Blockchain could be the most disruptive technology that we have seen in years. It has the potential to change every industry just like the internet did at the turn of the century. Firstly, we will define the technology: Blockchain is a decentralised, distributed ledger, providing a safe, verifiable way to distribute data. When a block is formed, with the data on it, it is chained together with the next block. This provides many advantages being that the whole network must agree on any changes and there is no central point of failure. It is essentially a peer-to-peer system that cuts out third parties. The most famous blockchain is Bitcoin.
There are of course some drawbacks to blockchain, one being that scalability is an issue. However, there are many industries pushing Bitcoin and it will only grow from here. So let’s dive in, here are some industries that blockchain could disrupt:
Finance
Finance is the most obvious as Bitcoin was initially invented as a solution to the 2008 banking crisis. A cryptocurrency can be sent from one person to another without the need for a financial institution. Moreover, with Smart Contracts, a new trend– Decentralized Finance (DeFi) has really come into prominence allowing borrowing and saving through yield farming. Through a Smartphone, people can open a wallet; being your own bank, which then gives you access to banking services such as loans and savings.
Entertainment
With the amount of crypto available, crypto is also used in our daily lives when we want to enjoy some entertainment. For example gambling has skyrocketed in recent years, and in India, crypto adoption is very popular and if you are looking for an online casino comparison site, look no further. Comparison sites find you the best welcome bonuses, give comprehensive reviews and check which payment methods are available. You can even play your favorite casino game for free. We have seen many crypto casinos pop up, with many utilizing Ethereum’s Smart Contracts to give a better experience to the player.
Voting
As the blockchain is transparent and immutable, voting is something that can be done. There are currently many governance blockchains such as Tezos which allow people to vote on just about anything. However, there are still security concerns using computer systems for voting for the President for example. But in the future, we could see many governance blockchains used to make decisions within companies or organizations. Blockchain can be used for identity registration as well as vote counting verification as it’s transparent so everyone on the network can see it.
Real Estate
Using blockchain in real estate to determine ownership has major potential. If a house was worth $1m, you could create a cryptocurrency tokenizing the value, which could provide more investment into real estate. Furthermore, if changes were made on a property, storing this data on a blockchain will be beneficial as it is immutable meaning that it is truthful. Nowadays, if the seller says they have just retiled the roof, there is no real proof, whereas, with blockchain, there is.
Supply Chain Management
Verifying the supply chain is very important for most products especially if that product was to come from a conflict area such as diamonds. Blockchain records are forever giving the end user piece of mind that the diamonds are from a trusted source. This can be of course used for any product, with every part of the supply chain being on a blockchain, this will greatly reduce time delays and human error. An interesting blockchain that is at the forefront of supply chain management is VeChain.
Legal
The legal profession is seeing major changes underway because of Smart Contracts. What they do is to put an agreement into computer code and when the terms are met the code is automatically executed. For example, if person A sold a car to person B stating the cost, the payment plan (if applicable) and terms of sale, both parties could write a Smart Contract. If person B kept their word and deposited the funds on time, the contract would be executed cutting out the need for a third party. However, lawyers are still involved in the legality of how Smart Contracts are written.
