What is blockchain used for besides bitcoin?

Blockchain Already Used to Facilitate Identity Management, Smart Contracts, Supply Chain Analysis, and More.

blockchain

serves as an accounting or ledger platform that is incorruptible, enforces transparency and prevents censorship. By addressing the issues of financial, political and institutional corruption, this has the potential to create massive social change and greatly protect the human rights of each individual. If you read tech news these days, you'll see that word everywhere.

Most people don't even know what blockchain is, but there's sure to be a lot of publicity about it. Blockchain is the way in which some crypto currencies, such as bitcoin, keep a continuous and growing record of monetary transactions. If you pay for something with the crypto currency or give some crypto currency to someone else, that transaction will be added to a blockchain ledger. That ledger implements cryptography and each item in the ledger is a block that is “chained”.

Blockchain applications go far beyond cryptocurrencies and bitcoin. With its ability to create more transparency and fairness while saving companies time and money, technology is affecting a variety of sectors in ways ranging from how contracts are applied to making government work more efficiently. Founded in 1993 by brothers Tom and David Gardner, The Motley Fool helps millions of people achieve financial freedom through our website, podcasts, books, newspaper columns, radio shows and premium investment services. You're probably wondering what this potentially revolutionary technology can do in the real world.

Here are 20 potential uses for blockchain technology. Arguably, the most logical use of blockchain is as a means of accelerating the transfer of funds from one party to another. As noted, with banks removed from the equation and validation of ongoing transactions 24 hours a day, seven days a week, most transactions processed on a blockchain can be settled in a matter of seconds. The IOTA cryptocurrency launched a beta version of its data market in November, demonstrating that blockchain could be used as a marketplace to share or sell unused data.

Since most business data is not used, blockchain could act as an intermediary to store and move this data to improve a number of industries. While still in its early stages, IOTA has more than 35 brand participants (with Microsoft as one of them) offering feedback. Another interesting use of blockchain is as a means to reinforce the rights of workers around the world. According to the International Labour Organization, 25 million people worldwide work in conditions of forced labour.

The State Department and other partners are working on a blockchain registry complete with smart contracts (protocols that verify, facilitate or enforce a contract) to improve labor policies and force employers to comply with digital contracts with their workers. Many companies have appeared in recent years that offer decentralized cryptocurrency exchanges. Using blockchain for exchanges enables faster and less expensive transactions. In addition, a decentralized exchange does not require investors to deposit their assets with the centralized authority, which means they maintain greater control and security.

While blockchain-based exchanges deal primarily with cryptocurrencies, the concept could also be applied to more traditional investments. Check out this video on how blockchain is used in these five industries. In other cases, blockchain can be used for peer-to-peer exchange or sale. Imagine that you have an electric car.

When your charger is not in use, you can rent it to other car owners, paid in bitcoins through a blockchain smart contract. Most people who have heard the term think that “blockchain” only has something to do with cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin, litecoin, doguecoin, and others. By creating a global database that cannot be altered once registered, blockchain technology could be used to track weapons from manufacture to sale. The unique implementation of cryptography and blockchain recordkeeping will surely become a necessary tool to keep track of data and protect it.

Since blockchain prevents data from existing in two places, putting an NFT on the blockchain ensures that only one copy of a digital artwork exists. The following companies and government entities are some examples of how blockchain applications are improving governance. The report goes on to say that blockchain can solve many of the problems affecting logistics and supply chain management. MedRec applies novel blockchain smart contracts to create a decentralized content management system for your healthcare data, across providers.

The real power of blockchain technology is its ability to facilitate services to underserved communities and genuinely democratize society. The same blockchain platform that is used to provide financial vouchers to refugees is also working to close the poverty gap around the world. For example, a sensor could inform the blockchain when it detects moisture, an alert that triggers a set of instructions that transfer cash for repairs from an insurer to a claimant's account, even before the person knows something is wrong. Second, it provides greater data security and integrity, as blockchain data cannot be altered.

Many financial services companies are using Blockchain to improve back-office settlement systems, increase efficiency and reduce costs. Many major companies are considering blockchain as a way to simplify and strengthen supply chains, where blockchain could record every step a product has taken. The two companies will use blockchain to better understand the supply chain and track products digitally across international borders in real time. .

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