5 Industries That Will Benefit The Most From Blockchain Technology

Since Nakamoto's Bitcoin white-paper publishing, blockchain faced several improvements, being spread among different sectors of the industry, instead of being kept on financial environment only. But there's more to be done. Get to know which industries will get pleased the most by these new technologies.

Over the last few years, blockchain technology has delivered control directly into the hands of the public. It has given a new meaning to the word democracy. And with the development of platforms such as Ethereum, blockchain has opened up a new world of ICOs.

But what is blockchain technology?

Simply put, it is an online version of a ledger, except the data stored in a block is available to everyone in the world. Unlike traditional economic transactions, this ledger is immune to forgery which makes it a secure platform.

When Bitcoin was launched, cryptocurrency became a hot topic on the internet. But visionaries like Vitalik Buterin knew that there was more to blockchain than just being a medium of payment. Buterin created Ethereum, which powers a smart contracts platform used for building different decentralized applications. Soon, more and more people started realizing that blockchain applications would make established processes more efficient and less prone to fails.

So, nearly any industry you randomly pick can benefit from blockchain technologies, but we've picked five industries that are the ones that mostly can get benefited from this world-changing technology.

1. Banks

Since the concept of decentralized technology began with Bitcoin, it seems fitting that blockchain is the one to disrupt the banking industry. Banking is one of the oldest and most important industries in the world. Unfortunately, it is plagued by issues — banking fees are high and sending money abroad is a long and tiring process.

Currently, banks don’t accept cryptocurrencies, although implementing blockchain technologies on internal procedures could mean faster and safer operations. According to a report by Accenture, banks could spare $10 billion by using blockchain for clearance and settlement. Trade finance and identity verification can also be automated to cut down both the cost and time of the banking process.

2. Voting

Elections are often termed unfair and rigged by opposing parties. Even if the accusations are correct, it is extremely difficult to retrace and inspect every vote. This is why blockchain technology can remodel the entire voting system. Firstly, users will have to be verified before casting a vote. Secondly, each vote would be permanently printed on the blockchain — similar to financial transactions, the election will become impossible to falsify or alter. Votes would be protected by cryptography, granting that no votes could be duplicated or emitted by the wrong person. Lastly, votes could be counted automatically on a blockchain which will make the electoral system reliable and authentic.

3. Real Estate

Real estate has always been the safest investment option for people all around the world. However, just like banking, this industry is outdated as it relies heavily on paperwork and intermediaries. In order to improve the housing market, companies need to consider implementing blockchain technology so these transactions are completed transparently. Smart contracts can also be used instead of manual documentation — the latter possibly including human errors and requiring changes for every single purchase, which would lead to a longer time of processing transactions. A few companies have already proposed platforms which will allow users to trade properties and get ROIs using blockchain.

4. Retail

Shopping experiences can be improved if websites were to adopt decentralized methods for buyers and sellers. Instead of paying third-parties, using cryptocurrencies or credit cards on a blockchain platform would be a secure method of payment. Users also dislike filling huge credit card forms up when finalizing their order. Blockchain would solve this issue by allowing them to fill their cart and complete the transaction just by scanning a QRCode, and the payment would be instant.

5. Healthcare

Healthcare industry suffers from one problem that can cost a person his life: time. As soon as you enter a hospital or a clinic, you are required to fill out forms asking for your medical history. Or you have to create medical cards and pay in advance to initiate the clinical procedure. Hospitals understandably focus on the wellbeing of patients, which is why sometimes medical records are not secured and are easy to access. These problems can be resolved by employing methods to shift a patient’s medical history to private blockchains that can be accessed by doctors worldwide using a private key. This way the patient can be diagnosed in a short period of time.

Most of these industries are being targeted by up and coming ICOs almost every month. While companies are still finding new ways to use blockchain technology to further improve user experiences, many have already laid out roadmaps to execute these concepts. It’s only a matter of time until blockchain becomes the basis of technological development and completely discards traditional methods.

Blockchain has given humanity new opportunities to grow and new areas to develop, by allowing anyone to build or to be part of projects that are capable of easing different areas of people's routines. In order to be part of this evolution, the initial step is questioning ourselves: What can we do the next?

People who have answered this question previously are those who we know, nowadays, as visionaries. What can you do the next?