratic inefficiency, but it would also go a long way towards eliminating voting fraud and ensuring honest, transparent and truly democratic elections.
Numerous companies are already making steps in the direction of these solutions. For example, Kaleido is a blockchain company that creates bespoke ledger systems for its clients, and one of the industries it’s already working with is the government. Their products have already seen use by the World Wide Fund for Nature, the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, and even the United Nations.
Follow My Vote is an online system for collecting votes which does away with physical ballots to let its users vote efficiently and securely through the platform. Another case is Voatz, which goes further to incorporate biometric security in reliably identifying each voter. Such applications have incredible potential to develop and be rolled out on a nationwide scale in future.
Smart Contracts
Smart contracts are one of the first and perhaps most obvious use cases for blockchain technology. Why bother having a witness sign the agreement between two companies when the document itself could be verified and enforced in real-time on the blockchain?
Smart contracts represent the ultimate evolution of the deal, as when two parties make an agreement that is recognised and stored on the blockchain it’s like having the whole world present as witnesses to the agreement. In this way blockchain technology is able to help safeguard against fraud and breaches of contract, while building a business community that is entirely transparent.
This is an area that has seen a lot of growth from new start-ups and established tech companies alike. Some of the more interesting companies currently dealing in smart contracts include:
- DFINITY – Users are able to enjoy scalable smart contract solutions with the Internet Computer, DFINITY’s own open-source blockchain network. It boasts very low latency, which means fast communication and almost instantaneous signing by different parties. The platform is also fully integrated with other cryptos, offering support for NFT storage as well as full Bitcoin integration.
- Google – The search engine giants need no introduction, but many of Google’s users may not be familiar with their full range of Web3 and blockchain offerings. For example, Google’s Blockchain Node Engine is able to deliver smart contract functionality, with the full support of the widely used Google Cloud network.
- BurstIQ – This Denver company is largely focussed on the healthcare industry, where it assists doctors to manage patient records and data – highly sensitive materials – using the security of blockchain technology.
- Propy Inc – Meanwhile, blockchain technology can also be used to provide added security in the field of real estate. Propy is an online marketplace allowing users to buy and sell their homes using all the security of peer-to-peer blockchain smart contracts for the ultimate digital handshake. The impressive crypto compatibility of the platform even enables purchases to be made using crypto tokens or NFTs.
Multimedia Applications
There are countless different ways that blockchain technology can be applied to the media industries. Consider for example the issues of royalty payments, intellectual property rights, or data privacy, to name just a few. A recent study conducted by Deloitte found that the digitisation of our media has led to a huge uptick in the unauthorised sharing of work, or other similar practices which also infringe on copyrights. Blockchain technology, they conclude in the study, might just provide the solution.
Here’s an example of how that might function. In the same way that NFTs work, blockchain integration could be used to track the ownership of original (ie. paid-for) mp3 files, and it would thus highlight files that had been illegally copied and shared. Integrating music, film, and games with a worldwide digital ledger system would make it far easier to police digital piracy, and considering how some digital media products – such as video games, for instance – often retail for prices as high as 60 or 70 euros, an enormous amount of lost value could be prevented in this way.
Some of the companies already using this technology include Madhive – a data and advertising platform aimed at digital marketers. The Open Music Initiative is another, using open-source protocol to ensure copyright by identifying the rights holders and original creators of media artefacts, and also Steemit: a social media platform who use blockchain and crypto tokens to reward community investment, and encourage original content creation and sharing.
A Friendly Reminder: Always Secure Your Assets
Before we get to the rest of the list, it’s worth just taking a moment to remember the importance of adequately securing your crypto investments. The potential of blockchain technology is incredible, and its offerings can evolve in many ways to become an essential part of our 21st-century digital culture. However – and unfortunately – if you’re not careful it can also still be susceptible to all manner of scams and criminal activities.
For that reason, if you’re investing in crypto, it is essential that you take the time to do your due diligence. Choosing the right crypto wallet to store your funds in is an essential foundation to any crypto project, investment, or portfolio – and similarly, it pays to make smart and well-informed decisions when it comes to deciding which crypto platforms you’ll use to buy and sell your tokens.
However, choosing the right crypto platform can be daunting in a market sadly plagued by so many scam platforms and illicit brokers. That’s why an increasing number of investors are opting for crypto platforms, which not only largely automate the process of finding a suitable broker but equally provides access to cutting-edge trading tools that ever crypto trader should be taking advantage of.
The Internet of Things
The Internet of Things (IoT) is the term used to describe a massive, and growing, section of the internet which humans don’t usually access. When you remotely switch on your central heating system, or when your laptop communicates to a printer, or a refrigerator provides its own smart restocking list, these devices are operating on what has come to be known as the IoT.
The next logical advance in this technology involves a move to blockchain. This will inevitably enhance security, which becomes a serious concern when you consider that users may be printing sensitive documents… or your Roomba is creating detailed maps of your home interior, or your Amazon Alexa knows your shopping habits and connects to your credit card details.
There are numerous companies already busy in the process of making these smart devices even smarter, by equipping them with blockchain functionality. These include:
- HYPR – A company that uses the FIDO Universal Authentication Framework to offer an alternative to traditional password systems. Using HYPR, your home’s IoT becomes secured with blockchain technology and password-free solutions such as biometrics (including face scans and fingerprints) are used instead for the ultimate home security solution.
- Xage Security – This cybersecurity platform uses blockchain integration to deliver advanced protection for its IoT clients. Multiple devices can be managed as one, and additional functions such as multi-factor authentication, and “self-healing” services, can be deployed to further improve household security. Xage is already earning recognition in a wide variety of fields, with clients that include Dell, Microsoft, and the US Air Force.
Healthcare
Finally, healthcare is another field where blockchain shows fascinating and exciting potential for integration. Research has shown that the use of such digital technologies could potentially have the knock-on effect of streamlining business and appointment systems, improving patients’ access to important information including their own health records, and as a result, also reducing healthcare costs in countries with no social healthcare systems in place.
Consider this scenario – instead of a patient’s records being stored on a data card, or in a computer software system, they could be linked to unique blockchain-backed personal records that could then be accessed from anywhere, using the patient’s own biometric data.
Already, some companies in the blockchain sector are beginning to offer solutions aimed at the healthcare industry. For example, Chronicled uses its own MediLedger network to facilitate business management, storing secure records of contracts between healthcare providers and their various distributors and pharmaceutical manufacturers. Meanwhile, Medicalchain stores patient records and insurance information, as well as helping to identify the best potential candidates for clinical trials.
The Future is Blockchain
The use cases detailed here show some truly exciting potential applications for blockchain technology… and some of them are more than just potentials, in fact, various platforms and apps mentioned above are already beginning to make use of blockchain in their services. There are also far more potential used cases besides just those listed here. We haven’t even touched on the subject of NFTs, for example, which are currently revolutionising the art world with blockchain technology. There is also immense potential for blockchain to be used in the shipping industry, and for tracking deliveries.
In many ways, it feels as though we are standing on the brink of a whole new technological world – and it’s hard to see exactly where things will go from here, or where blockchain will be providing utility in 20, or 50 years from now. But as more companies every year begin innovating their respective fields with the application of blockchain tech, we can certainly say it’s going to be an interesting era.
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