Blockchain applications
A few years ago, the term blockchain was associated solely with cryptocurrency and finance. However, experts from different fields began to focus on the advantages of blockchain. As a result, many industries currently benefit from distributed ledger technology. The most unusual examples of blockchain applications are given below.
This technology is still widely used in international payments. Until recently, only banks and financial institutions provided this service which required integration with a user's credit card or account. Blockchain technology has eliminated these problems. Moreover, it allows clients to conduct international transactions without intermediary organizations.
In addition, blockchain technology has partially automated supply chains and facilitated the process for their participants. For example, the integration of blockchain into a trading platform ensures transparency and provides access to information about the location and status of shipments, automates the handling of shipping documents, and speeds up international payments.
The advent of blockchain technology has been a boon for investors as well, carving a niche for cryptocurrency exchanges. These are online platforms for buying, selling, exchanging, and storing popular digital assets. Unlike traditional exchanges, cryptocurrency exchanges make it easy to start trading due to high transaction speed and low commissions.
Blockchain has also proved to be a silver bullet for the medical industry, enabling it to collect patient data, further analyze them, and select effective treatments. Moreover, blockchain technology is used by healthcare institutions to fight the production and distribution of counterfeit drugs by tracking, verifying, and logging every transaction in the logistics process.
The energy sector is another major industry that favors blockchain. This technology increases significantly the efficiency of electricity service providers. Platforms with blockchain solutions enable sellers to conduct a market analysis based on sales reports. Moreover, buyers can track statistics on their electricity consumption.
Copyright protection has always been a burning issue for artists and creative people. Nowadays, thanks to blockchain, they can confirm and retain ownership of their works as well as transfer them to a buyer or collector, respecting all legal aspects of transactions. In this case, distributed ledger technology is applied to creation of digital works with unique identifiers and virtual certificates to confirm authorship and authenticity.
Apart from being associated with bourgeois society and luxury, the diamond industry has always been inextricably linked to high crime rates. Moreover, it has gained a reputation as a convenient tool for money laundering on a global scale. However, blockchain technology has partially solved this problem. Currently, insurance companies, law enforcement agencies, and other claimants can easily access a data registry to identify diamonds and verify the authenticity of transactions.
For example, blockchain technology allows mining companies to create a digital passport for each stone. This is a unique immutable code that is assigned to a diamond from mining to retail sale. The digital passport contains information about the origin of the stone, its serial number and data on all shipments and transactions.
