What is Blockchain and Why Does it Matter to my Business? Part 2 of 3
In the ongoing series discussing blockchain technology and the implications for the world of small business, last week we covered what distinguishing factors blockchain-backed currencies or cryptocurrencies have in regards to traditional fiat money. This week, we will be looking at the way that businesses are going to be utilizing blockchain to further their own businesses and the various ways that they are using blockchain technology.
Unsuprisingly, one of the main sectors that has taken to blockchain technology is the technology sector. There have been a number of big companies in this arena that have already announced their intention of implementing blockchain into their repertoire of business related technologies.
Enterprise Grade Software
Microsoft, the creator of Windows and various other computing products have expressly stated that they will be creating blockchain-related products for internal and business use. Microsoft Azure, the cloud computing arm of the company has recently released a preview for the development of blockchain related products on the cloud. Most notably they are creating a format for developing blockchain-based applications that can be then hosted and executed in the cloud.
Amazon has hopped into the fray by providing blockchain templates for their clients. These were lauded by one of the developers of Ethereum as having a “heavy duty” version of a blockchain. They allow companies to use their cloud computing systems, Amazon Web Services, to purchase computing power and set up their own blockchain in a product that they have dubbed ‘blockchain-as-a-service’. They have achieved this by partnering up with a company called Kaleido, which call themselves “the blockchain business cloud”.
This is a big step for blockchain technology as it really gives creedence to the technology since a bigger business has really picked it up. When thinking about the history of blockchain going from the fringes to being incorporated into Microsoft and Amazon’s cloud computing framework is really a big step.
Retail
However, the tech world was not the first to become blockchain friendly. Plenty of other companies had began adopting cryptocurrencies shortly after bitcoin was valued on the market. One of the biggest proponents has always been Overstock.com, an online retail hub for all one’s shopping needs. This is one of the better known retailers among cryptocurrency enthusiasts, as their longtime CEO is a huge proponent of Bitcoin and various other cryptocurrencies. A report released earlier this year denoted that the company was making from $68,000 to $120,000 US a week from cryptocurrency related sales. Saying in the interview linked above that Overstock prefers to deal with cryptocurrency due to the lack of arbitration. Additionally the company has a large arm devoted to investment into cryptocurrencies and digital assets. The interest in digital assets of the retail giant has led to an increase of its publicly traded stock price of 11% due to optimism in this arena.
Overstock, however, is not the only retail giant to hop on the blockchain train. No tour-de-force would be complete without mentioning Walmart, which owns and operates big box retail stores all over the globe. In March of 2018, the US patent department released details of Walmart’s newest product, a blockchain based “smart-package” system meant to track environmental conditions and locations of supply lines. Details are scant seeing as the biggest leak of this product was from the public information that was released from the patent application and other sources hinting at partnerships with IBM. Largely this implementation seems to be critical in providing safety for foodstuffs, which is a huge issue in China, and could largely revolutionize the way that food distribution and recalls are handled. This is one of the big for the Blockchain in Transportation Alliance.
While Amazon has now entered into the fray, cryptocurrency enthusiasts have spent countless months waiting to hear the blessed news that Amazon would accept crypto. They have not, to the chagrin of many bitcoin and cryptocurrency fans, started accepting cryptocurrency…yet.
Supply Chain
Another noteworthy company that is taking the blockchain spear in hand is UPS. The international shipping giant is facing many constraints as of late due to the lack of adequate infrastructure and rampant fraud within the US, and abroad. Blockchain seems to provide a cheap and efficient way to handle these hurdles for the shipping giant and sets poised to disrupt the trillion dollar shipping industry. UPS has joined forces with a number of other transportation companies that make up the Blockchain in Transport Alliance (BiTA). These companies hope to work together to rebuild the infrastructure that is much needed in the ever evolving global marketplace. UPS is joining forces with more than 240 companies that are committed to using blockchain to turn around the current woes of the shipping and supply chain industry.
International Business Machine (IBM) is another company that has gained some headlines in the recent news for its pilot program in tracking supply lines. In fact, the pilot with a Singaporean company was so successful they moved to have another run immediately after the conclusion of the first trial. IBM is now offering a suite of blockchain-based tools that allow everyone from middle men to end users to utilize blockchain technology to track, secure, and understand the supply chain infrastructure. These companies are hardly alone in tackling this challenge, and many believe that this will be the biggest use case for the next year or so of blockchain technology.
Fundraising
Initial Coin Offerings took the world by storm in 2013 with the launch of the Ethereum Blockchain. At first, it lived as a concept, then moving to a live blockchain and cryptocurrency in 2014 with the young founder, Vitalik Buterin, raising 18 million dollars in cryptocurrency and establishing the first Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO) to manage these funds.
This blockchain would come to facilitate everyday users to create their own smart contracts to allow for exchange of Ethereum for products or services. A large portion of smart contract creation these days has been focused on Initial Coin Offerings. This is a special type of smart contract that allows for a company or team to create a token that piggy-backs on the Ethereum Blockchain and allows some specific functionality for the holder. These are not independent blockchains however as they rely on the proof-of-work that is done by the miners of the Ethereum blockchain and require small amounts of Ethereum to move from one wallet to another.
These ICOs, which are essentially blockchain based crowd funding projects, promise to do similar things to the fundraising arena that the current big names are doing in the industry. One aspect of these projects is that there are huge amounts of innovation in using the blockchain technology.
As many of our readers are aware, conducting an ICO is the fundraising path that Monaize has decided to follow. For more information about our sale contact ico@monaize.com.
Hospitality
Cryptocribs is another start-up which is actively disrupting the rental of short term housing such as AirBnB. Cryptocribs allows you to pay in cryptocurrency and pushes its users to become ‘crypto-nomads’ creating a culture of those who can pay to rent vacation housing via crypocurrency. There is a large community taking shape underneath the basis of the startup. Starting as an ICO on the Ethereum blockchain, Cryptocribs has actively outperformed many other ICOs from the same timeline as they have a working product and simplistic business model that seems to be disrupting the space only occupied prior by craigslist and AirBnB.
While Cryptocribs is an anomaly among the hospitality industry, but with the various benefits of cryptocurrency coming into the forefront of business and the trust-less transactions that cryptocurrencies provide, it is sure that blockchain will further permeate into this industry as well.
Financial Services
While some financial service companies have pushed back against blockchain technology, other are not pushing back but instead embracing smart contract technology. Barclays are currently running tests for trading derivatives using smart contracts.
Who’s Next?
Facebook has recently announced an initiative to form a group of experts which will be exploring the uses of blockchain technology. The details are scant for the moment Many others are sure to move into the space as this is easily one of the biggest technological progressions since the internet.
From Overstock.com generating valuable sales revenues, more transparent supply chains, to becoming a ‘crypto-nomad’, I have attempted to give an understanding of current blockchain applications within business. Join next week for the exciting conclusion to our three part series and how you can begin accepting cryptocurrency and make blockchain technologies work for your business.
For more information about our sale contact ico@monaize.com.
