Thinking about how blockchain could change your life? We have news for you. It is changing our lives right now. Your online banking, tour operator, or favorite online store probably has already implemented distributed ledger in their business. Not just because it’s a global trend, but mainly because blockchain can really make their life easier.
Blockchain for everyone: features and benefits
When inventing a distributed ledger for decentralized finance operations, Satoshi Nakomoto could name a few use cases of it. Mostly, Bitcoin and its network aimed to serve the finance transactions, process them quickly, and store the records securely. Later, Vitalik Buterin presented his vision of blockchain technologies and launched Ethereum, a decentralized network with smart contracts. Years have passed and nowadays blockchain projects offer tons of solutions for different businesses, starting from secure record-keeping to efficient supply tracking.
Why do entities choose blockchain?
Faster than the banking system
When people need to transfer funds abroad, they usually go to a bank establishment, fill in some papers, and wait for days to get a hearing from the recipient about the successful transfer. This is because banks in different parts of the world are unlikely to have a direct connection. So your funds will go through some middle parties that also charge their transfer fees.
Blockchain is a single decentralized worldwide system. When you send cryptocurrencies, they reach their destination in a few hours. You can easily try it on your own — just get the crypto trading app on your smartphone, buy some digital currencies of your choice and send them to your friend or external crypto wallet. These actions will take 10-20 minutes of your time.
The cryptographic security of records
All blockchains are open-source and distributed among all the computers and devices connected to the network. That means no single party can change the data recorded on the blockchain because it has millions of synchronized copies.
Besides, transactions are kept in a stern chronological order. So every block of data contains information about the previous and following blocks. And your personal account, or crypto wallet, is protected with hashed private keys — a long string of digits and numbers leaving no chances for a hacker to know or guess it.
Transparency and decentralization
Smart contracts make it possible to arrange different agreements without validation by a third party. Cryptocurrencies allow for quick funds transferring without banks involved. All blockchain operations are confirmed by the independent parties, random network participants, and secured with cryptographic algorithms. You can check the record about your transaction anytime, from any device that has a good internet connection.
Coming soon: blockchain changing our lives
These predictions are not just dreams and ideas, but real examples where blockchain is successfully implemented and can evolve in the nearest future.
1. A single system of education records
What’s possible now: you can create a digital version of your certificates and academic works like essays, articles, thesis, keep it in a highly secured place, and have immediate access to them anytime you need it. In fact, the ownership of any intellectual property can be verified by the blockchain. As well as your documents, like ID, diplomas, etc.
Forecast: people’s school records like courses completed, test scores, degrees, and more will be stored and accessible via a distributed ledger. Sony Corporation has already announced a patent application for that — a kind of digital repository. So, when going to an interview with your future employer or university, you can leave tons of your science work at home. Besides, having access to this repository, your future boss can find you even before you graduate.
2. Efficient diagnosis and secure storing of patient data
What’s possible now: some dApps can help you to keep your medical data on the blockchain and you can always have it with you. Say, if you need medical assistance being abroad, you can use your private key and share your medical card info with a doctor. So medical staff will be able to help you without additional analysis.
Forecast: the health apps will also contain information about your daily activity and eating behavior. This will give you a clearer picture of progress towards the health goals. Just like so popular fitness trackers and calorie counters but with blockchain-level security.
3. Integration with the banking system
What’s possible now: blockchain technology helps fintech companies to prevent and deal with data breaches and other fraudulent operations.
Forecast: Transferring fiat funds will be possible by using blockchain on all stages. That means higher security and efficient protection from fraudulent transactions. And of course, faster and cheaper local and international payments for different businesses.
Cryptocurrencies are gaining popularity because they have all these features. Still, many analytics believe that the global community is not ready to abandon traditional finance in favor of crypto. So, bringing fiat operations onto a blockchain could be a nice compromise.
4. Logistic solutions: supply tracking
What’s possible now: the movements of shipping containers can be translated in real-time and this information recorded in the public ledger. Also, some blockchain projects, so-called supply chain tokens, are aimed to track the product’s authenticity by scanning a special label on it. This helps to prevent the counterfeiting of medicines and baby food, for example.
Forecast: the range of inclusion levels becomes wider every year. Big retailers, like Nestle, Amazon, Ford are already using the distributed ledger to effectively manage their supply chain. It also helps maintain a healthy relationship with shoppers who can track and verify the authenticity of the products they buy. So, it is clear that the list of companies using blockchain and the number of product categories tracked through the public ledger will continue to grow.
5. Revolution in the monetary system
What’s possible now: crypto stablecoins pegged to fiat currencies like USD, EUR, etc. Additionally, some countries have created their own government-backed coins.
Forecast: blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies will form the new world monetary system. Evidently, governments will create their own centralized systems, independently from the global system and without a single control center. Just like blockchain projects work.
Imagine that Ethereum is a central bank of the N country. Then all the projects built on this central bank are state-owned companies, commercial banks, private and non-profit organizations. They are institutions whose services are used by ordinary citizens to receive salaries or buy goods.
The final word
Sooner or later, blockchain technology will be welcomed in every house. The question is — are you ready for that? Maybe it’s time to do a little research and get familiar with the evolving industry? At least, you can explore the values of the most popular cryptocurrencies on the CEX.IO Prices site. They’re quite different because of numerous reasons, but the number of coin use cases plays probably the main role here.
The more use cases the blockchain project offers, the higher will be the demand for its products and native cryptocurrency. Thus, when choosing a new token for their portfolio, crypto investors should understand whether or not the project will be useful for everyday customers. In fact, many tokens have a tendency to disappear in five-ten years because no one needs them anymore. Cryptocurrency can not stay afloat on the market just like a trading asset, it must offer some benefits for its users.