9 Ways How Blockchain Is Taking Over The World
By: Hira Tariq
Tags: Innovation, Disruption, Blockchain Development, Blockchain, Blockchain Technology

Heads-up! Blockchain is going to rule the future and there is no stopping! After Bitcoin, Blockchain has paved its way into other industries and it has been successful in revolutionizing most business processes till today.

So, what the heck is Blockchain technology anyway?

Blockchain technology is the clever innovation of Satoshi Nakamoto, who used it to operate the Bitcoin Network.

Blockchain is simply a distributed database or ledger that saves records which cannot be altered or deleted. Blockchain is not limited to cryptocurrency anymore, it’s targeting more and more industries every day. You can indulge more into Blockchain with the help of our blog, visit https://xord.one/blog/ to read more on Blockchain. As for now, here are some ways Blockchain is bringing about disruption in current processes:

Replacing Fiat Currencies

An all cryptocurrency future can be a harsh truth to digest. We have an automated future ahead, where most of our services and business processes would be managed by automated systems. Just like that, what if all the fiat currency being used in the world right now, gets replaced with cryptocurrency? We know for a fact that cryptocurrencies are nearly impossible to manipulate in contrast to fiat currencies. Not just this, but cryptocurrencies can help remove intermediaries and taxes involved in transactions made regularly by citizens. Even though switching completely to cryptocurrency is challenging, there are still some programs that are using cryptocurrencies in their systems in place of fiats. Overstock also is one website that lets it’s consumers buy their necessities with Bitcoins. Cicada is a program using cryptocurrency in its distribution of ‘Universal Basic Income’ to citizens.

If people start using cryptocurrencies with the same idea, a time will come that cryptocurrency usage might jump ahead of fiat currency, which can bring about ‘flippening’ and a whole new era of cryptocurrency mining and transactions in place of fiat cryptocurrency. The infrastructure might take time to develop, but once it does, it might make cash incompatible. Governments will no longer be able to control the production of money, and this will undoubtedly change the way we spend and use money.

Redefining the Gaming Industry

Blockchain has already started to disrupt the gaming industry! About 65% of U.S adults play popular video games and spend real money on them to buy in-game assets. Not just the players, but the game developers and entrepreneurs need a secure place to deploy or launch games as well.

Blockchain can not only secure the process of monetization and buying assets in the game, but it can also make the profiles interoperable across different games. The players would be confident that the assets they’ve bought are safe as they’ll be saved in a decentralized fashion rather than being saved on the centralized server of the game, which is a rather easy target for the hackers. It can also allow the player to buy stuff more efficiently with cryptocurrency without the need for intermediaries.

Cryptokitties is a game made on the Ethereum platform that allows the players to collect, breed, sell or exchange cute little kittens called ‘Cryptokitties’. The players just have to download and enable an online wallet extension, possibly MetaMask on their browser to get started. After you have registered on the official website of the game, you can make digital money by breeding virtual kittens and exchanging them with other Cryptokitties, selling them, purchasing new ones, all without investing anything! You can always cash this money as you do with the usual fiat and cryptocurrency exchange. The game’s popularity reached heights back in December 2017, that became the reason for Ethereum to reach it’s all-time high and slowed it down. But if that doesn’t happen in future, would you not opt for a game where you can earn cash just by playing it?

Streamlining Business Operations Worldwide

Blockchain has a subtle way to streamline and secure business processes, and companies like Mastercard and VISA have realized the potential of Blockchain, as they are planning to build blockchain-based payment gateways. Mastercard has filed almost 30 blockchain-related patents to start! Just like that, Bank of America has also recently filed 9 more blockchain-related patents to make their operations more efficient and reliable. They plan to use open-sourced ledgers to make financial transactions more transparent, direct and efficient for companies and consumers.

Not just financial companies, but FedEx and Walmart have already integrated Blockchain in their supply chain management systems. FedEx uses Blockchain to track its high-value cargo and plans to integrate it into all of its shipments. Walmart has partnered with IBM to build a blockchain to track food at every point in its supply chain management system. The data is delivered in real-time and the information is recorded in the immutable ledger along the way.

Modernized Digital Identity Management

We all remember that one day when we were caught speeding and we were asked for our license, but we didn’t have it in our cars. Or the day when we had to identify ourselves at the airport but we accidentally forgot our ID cards at home. And we certainly don’t like the time taken by the bureaucracies involved in verifying our identities as well. Right?

Well, the good news is, Blockchain has jumped in the identity management arena already, with its immutability and security superpowers, we doubt it’ll fail. With different companies working to build digital and extremely ‘personal’ identity management systems with Blockchain, the identification processes just won’t be the same ever again! Projects like Pehchan and Selfkey are great examples of Blockchain integrated identity management systems. These projects focus on giving the authority of our identity back to us. These platforms contain our ID cards, licenses and other legal identity documents in encrypted form, secured behind biometric. So, we don’t have to carry a file of documents wherever we go to identify ourselves, and we will be sure that our identity is always in our own safe hands.

Changing Educational Processes

Blockchain is undoubtedly one of the best technologies to keep records safe from manipulators. This technology is already being experimented in educational institutions like MIT who are testing their processes and integrating blockchain solutions. Blockchain makes recorded data immutable which can help eliminate biasing and overwriting of student results. Anyone who enters any sort of data into the ledger, it can never be deleted or altered.

Blockchain can also help to remove all the intermediaries from the examination process, bringing in transparency among the staff and students. Students and teachers can store information and be confident that the information won’t get into the hands of anyone who might temper the data.

If we think about it from a broader perspective, Blockchain can also reduce the unnecessary expenses and time spent on paperwork. All in all, Blockchain is going to revamp the education sector too!

Making Storage Solutions Decentralised

Any industry, be it a supply chain industry or an ice cream factory, it will eventually have to save information in some way or the other.

Industries enter data in their databases and hire people to update them. Or they store information on papers, which are easy to temper or replace by anyone who can get his hands on them. Blockchain technology is replacing these old data storage methods and bringing in efficiency, immutability, and transparency.

Microsoft has been using Blockchain technology for quite a while now. It started taking in payments in Bitcoins, on its website since 2014, when most people were unaware of the technology that it operates on. Microsoft still plans to make its storage more secure with Blockchain technology and use it as payment gateways. It is also helping developers to deploy their very own Blockchains with Stratis in Microsoft Azure Blockchain.

Better Cyber Security

Cyber incidents and malicious attacks are one of the greatest threats to companies as analyzed by 75% of boards and 62% of CEOs. Even in 2020, most businesses use centralized storage to save their data and very few of them have plans to evolve their conventional storing methods in the next couple of years. And to do that, Blockchain is the best solution they have. Apart from providing security and immutability, Blockchain simply breaks the data into chunks and stores in a decentralised ledger. So in case, an attacker would want to hack the data of any company stored in a blockchain, (which is of course quite impossible), he won’t have a single point of entry to get into the repository, as the company might already have a million immutable copies of the data saved in different nodes.

Integration With Other Advancing Technologies

Advancing technologies like IoT are being integrated with Blockchain to produce cheaper and efficient IoT systems. As we know, an IoT system always depends on a centralized communication server, and if this server gets hacked, it will affect all of the IoT devices connected to it. These centralized servers have a high infrastructure and maintenance cost, and when the number of IoT devices increases, the costs increase significantly. This is where Blockchain comes in. Blockchain solves the scalability, security and reliability issue of IoT systems.

NetObjex is a company who has developed an IoT system where the IoT sensors detect empty parking areas and the payments are made with crypto wallets automatically without any hassle. The IoT sensors can get information about the vehicle and the time since it has been parked. The vehicle number is linked to the wallet address, and all related information is stored on the Blockchain. Hence, when triggered, payments are made automatically via smart contracts.

Reduced Medical Costs

Current patient records are usually scattered or prone to attacks as they are centralized. For many healthcare companies, Blockchain is taking the wheel to save patient records in a decentralized manner. Not just this, Blockchain is also helping to eliminate the intermediaries from recording processes in healthcare and is bringing in automated decisions for the trail of production and supply of medicinal drugs.

Pharmacies and warehouses must control certain temperature ranges for the medicines they receive as shipments and dispensation. The information is tracked and recorded into a Blockchain. The medicinal supply chain management system can be made more efficient if smart contracts record the history of the production, shipment and distribution of the medicines.

Some healthcare startups are already integrating Blockchain in their processes to record patient information for better security, in supply chain systems to track medicines at every step, to help reduce the transfer of counterfeit drugs.

MediLedger has integrated Blockchain in its processes to make their tracking/tracing of drugs more efficient. It lets the user create an interoperable system to track specific prescription medicines.

Roboomed Network is another Blockchain-enabled platform. It plans to connect patients and service providers with the help of smart contracts. Until now, Roboomed has over 9,000 patients enrolled on its platform already.

So, What’s Next?

The world is transforming towards decentralization and a society where people own their data and money. The Blockchain revolution is inevitable. And resisting it would only sabotage most businesses.

Companies need to realize the importance of innovation. If companies would stay with their conventional methodologies to carry out processes, they would definitely fall behind companies who learnt the importance of innovation earlier.

I write about emerging technologies at a Blockchain solutions company, Xord.

Xord provides Blockchain solutions to businesses around the world.

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