20 Up and Coming Uses for Blockchain Technology

1. Payment Processing & Money Transfers
Banks are removed from the equation, validation of transactions 24/7, settle transactions within seconds.

2. Monitoring Supply Chains
Remove paper trails, pinpoint supply chain inefficiencies, real time item locator and quality-control of products as they travel point to point.

3. Retail Rewards Programs
Boost the retail experience by creating token-based reward systems for consumers. Incentivizing them to return to that store. Also prevent fraud and eliminate waste associated rewards cards.

4. Digital IDs
Give users an encrypted and secure way to store, manage, control and use their digital identities.

5. Data Sharing
As a marketplace to share or sell enterprise data that largely goes unused. Blockchain would securely encrypt, store, facilitate the monetization of and move the data as needed.

6. Copyright & Royalty Protection
The blockchain would provide real-time and transparent royalty distribution of data to musicians and content creators while customers are guaranteed their purchase is authentic.

7. Digital Voting
Voting digitally is encrypted via an individuals private key, they remain anonymous while it’s transparent enough for regulators see fraudulent activity on the network and provide immutability for all votes.

8. Real Estate, Land & Vehicle Title Transfers
You need to transfer the title and funds when buying or selling a house, land or a vehicle from one person to a 3rd party then to another. With blockchain, it stores all of this information as transparent and the transaction is executed as a smart contract lock-step-by-step requiring no trust from either party, everyone remains anonymous and it eliminates the need for a 3rd party.

9. Food Safety & Origin Verification
Impeccable food tracing from source to your plate. Audit the transport history and quality of food products along the way to accurately identify time and place of food-borne illness.

10. Unchangeable Data Backup
Blockchain is said be perfect for backing up data because the data is distributed and duplicated outside of a centralized location and into a distributed network, possibly around the world. The data will be incorruptible, auditable, encrypted when needed and can only be hacked by stealing some’s private key.

11. Tax Compliance
Businesses can use blockchain as a means to record their sales records, quarterly installments, expenses, deductions and provide transparency and immutability to authorities while allowing a reliable audit.

12. Workers’ Rights
Boost and make equal, workers rights around the world by obliging employers to honor their digital contracts with a blockchain registry, smart contracts and protocols that verify identity, location, time and pay, and the enforcement of contracts.

13. Medical Records
Paperless record keeping for storing patient records. Each person possesses a private key to access their digital records. A patient would be in control of who gains access to their data around the world.

14. Weapons Tracking
Blockchain would provide transparent an unchangeable weapons registry network to control, track and audit firearms.

15. Wills, Estates and Inheritances
Storing digital wills and documents on a blockchain network. Smart contracts would execute and release assets when certain criteria and timelines are met making events legally binding and crystal clear as to who should receive what and when, after someone passes away.

16. Equity Trading
Blockchain could replace today’s equity trading platforms as it networks, validates and settles all transactions within seconds eliminating multi-day wait times that investors normally encounter when selling stocks and transferring funds. It will also eliminate the middle man or third parties that charge fees for each slow transaction.

17. Managing Internet of Things
Blockchain would monitor Internet of Things (IoT) devices on networks. Special applications would validate the trustworthiness and then authorize the function of stationary and mobile devices such as smart phones and cars within the network.

18. Energy Futures Trading & Compliance
Just like the equity traders above, blockchain removed the middle-man and provides a much faster means for energy companies to trade assets by transparently logging their resources and maintaining regulatory compliance.

19. Securing Access to Private and Physical Property
Use blockchain to schedule or manually provide access via your private digital key. Remotely grant access to your house, vehicles, business and any IoT for your family, friends and service technicians.

20. Tracking Prescription Drugs
Blockchain gives drugmakers the power to transparently track and audit their products while customers know they’re getting the correct medicine they expect from the pharmacy.

SOURCE: Motley Fool