30 Important Uses Of Blockchain Technology You Didn’t Know

Last updated on March 23rd, 2023 at 01:13 pm

Introduction

We all know about cryptocurrencies, and how people invest in them and have gained millions. However, when you ask someone about blockchain technology, the first thing that comes into their mind is just cryptocurrency.

For most people around the world, cryptocurrency is the face of blockchain technology and they know nothing about how we can use it in various other ways. Surprisingly, blockchain is a lot more diversified in terms of use and applications.

Although crypto like Bitcoin was the first to use blockchain technology, crypto like Ethereum went a step ahead and started using the same blockchain technology for smart contracts, decentralized finance, decentralized applications, and a lot more. 

Today, blockchain has diversified into a lot more and has vast use around the global industry. Even if you are thinking about building a career in blockchain technology, there are a lot of things that you can pursue.

Blockchain technology has totally diversified the global industry with a decentralized platform that is free from any kind of central authority. Let’s have a look at the various uses of blockchain technology.

Please note: I have not put the obvious Cryptocurrency in the list because it’s pretty much known to everyone.

1. Entertainment

The blockchain platform is highly beneficial for people who are working in the entertainment industry. It has helped event organizers promote their events in the blockchain community, where they reward the community members for sharing the events. This way, the organizers only pay for what they get from the community members. 

Similarly, a major entertainment segment i.e. Gaming has evolved into using blockchain technology. Using blockchain technology, gaming studies like Ubisoft were able to set up a crypto economy on Steam. Another category of entertainment, which is Music has also been revolutionized with blockchain technology. 

Companies like Spotify, which are known for streaming and podcasting, have acquired Mediachain labs, a blockchain startup. It helps, them to create new solutions using the decentralized database and connect the licensing agreements and artists to the tracks streamed on Spotify.

2. Social Engagement

One of the most important uses of Blockchain Technology is evident in Social Platforms.

Many Matchmaking & Social Websites use Blockchain technology for their user databases. It helps to make a successful match and also connects various people on other platforms like Uber, Airbnb, and more. These platforms use the unique profile stored over a blockchain network to connect them with various other individuals.

3. Retail Business

Noticeable use of blockchain technology is in the Retail sector. Retail companies have been able to create blockchain applications through which users were easily able to access all the product details, their purchase history, and the service for the purchased products. 

It also simplifies the payment method, which is one of the biggest advantages of blockchain technology. It allows mobile wallets, loyalty programs, and other PoS functionality. Some retail companies have been using blockchain to create loyalty and reward programs, which are customized and have rewards that can be used on multiple brands and platforms. 

Apart from that, many retail companies have also allowed customers to use their wallets based on blockchain and pay in crypto.

4. Supply chain and Logistics

Using blockchain technology, companies can now operate the supply and logistic chain more easily and efficiently. It helps you to know the status and condition of the product on the supply chain in real-time. One can get real-time updates on raw material distribution, or checking of the record of ownership.

5. Transparency for customers

Using blockchain technology which is completely decentralized, customers are able to verify counterfeit products, stolen products, and more. Customers can now know where the food is coming from. 

Blockchain applications like OriginTrail are one of the best examples of the same where the consumers can know where the purchase came from and how the production took place. 

6. Insurance

Big companies like Accenture have invested in blockchain technology to provide an effective solution for insurance clients. The blockchain-enabled process allows complete transparency regarding the rules and regulations for insurance. 

It also actively provides digital proof of the insurance which can be saved in the wallet system created by blockchain technology. Blockchain Technology is used by insurance companies to provide proof of insurance information, which is called RiskBlock. It will further help the insured and insurer to verify insurance and accelerate claims in real-time.

7. Healthcare

One of the major benefits of blockchain technology is noticeable in the healthcare category. It has helped healthcare companies in storing and processing electronic records for the best and most efficient experience. Blockchain applications like MedRec help doctors to save time and money and avoid any kind of duplication in the patient’s records. 

Patients can also provide access to the data on the blockchain for research purposes. Using the benefits of blockchain technology healthcare platforms like GEM can control medical experiments to monitor infectious diseases.

8. Property and Real Estate

Next on the list of uses of blockchain technology is Property & Real Estate Sector.

Blockchain technology is used in smart contracts, which allows the users to keep the ownership record of the real estate in the wallet. Also, the records cannot be tampered with in any case. 

Examples are DeedCoin which runs on just 1% commission and helps home buyers to connect with real estate agents and make sales at a lower commission. Similarly, Uniquity allows users to securely record the property information through a simple user experience.

9. Charity 

Blockchain technology has helped people in making global charity. The payment process is not bound by location, as in a bank. Also, anyone can make instant payment for charity, from anywhere in the world. Since it is real-time, the records reflect immediately with real-time financial information. It can also be done using blockchain ledgers, smart contracts, and crypto.

10. Financial Services

When it comes to blockchain technology, financial services were one of the primary services offered by it. Bitcoin was the first crypto or platform that used blockchain technology to provide a store of value in digital form. The same could be used in replacement for physical cash that was used in the banks. 

The decentralized blockchain technology allows users to swap and trade crypto and other assets through dedicated exchanges. Many platforms have also used blockchain technology as a global payment solution by connecting banks around the world, which reduces the transaction time for international transfers.

With Decentralized Finance, you can borrow or lend your assets (cryptocurrencies) to earn interest in the form of rewards.

11. Chain Analysis

Blockchain technology is also used in chainanalysis, which is a tool that helps government and financial institutions to monitor the crypto exchange. It helps to detect any kind of fraud, money laundering, and compliance issues and helps to increase trust in a blockchain platform.

12. Digital IDs

It is one of the primary issues that many people are currently facing on a global scale, where they do not have an identity in any form. Also, people have different kinds of identification documents in each country, which are not accepted in other countries. 

Using blockchain technology, companies like Microsoft are making attempts to create unique digital identities for each individual, which cannot be tampered with. These digital IDs will be used as a common identity verification document around the world and will be globally accepted.

13. Data Sharing

Recently, one of the major cryptos in the market called IOTA has launched a data marketplace that could be used to sell, buy and share data. It is great for companies that majorly use data for business. IOTA helps to exchange verified data and users can check what kind of data is actually used. It is one of the most secure ways of trading or sharing data.

14. Copyright and Royalty

There are multiple uses of blockchain technology, and one of them is the copyright and royalty feature. While one creates an NFT and saves it on the blockchain network, they can either copyright the NFT or also ask for a royalty fee, each time it is used or sold to another person. 

It can be anywhere from 5-10%, depending on the NFT. It ensures that the art is not being used by anyone illegally and the rights of the art remain with the creator.

15. Voting

Blockchain technology also offers digital voting, which is completely transparent and provides immediate results as well. It is a completely transparent process for regulators and anyone can see it. It makes digital voting a lot easier to ensure that the voting process is easier and is truly counted.

Voting is one of the unconventional uses of Blockchain Technology but certainly has a very high potential.

16. Data Backup

There are a lot of benefits of blockchain technology, one of them being effective and efficient data backup. One of the major advantages it brings to data backup when compared to cloud storage is security. It is almost impossible to hack blockchain systems, this is why blockchain technology is being adopted by many cloud data centers as well. 

17. Tax and regulation for companies

Blockchain technology provides companies with a ledger that can be used to record all kinds of data regarding their sales, and funds. It can be used by them to clear their taxes and other liabilities. 

Maintaining the records on blockchain makes sure that all the data related to sales, and revenue are not tampered with and the taxes are. The revenue data is saved in real-time and cannot be changed later, which leads to accurate calculation of taxes

18. Workers rights

Recently US state department and other partners have been trying to use blockchain technology with smart contracts to create a protocol that can verify, facilitate, and enforce contracts to improve labor policies. It would also make the employers comply and honor the contracts with the workers. It would help in improving the rights of workers around the globe.

19. Weapon tracking

Weapon accountability or gun control is a very sensitive issue, but it can be resolved using blockchain technology. It would help to create a transparent and unchanging registry network, which allows government bodies to track the weapon and its owner in real-time. Also, it would help to keep the records of the guns and lots owners privately.

20. Legal Documents

Blockchain technology is also being used to create legal documents such as wills and inheritance documents. Users are creating digital copies of the will and storing them on the blockchain network, in their wallets. 

Using smart contracts, they will automatically be inherited under certain conditions. These digital wills are legally binding and are better than physical wills on paper, which have a probability of being tampered with.

21. Stock trading

We all understand that crypto trading is one of the most essential components of blockchain technology. It is why crypto exchange is based on the decentralized blockchain system. Similarly, it can also be used for equity or stock trading. 

Using the blockchain network, which will completely replace the current equity trading platform in the future, we can make, validate and settle transactions almost instantaneously. It will remove the waiting period of multiple days to settle down the stock investment.

Historically one of the most eminent uses of blockchain technology is in Trading which is clear from the fact that we have a number of Decentralized Exchanges already functioning in the financial world.

22. Internet of Things (IoT)

Blockchain technology is one of the major aspects, that will exist dominantly in the IoT(Internet of Things). Companies like Cisco have already been working on a blockchain-based app that will be used to monitor all kinds of IoT networks. 

It would connect with all kinds of wireless devices to exchange data. It would help in tracing devices, such as smart cars, smartphones, and more. Also, it would increase the trustworthiness of the devices.

23. Access Control

A Blockchain network is quick and efficient and can also be used for access-related issues in both business and consumer needs. It can be used to provide or grant access to various areas in your house or office. Similarly, you can provide the user with a digital key, which is the only way through which they will be provided access to a certain area or asset in the blockchain network.

24. System Security

Security is one of the major advantages and features of blockchain systems. Since a blockchain network is connected to multiple nodes, it cannot be hacked. For this to happen the hacker will have to hack thousands of nodes at the same time, which is impossible. 

Also, any suspicious activity can be spotted by any one node and reported. It is why it provides complete security to systems and apps that are based on the blockchain system.

25. Smart Contracts

Smart Contracts are created using blockchain technology and are basically very similar to a real contract. A smart contract is a programmable code that is meant to provide a specific result under specific conditions. It is majorly used by companies and individuals to create agreements or contracts with complete transparency for everyone. 

Once the details have been added to the smart contract, they cannot be changed by anyone and will work as planned at the time of the creation of the smart contract. It helps to create more trust between both parties involved in it.

26. NFT

NFTs are one of the most popular blockchain features and have gained a lot of popularity in the last couple of years. It used blockchain technology to mint any digital or physical art and convert it to NFT. Then the minted NFT is traded on the NFT exchange, created using blockchain technology. 

It also helps in tracking the record of the NFT ownership and other features like royalty for the NFT, saving all the payments and making payments from the wallet, and more. NFTs can have varied applications and is a great way to convey the ownership of anything through data. More on NFTs here.

27. P2P(Peer-to-Peer) transactions

Blockchain technology has now become one of the most secure ways of doing P2P transactions. With blockchain technology, many such platforms have been created that allow users to make such transactions from anywhere in the world. 

With real-time payments in real-time, the process has been globally adopted and has become the new standard for efficient payments. One such example of blockchain technology is Venmo, which is used for P2P payments

28. Energy

Similar to other industries, blockchain technology is also being adopted by the energy sector. It would allow things like real-time meter readings, billing, and clearing process. 

Also, it will be used to store all the other details of the customers like emission allowances, renewable energy certificates, previous bills and usage, and a lot more. It would also allow the execution of the energy supply transactions. 

29. Security by preventing single-point failure

One of the major problems with data storage is that it is either stored on a system or a server. Apart from that, the companies do take another backup of the data on a different server. However, there is always a chance that hackers get their hands on both the main and backup data. 

In that case, the entire company would fail in an instant. Using blockchain technology, the data will be stored on thousands of nodes, so the company will always have its data, even if one node is working. 

30. Big Data

Blockchain technology as mentioned above uses various nodes to verify their data continuously, which makes it an excellent tool to store big data. It would help in verifying the big data which would help in maintaining the data quality.

Verdict

The Uses of Blockchain Technology are not restricted to just the above. There is a number of new uses that will come up in the future.

The abovementioned are some of the benefits of blockchain technology and how it can be helpful in various industries.

Although blockchain technology is still developing, it has already been adopted by many industries. It is expected that in the years to come, use of blockchain technology will increase much further and will diversify into other industries and applications.