11 Use Cases for Blockchain Technology

Believe it or not Blockchain technology has been around for over 30 years now. The idea of the  technology was first described in 1991 by Stuart Haber and W.Scott Stornetta who introduced a computer solution to time stamp digital documents to avoid tampering. Move to 2008 blockchain as we know it is invented by Satoshi Nakamoto serving as a public transaction ledger utilizing bitcoin.

With so many advantages of blockchain technology that can be brought to the world, I had to be selective in choosing these few to share with you.

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1. Banking Reimagined

We all want to keep our money safe and secure and blockchain provides the next generation of security. Banking would be faster, cost less, would have 100 accurate record keeping and above all would be far more secure. Blockchain doesn't just benefit us, but the banks too. Already 90% of banks are exploring blockchain solutions as they would have up to 30% reductions in infrastructure costs and could operate on a 10% headcount reduction according to bigdatamadesimple.com. The beauty is that transactions are transparent, there's less human intervention, meaning fewer errors if any at all and it's a great banking alternative especially for people in unstable or undeveloped countries and those who are working abroad who need to send money home can do so instantly instead of waiting days for money to clear when it's needed quickly.

2. The Death of Taxes

With things like DAOs, decentralized autonomous organizations, the city of Miami has not only proposed the idea of being able to get rid of taxes through their Miamicoin but they would be able to pay their citizens a dividend in Bitcoin, simply for living there. The thing that so many people are worried is going to cause a huge taxation issue while regulation, is going to be the very thing that saves us from this problem.

3. Raising Money

ICO’s and DAO’s are a new way to raise money without going public or creating a Safe or Cafe. ICO’s or initial coin offerings are a unique way that companies are able to raise money without going public. Using blockchain ICO’s are usually reserved for companies or businesses in

the crypto industry and you do need to have a digital currency and an understanding of how crypto works. A startup seeking to raise money through an ICO, firstly should provide a white paper with details of the company. It'll state the amount of money required, how much the founders will keep, the type of money accepted, and how long the ICO campaign will run, much like a kickstarter campaign. 

4.Smart Contracts

Smart contracts, cut out the middleman thanks to blockchain. Nick Sabo developed smart contracts on top of blockchain which has made the role of a middleman null and void. Any contract imaginable can be automated, checked, regulated and self-executed on a computer program. The end result will be a flawless contract done quickly, efficiently and at a fraction of the cost of what legal fees would normally cost.

5.Blockchain Services

Blockchain will be able to connect services directly with consumers. It might have crossed your mind that blockchain will make many jobs unnecessary but like Vitalik Buterin, Creator of Ethereum, stated, whereas most technologies tend to automate work on the periphery doing menial tasks, blockchains automate away the center. Instead of putting the taxi driver out of a job, blockchain puts Uber out of a job and lets the taxi drivers work with the customer directly.

6. Real Estate

If you've bought a house before you'll know the process is neither fast nor easy. It's tedious, stressful and exhausting. It takes the involvement of banks, realtors, lawyers, municipalities, and sometimes even the government just to purchase a property and it costs a lot of money for the whole process. With blockchain you could remove the need for all of the intermediaries, and hoops to jump through. There'd be one version of legal documents needed and they would be 100% accurate, and tamper-proof, reducing the chances of fraud and it cuts out all the paperwork.

7. Files, Paperwork and Contracts

Speaking of paperwork, companies could have seamless operations. Companies are known for their endless piles of paperwork. With blockchain all of these contracts, legalities, NDAs, codes of conduct, business plans, and reports all come together seamlessly to create a DAC or decentralized autonomous company, similar to a DAO. 

8. Supply Chain Management

Blockchain and supply chain management blockchain has already revolutionized the way companies are keeping track of their goods and services. Issues with supply chains permeate most businesses. Lack of transparency and management is ineffective, more risks due to extended value chain, sudden demand changes and theft. With how accurate blockchain is, it lends to why it's so effective with supply chain management and keeping track of everything going in and coming out of the system. These solutions show every step of the product's journey from factory to customer. Information about the product can be accessed at any time and should anything be faulty with a product, consumable or service, it's easy to track the root of the problem. Blockchain is already being used in companies like Walmart and Statista confirms that 55.3% of logistics service providers have already invested in blockchain technology.

9. Insurance

Even insurance companies can benefit from blockchain. Blockchain can and will change the way insurance companies do business, the bad apples who like to dip their toes into a little insurance fraud, who make our premiums go higher, are going to have a hard time causing mischief when the technology is in place. The new technology will equate to efficiency gains, cost savings, quicker payouts, transparency and fraud mitigation. Data can be shared in real time and claims can be verified leaving little room for fraud.

10. National Identity Schemes

Proving your identity, blockchain will of course be able to assist us in proving our identity to the online world but it runs even deeper than that. Were you aware that around 1.1 billion people around the world are not able to prove that they are who they say they are. There are many reasons that could lead to this, such as no formal registration at birth, lost documents due to natural disaster or not enough money to file the birth registration forms. How do those without an identity get into schools find a job or open a bank account. It's practically impossible and that's where blockchain comes in. 60% of the people who don't have an official identity do have a phone, so a blockchain-based mobile identity solution would work well. Estonia has been using blockchain since 2007 for their national digital identity scheme and it requires no paperwork and only digital signatures and has proven to be a nationwide success.

11. NFT’s  

One last example we can’t leave off the list for you, that's actually changing the world. NFT’s or Non-fungible Tokens allow any type of content creator to maintain control of their content and IP and prove they own it so no one else can steal it. This ability is being introduced in some pretty crazy ways and will revolutionize how musicians, painters, or any other type of content creator thinks about monetizing their content.

These barely scratch the surface of what Blockchain is able to do but they are some of my favorite use cases. If you have another use case please drop a comment and let me know!