Blockchain Applications The Future of Blockchain Technology

Blockchain Applications: The Future of Blockchain Technology

This course will look more closely at various blockchain applications and use cases. By the end of this lesson, you should be able to understand how blockchain is disrupting technology across many verticals, such as healthcare, banking, and others.

We’re going beyond the basics, looking at how Blockchain technology supports organizational and individual settings like healthcare, banking, and Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs). Using Ethereum and Bitcoin as recognizable examples of blockchain, we will explore why organizations adopt blockchain and what limitations organizations expect in adopting it.

Top Blockchain Statistics of 2022

The blockchain industry has a compound annual growth rate of 56.3%, and it’s predicted to be worth $163.83 billion by 2029. *1

There are over 170 million blockchain wallets worldwide (Blockchain.com users & Coinbase users) *2

The global spending on blockchain solutions will reach $11.7 billion in 2022 and $19 billion by 2024. *3

Over 83 million bitcoin blockchain.com wallet users exist worldwide as of July 2022.

Roughly 22% of the global population owns cryptocurrencies.

21% of Americans have invested in cryptocurrency.

As many as 1 in 10 Eurozone households may own some form of cryptocurrency.

By leveraging the blockchain, financial institutions can save up to $12 billion annually.

Blockchain technology in the healthcare sector is estimated to reach $231.0 million by the end of 2022, with a 63% growth rate over the next six years.*4

Moving securities to blockchains might save $17 billion to $24 billion in global trading processing fees annually. *5

Blockchain and Banking

Banks and financial institutions can use blockchain to create a centralized, joint register of exceptionally secure transactions. By eliminating data redundancy, the possibility of forgery will reduce, and all transactions will be available centrally and immutable. Blockchain allows people to trade directly with each other, using a record of transactions kept in a shared ledger. *6

A shared ledger eliminates the need for intermediaries, like stock exchanges and banks. Because of the transparent, shared ledger, cryptocurrency is becoming the preferred payment method in exchange for goods and services like legacy currencies. Starbucks, Home Depot, Microsoft, Etsy, PayPal, Tiffany’s, Chipotle, and Balenciaga are among the many accepting cryptocurrencies today. Banks’ share prices might inevitably suffer when they are out of the loop.

Nearly 80% of central banks worldwide are considering launching their cryptocurrency.

Here is a list of financial institutions that have publicly shared their interest in blockchain, according to Investopedia:

French investment bank BNP Paribas announced it’s exploring how blockchain technology will be leveraged to support its currency funds and improve order processing.

The stock exchange Nasdaq, Inc. has said it is working with blockchains to “reduce the time, costs, and friction points across the capital markets. *7

“The Goldman Sachs group didn’t overtly report working on anything in-house. However, it caused speculation after participating in a $50 million investment round funding a Bitcoin wallet belonging to payments company Circle, Inc. Circle was recently acquired by Concord Acquisition Corp., a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), in a deal valued at $4.5 billion. *8

Banco Santander in Spain announced it’s working to develop blockchain-based solutions that will reduce its costs by $20 billion annually by the end of the decade.

Barclays views blockchain technology as “transformative” and is experimenting internally and via partnerships with start-ups.

Swiss investment bank UBS has gone so far as to create its standalone blockchain lab to conduct proprietary research for the company.

Citigroup Inc. has worked on at least three blockchain-based undertakings, including its cryptocurrency, CitiCoin.

Additionally, Société Générale, Standard Chartered, The Bank of England Deutsche Bank, DBS Bank, BBVA, LHV Bank, BNY Mellon, CBW Bank, Westpac, and the Commonwealth Bank of Australia are all following suits.

Blockchain in Healthcare

Healthcare has many reasons for looking for ways to improve data storage, secure file sharing, automate health claims, online patient access, and supply chain management. We aren’t going to look at the supply chain independently from healthcare. Still, it is essential to note the need to improve the supply chain across all verticals. Healthcare is at the top of our priority list for the sake of the course.

By 2025, the blockchain will be used in 55% of healthcare applications.

The healthcare industry is generating new data in medical records, laboratory test results, billing, clinical trials, remote monitoring, and other daily sources. The data gets stored in disparate and isolated databases. Blockchain can improve the patient experience and the quality of care by streamlining the sharing of medical records, protecting sensitive data from hackers, and giving patients more control over their information. *7 Blockchain technology can aggregate patients’ medical and prescription records from multiple healthcare providers. It can generate a single, up-to-date file that ER physicians refer to when treating new patients.

Blockchain tracks and traces prescription drugs throughout the supply chain. The Drug Supply Chain Security Act Interoperability Pilot program in the United States adopted blockchain technology because blockchain makes it possible to control the distribution of drugs, limit counterfeit drugs, and recall ineffective and harmful drugs very easily and quickly. *8 Additionally, blockchain provides a dependable solution for ensuring drug authenticity because it enables tracking every drug to its roots. The blockchain allows data to be captured at every phase of its lifecycle and encapsulated on the blockchain.

Secure customer data is a top priority in healthcare. Secure sharing and distribution of data help facilitate purchasing healthcare services across hospitals, research institutions, and the government. Some organizations adopting this technology to secure data sharing in this area include Amchart, ARNA Panacea, BlockRx, and many others.

According to DataArt, the following are top examples of blockchain technology use cases in healthcare:

Electronic Health Records (EHRs) Interoperability. Blockchain could facilitate nationwide interoperability of electronic health records, allowing providers access to patients’ medical histories, current medications, and prior imaging studies. According to one study, full interoperability could save the US healthcare system $77.8 billion annually.
Supply Chain Integrity. Blockchain can verify every transaction among drug manufacturers, wholesalers, pharmacists, and patients and secure drug supply, which could reduce counterfeit drugs ($200 billion in annual losses).

Drug Development. Blockchain can facilitate new drug development by making patient results more widely accessible.

Smart Contracts. Blockchain creates rule-based protocols where contracts get executed upon meeting conditions. For example, a patient with health insurance has policy details linked to their profile triggered when they seek medical care, ensuring correct payment to providers.
According to DevPro Journal, despite the many advantages blockchain offers, it still poses the following challenges for healthcare organizations:

Many people primarily associate the term blockchain with cryptocurrency. Therefore, some medical research communities are skeptical of its applicability to their field.

For blockchain to function, every organization involved in patient care and medical research needs to be on board and willing to adapt to the changes this new technology demands. *12

How will unconscious patients provide the security key to access and obtain their files? Medical bracelets with biometrics security are potential solutions. *13

Due to its ledger legacy, blockchain may have trouble supporting large data files (MRIs and CAT scan images) in a single transaction. *14 As a result, organizations must have backend repositories and encoded libraries to house and track large files.

Because the blockchain doesn’t permanently delete or replace altered records, a growing need for more storage poses financial and technical challenges.

There must be a way to integrate blockchain into healthcare systems without additional steps for already-overburdened healthcare professionals.

Blockchain DAO

Today, most US corporations are structured the same way they were in the 1600s. Companies accept investor funds in exchange for maximizing shareholder value as their primary (and sometimes only) mission. A decentralized Autonomous Organization is a system developed to distribute decision-making, management, and entity ownership. Decisions get made from the bottom up, and community members govern the rules of the DAO. The rules and the organization are controlled by shareholders (who must be community members) and not influenced by a central government.

Profit has been the fuel of capitalism. The good has led to improvements in business efficiency. In contrast, the bad has frequently manifested itself in pursuing profits even at the cost of employee benefits, quality of life, increases in income inequality, and damage to our environment.

DAOs offer a focus on community rather than just profit because of their structure. DAOs provide a more socially conscious system too.

Organizations have operated behind closed doors for centuries. Only a select few have access to finances or have any say in decisions affecting the entire organization and the people. It’s time to step into the present and abandon old habits and prehistoric ways. It’s time to eliminate hierarchies and introduce true democracy into decision-making. The best way is by creating a DAO.

DAOs don’t need third parties because smart contracts automate decision-making and reduce human errors.

Useful in funding situations, such as automatically dispensing funds when a certain percentage of members agree to fund a project.
The changes are approved only when a certain threshold of members vote for the change, encouraging more significant input from all members and guaranteeing unfettered cooperation within the organization. *15

The motivation to organize companies differently exists, but there are still a lot of hurdles to overcome. The sooner we consider new systems like DAOs, the closer we move to community-based thinking and away from shareholders and boards.

Other Use Cases Of Blockchain Technology

Reducing The Cost Of Data Breaches-

According to a recent report by IBM, the annual cost of data breaches now stands at $3.2 million, up by 12 percent in five years. *9

Reducing Cost Of Cross-border Transactions And Remittances-

Organizations like Ripple, whose network is now available in over 40 countries and six continents, are also using blockchain and cryptocurrency to overcome these barriers. Blockchain helps achieve near-instant cross-border transactions at a fraction of the cost! *9

Removing Supply Chain Inefficiencies and Lowering Costs-

In supply chain and trade finance, verification of documents takes several days for transactions to complete due to manual documentation. Different blockchain platforms have been created to solve this problem. The various platforms include IBM’s Batavia, R3’s Marco Polo, and Digital Trade Chain, operated by multiple banks. Additionally, The Hong Kong Trade Finance Platform because they make it possible to complete these transactions in a fraction of the time and cost. *17

Governments Using Blockchain to Secure National Identity Data-

Governments are using blockchain for digital identity management. A good example is Estonia, branding itself the first “digital republic” in the world. Estonia has digitized 99% of its public services. And Estonia persistently achieves one of the highest ratings of trust in government in the EU, according to the Baltic Times. The Estonian government claims that this digitization of public services saves more than 1,400 years of working time and 2% of its GDP annually.

Copyright Protection-

Countless startups use blockchain to enable their customers to buy IP rights. Once their artwork is registered on the platform, customers can protect their work from being used illegally without their permission. The owners can also pursue legal actions in case of violations using the certificate provided on the platforms. *13 For instance, Block and Copyrobo use blockchain and AI to help artists to protect their art on the internet in seconds. They can create a timestamp or fingerprints on the blockchain. *14 In return, they get a copyright certificate to prove the copyrights. These platforms discourage copywriting infringements and encourage licensing.

Notary Services –

Now that notary services are available online. People can upload their digital certificates and documents and have them verified within minutes. These services are used to authenticate the signing of documents, like when applying for VISAs. Proof-of-Existence is a service that uses blockchain this way. It also allows the transfer of digital currency from computer to computer, and users get the privacy and anonymity they need, minus the middleman. The documents are secured and cannot be modified by hackers or government representatives illegally.

Blockchain and Voting-

Blockchain will ensure transparency and security in voting. The alleged interference in US elections and the voting process by Russia is nothing new and has generated a lot of controversies the world over. Still, the most critical issue remains, how can we secure digital voting?

Blockchain has emerged as an essential topic in secure voting discussions. Blockchain will secure the voting process by using smart contracts and encryption. GenVote leverages blockchain to achieve these and allows customization of the voting process using different types of ballots and allowing logic-based voting. University-scaled elections are using this technology.

Blockchain challenges.

While there are probably others unintentionally omitted, this is a list of the widely recognized challenges:

• Poor global adoption.
• Impossible to revise the smart contract once deployed.
• Private key issues.
• High energy consumption.
• The difficulty of development.
• Lack of integration with legacy systems.
• Regulations and governance.
• Blockchain is not a distributed computing system.
• Criminal activities.
• And lack of talent.

Why are businesses Integrating blockchain?

Besides the financial benefits, blockchain technology offers organizations a secure and accurate way of maintaining their records. It enables enterprises to transact with each other across regional and geographic boundaries quickly and more efficiently than traditional methods.

By leveraging the technologies capabilities, enterprises should be able to secure real-time data generated during delivery. The blockchain system should enable the enterprise to enhance internal efficiencies and allow it to work closely with partners creating trust. Businesses are integrating blockchain technology to improve security and privacy, for immutable data backup, and to leverage blockchain to power retail and loyalty rewards programs.