Blockchain technology, which started as the foundation of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, is now permeating a wide range of industries. This technology is built around a digital ledger that records and verifies many virtual transactions. In 2021, funding for blockchain start-ups increased by 713% yearly, reaching $25.2 billion. However, this technology has yet to demonstrate all of its benefits among the industries of the world.
With the arrival of the metaverse, blockchain technology will become more critical. To not be taken aback by future changes, stay informed and recognize some of the most important industries that will be impacted by this trend, such as academia, banking, music, etc.
Banking
By disintermediating the key services banks provide, like settlement systems and clearance, the blockchain might succeed in disrupting the $5Trillion banking industry. Blockchain has the potential to do it by disintermediating essential bank services such as payments and clearance and settlement systems.
From 122 million in 2020, B2B cross-border blockchain payments are estimated to almost double to 1.8 billion by 2025. JPMorgan Chase has entered the blockchain space with the JPM Coin, designed to allow real-time payments between its clients, and Citigroup and Goldman Sachs have also experimented with the technology.
Education & Academia
Academic credentials need to be universally verifiable and recognized. Verifying them still requires manual procedures, which isn’t good because they depend a lot on checking each case and on paper.
Adopting solutions based on this technology could lower the number of common fraudulent claims by simplifying the verification process. For example, Sony Global Education and IBM collaborated to create an educational platform that uses blockchain technology to share and secure student data. In 2016, they launched Blockcerts, a blockchain-based open academic credentials infrastructure. Hyland Credentials issues and verifies virtual credentials with the help of a blockchain-based system, and acquired Blockerts in 2020.
Crypto Exchanges
In the era when some of the most prosperous blockchain companies are properly centralized, many new projects and middlemen are “dogfooding” crypto purchasing and selling. What they love about blockchain’s its decentralized features and some, why not, the volatility of digital coins.
Before they jump on virtual acquisitions, they usually check BTC price due to its pioneer status and because it’s the first in the crypto top by market capitalization. It can be read now and turn green later, and no one can predict the value of Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other cryptocurrencies. This is why, before making the next strategic investing move, large investors examine the price chart of the top most traded virtual coins and their monthly price performance.
Exchanges offer live, accurate, and actualized crypto information. Yet, entrepreneurs pay attention to what trading platform they invest their money in to make safe transactions and increase the chance of making profits.
Library
Blockchain can also improve libraries, as using this technology could help expand the provided services by creating well-developed metadata, facilitating better management of virtual rights, and advancing a protocol to assist community-based collections.
The Institute of Museum and Library Services awarded San José State University’s School of Information a $100,000 grant in December 2017 to support a year-long project investigating the potential of blockchain for information services. So far, potential blockchain applications in libraries include the following:
– enabling more efficient management of digital rights
– developing a method to endorse community-based collections
– assisting libraries in broadening their services by creating a better metadata archive.
Publishing
New platforms are being developed to assist writers in leveling the playing field and encouraging collaboration among translators, authors, editors, and publishers. Publishers and authors can use the platform to upload files and create smart contracts that govern how the book is accessed and priced.
The New York Times is also working on the Content Authenticity Initiative with Adobe and Twitter. In 2018, the Chinese government censored an open letter about an alleged harassment case at Peking University. The letter was posted to the Ethereum blockchain by an unidentified individual, where it will remain for the duration of the chain’s existence.
A decentralized publishing environment also aids in the fight against news media censorship. This blockchain property, known as censorship resistance, was demonstrated in 2018 when an open letter about an alleged harassment case at Peking University began circulating online in China. The government censored the letter on the country’s most popular social media platform – WeChat, as well as other sites and platforms.
Trucking
Not only digital transactions but also physical items such as shipping trucks can be tracked and recorded using blockchain. While many other industries involve public records, private blockchain networks offer distinct advantages.
The Blockchain in Transport Alliance (BiTA) is the world’s largest commercial blockchain alliance. Its nearly 500 members are working to create frameworks that will transform the trucking and transportation industries. Many other sectors involve public records, but private networks provide unique opportunities. BiTA’s mission is to develop industry standards and educate its member network.
Charity
Blockchain can prove beneficial for those in need, too. Blockchain technology allows those making charitable contributions to track exactly where their donations are going and who gets hold of them. It can provide the transparency and accountability needed to tackle perennial complaints about charitable contributions, especially the organizations’ financial misconduct or lack of efficiency that prevents funds from reaching the intended recipients. Bitcoin-based BitGive Foundation charity provides donors excellent transparency regarding their money by using a transparent and secure distributed ledger.
Music lovers, rejoice! Blockchain’s likely to change the face of the entertainment industry, too.
Entertainment entrepreneurs constantly look for creative ways to gain revenues, so they’ve turned to the blockchain. Smart contracts make content sharing more equitable. An example of a company that’s taken advantage of this technology is Muzika – a blockchain-based music platform that intends to pay artists 90% of their earnings. The company collaborated with Binance to assist independent artists in generating income from their listeners.
Spotify acquired Mediachain, a blockchain start-up developing a “decentralized media library,” in 2017 to spot the holders of songs on the platform more easily for royalties payments.
