Blockchain has long been a big name in finance due to its inextricable link to cryptocurrency. This decentralized ledger system can record real-time Bitcoin transactions across multiple computer networks. While it serves as the backbone of digital currency, it’s also been useful in many other industries.
How much influence will blockchain have on businesses and society in general? No one has definite answers because blockchain technology is still relatively new and rapidly growing. However, what’s certain is that several data-driven industries can benefit from it.
The industries listed below currently leverage blockchain technology to speed up processes, reduce costs, resolve recurring issues, improve operations, and increase data security, among other advantages.
1. Banking
The recording system that blockchain technology follows is substantially different from the standard models banks use today. Accordingly, blockchain can provide a safer and more efficient way to exchange digital information. With its help, financial institutions can safeguard banking records without worrying about data leakage and unauthorized access.
Moreover, banks and customers can benefit from reduced costs. Banks need employees to manually process money transfers, while customers must pay service charges for each transaction. Through blockchain, people can send money in real time without human intermediaries, while banks can reduce overhead costs and expenses.
Banks will also benefit from a faster, more cost-effective method of moving funds across accounts via blockchain. In comparison to traditional money transfer processes, blockchain has a lower possibility of failing, which enables banks to foster trust and loyalty in their customers.
Blockchain can also help financial institutions keep up with and apply recent accounting trends to their operations.
2. Insurance
The global insurance industry is intrinsically built on trust. With that said, blockchain technology is a novel approach for validating various data types in insurance contracts, such as the insured individual’s identity and the claim’s validity. Blockchain can also help insurance companies reduce costs, increase speed to market, and improve customer experiences.
Moreover, blockchain can enable cross-border partnerships or verify cross-border transactions. Its immutability feature ensures these transactions are secure and prevents malicious actors from tampering with them. Lastly, using blockchain to automate automating data tracking can help insurance companies reduce human errors and detect all kinds of fraud.
Blockchain oracles can be used to connect real-world data to smart contracts. This technology is extremely valuable for any insurance company that uses real-time data.
3. Real Estate
Bureaucracy, lack of transparency, fraud, and inaccuracies in sale records are some challenges in real estate. Blockchain technology can replace paper-based recordkeeping to help accelerate transactions and resolve these common challenges. It can also track sales, confirm ownership, verify document accuracy, and transfer property deeds.
Shifting to a digital strategy is not new in real estate, given that new home seekers today are millennials who are digital nomads. They use their smartphones to browse properties and communicate with a real estate agent. Consequently, 58% of real estate brokers use digital technology to sell properties.
Brokers or agents that do not conform to this real estate trend risk losing potential buyers and sellers.
4. Healthcare
Another data-driven field that can benefit significantly from blockchain technology is healthcare, which is currently experiencing substantial data processing challenges. At present, the presentation of medical data has yet to be standardized, so facilities worldwide use various formats and applications for storing patient data.
What is worse is that healthcare centers collect different information about their patients. These medical records can be forged, lost, stolen, and sold.
Many medical practitioners believe that a uniform patient card should be accessed securely from anywhere. Suppose every country and every medical institution collects patient data in a standardized format and shares it with authorized parties in a safe and timely manner.
In that case, healthcare facilities can vastly improve the quality of their services. Data integrity will also increase, and patient records can be protected from hackers and cybercriminals. The encryption, anonymous, and immutable features of blockchain will be helpful in this matter.
5. Cybersecurity
Typically, all businesses face cybersecurity issues that blockchain can potentially address. It is a fair bet that this technology can significantly improve digital security by combating most of its current dangers and addressing the weak points of traditional databases.
Because of its decentralized nature, blockchain is significantly less vulnerable to hacking than other ledgers. It can be used to protect digital wallets and prevent online fraud.
With end-to-end encryption, blockchain can also assist enterprises and organizations in securing sensitive data. It can eliminate many of the common data handling difficulties today.
For example, data encrypted in blockchain will have complete, advanced security settings. Hence, it will be impossible to edit, remove, or falsify the records internally. Even if some of the nodes go out of order, the information will retain its integrity since it is disseminated across a network of nodes.
6. Automotive design
The automotive sector has always been at the forefront of technological innovation, with car companies continuously looking for the latest experimental methods and cutting-edge technologies.
Blockchain technology can help automobile manufacturers improve their supply chain operations, implement tamper-proof recordkeeping, streamline parts production, and support other advanced tech and emerging automotive trends.
However, blockchain’s greatest value to the industry is its potential to inspire new services and business strategies. It is a feature shared by all transformational technologies. The advent and subsequent growth of the internet had a tremendous impact on the automotive sector, enabling the development of new services such as ride-hailing apps.
Blockchain technology can accelerate the auto industry’s transformation further.
Blockchain is the Future
Blockchain has become a familiar concept to finance and technology enthusiasts recently. Moreover, this immutable system has numerous possible applications in various industries. In the meantime, some of the most appropriate uses for this technology are streamlining processes in the banking, automotive, healthcare, real estate, and cybersecurity industries.
Many firms have already created blockchain-powered solutions that were proven beneficial to multiple sectors. As such, we will likely hear about more ways blockchain can drive growth in major global industries in the near future.
About the Author
| Kimberly Maceda |
Kimberly has been writing insightful content for a wide range of niches and platforms. She believes there’s a fine line between right and wrong, with the Oxford comma comfortably lying in the middle. |