Most of the time, blockchain and cryptocurrency come bundled together; people’s perception tends to be that one can’t exist without the other. This situation is changing though, as blockchain technology finds more and more “mainstream” applications. Another popular conception regarding blockchain is that it can be used “mainly” in fintech. It is widespread in the banking and financial services industries of course, but other sectors are also looking at opportunities this new technology provides.
Sharing Economy
The sharing economy is itself a disruptive way of doing everyday things, like commuting, finding a place to stay or even eating. It’s not surprising that the most exciting technology is finding its place in this area. DLT can keep track of the use of shared physical objects, be it a car, a bike or a house. Renting — which is not limited to real estate — can use blockchain to secure the flow of rented (shared) goods. The technology is able to keep constant track of items used by a large number of people from anywhere in the world. This idea lies at the core of the sharing economy model.
Crowdfunding
There are three main types of traditional business funding: Self-funding, bank funding and venture capital. While the ideas behind them are different, the three have one thing in common: they are hard to get. There are either too many limitations or too many requirements. Crowdfunding — or crowdsourcing — emerged as an alternative to traditional business funding, and Kickstarter’s success story proved the concept to be durable. Moreover, it attracted regular people to investing. Still, the model is not that efficient and more than half of all projects don’t reach their target goals.
This situation is changing with the implementation of blockchain. The technology allows crowdfunding platforms to make the funding process secure, transparent and globally accessible. Not just crowdfunding benefits from blockchain; organizations like the UN and UNICEF are already applying blockchain to their projects.
Environmental Protection
The World Economic Forum (WEF) believes that blockchain-based solutions could completely change the way we tackle environmental problems. There are more traditional solutions like new financing models for environmental outcomes, more efficient and cleaner decentralized systems and the like.
In addition to options improving existing practices, there are completely new approaches as well. Decentralized energy and water management systems, carbon markets, sustainable fundraising sources, transparent (“see-through”) supply chains — these are just a few examples of more than 65 projects outlined by the WEF.
Manufacturing
The idea of “smart manufacturing” came into realization less than a decade ago. Manufacturers are looking for innovative ways to cut costs and to improve overall efficiency of the process. AI, IoT, robotics are technologies which can be used to eliminate manual errors. Blockchain can actually rebuild supply chains.
According to Alibaba co-founder and chairman Jack Ma, the technology could be applied as a data processing system and decentralized database for the whole industry. There are already Ethereum-based projects that enable developers to build applications on top of the blockchain, thus making them available to a large-scale industry like manufacturing.
Gaming
The gaming industry seems to be a logical adopter of blockchain technology, just like the sharing economy. Aside from more the obvious uses of crypto incentives and rewards, gaming can apply the technology in more creative ways. Blockchain can help smaller companies to develop their gaming products and gain followers via crowdfunding (token sales, for example). Aside from raising early funding for projects, companies can also grow their communities and react to feedback immediately.
Blockchain can address another real-life problem for the gaming industry: In-game cheating and fraud. This is especially important for online lotteries where security and transparency are vital requirements. Blockchain enables all transactions to run and be listed on a ledger, which makes cheating almost impossible. Moreover, smart contracts are able to conduct lotteries automatically, thus eliminating the need for human intervention.
More and more industries are starting to adopt blockchain-based solutions to make their routine processes efficient, transparent and secure. Insurance, medical and real estate companies are currently following the fintech sector very closely. The entertainment and media sectors are also looking into the options this new technology can provide in addressing copyright protection and “fake news” problems. Many are comparing the future impact of blockchain to that which the internet has made on our lives.
