The Future of Blockchain: 7 Surprising Use Cases

I’m going to explain 7 blockchain use cases by industry that will transform your everyday life.

Even though blockchain technology came to existence with Bitcoin, blockchain has a far-reaching potential outside of cryptocurrency. Basically, blockchain is a shared database that allows multiple parties to access data and verify that data in real time. It can transform the way we do things in numerous industries, including the following:

1. Government

Blockchain can benefit governments around the world in three ways:

Digital Voting

Blockchain technology can help us ensure that the voting processes for elections can happen securely with transparently.

Each vote would be attributed to one ID, and with the ability to create a fake ID being near impossible, government officials could count votes immediately as they are submitted. That means, you can find out who won an important election in as soon as an hour or two after polls close instead of a few days in some cases.

FollowMyVote is a great example of a start-up that uses blockchain technology to enable a transparent online voting platform.

But no matter how secure and transparent an election is, some people are bound to be unsatisfied with the process.

Transparent Budgeting

According to the Corruption Perceptions Index provided by transparency.org, two-thirds of countries are considered highly corrupt. Blockchain technology can make budgeting decisions highly transparent in a government to reduce corruption and waste.

Record Management

National, state, and local governments are responsible for maintaining individuals' records such as birth and death dates, marital statuses, property transfers, and passports. Blockchain technology could dramatically simplify this recordkeeping and make the data far more secure.

2. Healthcare

A major problem in the healthcare industry is that medical practitioners such as doctors and nurses lack a clear and complete understanding of each patient’s medical history. That’s because medical records are placed in company databases that are separated from each other. This hinders their ability to provide effective healthcare solutions.

We can share medical records on a blockchain that would allow multiple healthcare companies to access that data in real-time. Those medical records can include prescriptions, past doctor visits, past surgeries, medical conditions, and so on. Not only that, but this data would be secured.

In theory, none of this stored information would be able to specifically identify any particular patient. A patient would need to grant permission to a medical practitioner to have their full medical history or part of that medical history temporarily viewable for a specific reason.

3. Media and Entertainment

There are three major applications I’ll cover.

General Media

Media companies are already using blockchain technology to eliminate fraud, reduce costs, and protect their Intellectual property. According to MarketWatch, the global market for blockchain in media and entertainment is estimated to reach $1.5 billion by 2024.

Fan-to-Artist Direct Payments

If music streaming companies like Spotify connect their apps to blockchains, they can ensure that when songs are streamed, artists are compensated immediately and transparently.

Ticketing

Show organizers often have the problem of not having access to their customers’ data. Blockchains can provide complete visibility of ticket information to all involved parties, which would result in more customized and relevant experiences for customers.

4. Real Estate

The average homeowner sells his or her home every five to seven years, and the average person will move nearly 12 times during their lifetime. Blockchain would expedite home sales by quickly verifying finances, reducing paperwork, reducing fraud thanks to its encryption, and offering transparency throughout the entire selling and purchasing process.

5. Supply Chain Management

Blockchain technology can provide real-time tracking of products as they move through each stage and location of a supply chain. It also enables multiple parties including retailers, suppliers, and customers to access this data as needed from one decentralized database that isn’t controlled by only one company.

6. Finance

Here are a couple of blockchain applications under Finance.

When it comes to investment and trade, the blockchain can aid with:

1. Increasing transparent governance
2. Increasing the speed of transfers
3. Lowering capital requirements
4. And reduced the risk of fraud and human error

And when it comes to international transfers, the blockchain can decrease the cost of those transfers by reducing the need for banks to manually settle transactions.

For example, a financial services company called Banco Santander uses blockchain technology to reduce the number of banks in its pipelines so that organizations or individuals can transfer money across borders faster, more securely, and more efficiently.

7. Energy

According to PWC, Blockchain technology could be used to execute energy supply transactions, and enable metering, billing, and clearing processes. Other potential applications include documenting ownership, asset management, origin verifications, emission allowances, and renewable energy certificates.