The first major application of blockchain technology was Bitcoin. Produced by a mysterious person or group of persons with the pseudonymous name of Satoshi Nakamoto, who released the whitepaper back in 2008. The blockchain concept was designed to help stop double spending, but it wasn’t long before people started realizing the potential of blockchain technology apart from Bitcoin.
World is taking blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies on at different rates and with different views. From governments, to banks, to several different industries, and from decentralized products and services to centralized ones eventhough centralized blockchains are arguably ineffective and self-defeating, offering nothing better than centralized systems already in place (the blockchain’s main strength is in it’s decentralization)
Many believe that blockchains have the potential to revolutionize the world economy. In an article on mckinsey.com, the author shares an interview done with Mr. Tapscott. In it, he shares how he believes blockchains can offer genuine protection of privacy and can be platforms of privacy and trust. He believes that blockchain technology can help restructure the economy, and redistribute power to the people, with technologies such as Bitcoin. He reveals that blockchains can be useful for any sort of structured data, which can extend far beyond money transfers. Enthusiast and advocate for the technology that he is, Don also realizes that there are potential problems with the technology and implementing it, such as energy consumption and a current lack of governance and order. He also says the technology could be the ultimate job-killer.
Microsoft’s John Farmer also has a radically positive view of blockchain technology, as revealed an article by techcitynews.com. He says:
“Yet relatively few people are talking about how the blockchain will fundamentally transform so many other aspects of our lives, including remittances, real estate transactions, election fraud monitoring, healthcare and even identity itself.”
Unfortunately, both Don and John believe the technology is immutable, and Don also believes it to unhackable, neither of which are true. That aside, their hopes for the technology are revealing, and they are shared by many others.
General acceptance of blockchain technology is growing around the world. You’ve seen it and I ’ve written about it in my previous article, governments, banks, and companies around the world are starting to accept, plan, and build their own cryptocurrencies and blockchain platforms.
Koreaherald.com reports that South Korea is looking to give Bitcoin legal ground. Of course Bitcoin legality has been of much dispute in different countries around the world, some accepting it with open arms, some hotly disputing and banning it, and others switching their stance on it. Innovation before regulation tends to cause a lot of issues and confusion.
Other than that blockchain technology also can be implemented in certain areas;
1)Education
Standardization for example
2)Voting
Brazil as example is building a blockchain platform to keep track of citizen votes for draft bills for congress to consider.
- Produce more transactions
An Australian company is claiming that their Red Belly Blockchain will be able to process 440,000 transactions per second! That’s more transactions per second than Visa, Paypal, Bitcoin, and Ethereum combined!
4)Airlines
Some believe that blockchains could have substantial benefits for the airline industry.
5)Healthcare
One article from back in August of 2016 described how 8 healthcare startups were already using blockchain technology to improve health care services and their inner workings.
6)Supply Chains
Hbr.org said that startups and corporations are working on blockchain-based systems to help improve the supply chains of restaurants and retailers.
7)Restaurant Ordering and Inventorying
Even taking customer orders and keeping track of inventory have been revolutionized by blockchain technology.
8)P2P Mobile Payments
Abra has created a smartphone wallet app that allows users to send funds directly to each other through their phone numbers, free of charge. The funds do not go through, nor are in the possession of a third party.
9)Proving Fish Origins
One app is trying to prevent human slavery and human rights abuses in the fishing industry, by proving seafood origins, from the sea to the supermarket.
- Banking
Despite concerns and perhaps some misunderstandings, some banks are fascinated by the promise of blockchain technology.
11)Trading
Examples are popping up of blockchain technology being used in trading.
12)Real Estate
Yes, blockchain technology is even infiltrating real estate. Even Ethereum is being used in some property-based projects.
13)Gift Giving: India has started it’s own gift-giving blockchain-based platform. And there are likely others.
14)Crowdfunding
Blockchain technology could work perfectly to automate crowdfunding and crowdsale projects.
I believe that blockchain technology is growing and will continue to do so. It is important to know the technologies’ limitations and myths that are not true, the technology itself seems very promising well into the future, with and without cryptocurrencies.
Thank you for reading.
