Blockchain, a technology undermining the most notorious currency medium, the cryptocurrency first came forward in 2009. Ever since the technology has grown to expand over quite numerous areas apart from mere cryptocurrency and is dominating almost every aspect of human lives.
Technology with the potential to dominate every industry available, blockchain is ultimately bringing out a revolutionary change in the way the world goes on. With blockchain so glorified, here is a short insight over what blockchain technology is.
What Is Blockchain Technology?
Blockchain technology was first introduced to the world in 2009, along with the development of Bitcoins. Offering a changed method of information exchange, this technology omitted the use of a middle man while establishing exchanges.
In contrast, it made use of digital ledger, referred to as blockchain, which overlooks and records every information exchange passing through it. Albeit these records did not fall under a single entity’s control, they were, however, accessible to all users and were thus easily verified.
This decentralized aspect of information passing and processing ensures security from hackers and a reduced risk of corruption. However, with various industries investing in blockchain, including Walmart, IBM, and NASA, it is safe to say that its use expands beyond the realm of bitcoins. Here are some of the key ways through which blockchain is bringing about changes to the world:
1. Increased Cybersecurity
Considering blockchain was first invented to ensure secure transactions, its use in cybersecurity is bound to be robust and fulfilling. It promises security with strict user authentication by having limited access keys.
Blockchain technology is designed to keep data decentralized, which therefore proves it handy in defending against cybersecurity breaches similar to the ones that happened at Equifax.
Additionally, blockchain technology helps defend against website vulnerabilities like DDoS attacks. Primarily as these attacks mostly occur when there is an overwhelmingly increased traffic over a website by hackers — the website, unable to keep up with requests crashes.
Previously these attacks were hard to deal with as it was the DNS only, which was decentralized and that too partially. However, with blockchain technology, these attacks are better dealt with as it facilitates complete decentralization of data.
Therefore blockchain technology ensures that data remains safe from being stolen, corrupted, or deleted.
2. An Improvement in Marketing and Advertising
Blockchain technology works efficiently within the domain of marketing and public relations too. Such that, it allows PR firms to classify if their responses on social media are through robots or humans.
This is particularly useful as companies that get genuine human feedback to have a better chance of improving their services and products. Let’s suppose, if the company is related to forex trading so, it also helps in trading in the shares market too. Therefore these companies using blockchain technology to validate their statistical marketing data are likely to be more efficient.
Moreover, blockchain technology also plays a role in improving PR relations by analyzing the originality of press releases, social media posts, and media advisories. It also ensures coherent content goes online on social media platforms.
It additionally allows organizations to have digital ledger containing unreleased content, which allows the company to manage and track changes within their records. With this, blockchain enables efficiency within content management.
3. Better Agricultural Setup
Blockchain ecosystems are designed to record every step of a product transfer process, starting from the origin to price confirmation. Implementing such an ecosystem can prove to be vital for the agricultural sector as it would allow transparency in understanding identifying and recording the origin of the produce and its journey.
This technology can simultaneously benefit farmers, retailers, and consumers alike. It would ensure farmers getting their fair payment while consumers and retailers can be aware of the origin and legitimacy of the product.
Furthermore, blockchain also revolutionizes the mechanisms of farming by introducing more “smart” ways of farming rather than traditional ones. With the use of technology such as real-time- SMS alerts, timely weather reports, and structured modern machinery can ensure precision and efficiency in agriculture.
4. Improved Healthcare Standards
Healthcare setups are matters of high integrity, delicacy, and efficiency within these setups is necessary, which can be brought about through blockchain.
As maintaining the integrity of medical records particularly vital, blockchain can ensure that as data stored within such an ecosystem is tamper-proof. Therefore, storing medical records within a blockchain-based ecosystem can help maintain their integrity.
Blockchain can also prove useful while facilitating and maintaining the delicacy of the consent management process. Storing medical procedures that the patient has consented to ensure only authorized persons access it.
Also, blockchain can simplify tracking patient appointments. This way hospitals can reward regular patients and thus promote a sense of personal health within patients.
5. An Improvement in the Real Estate Industry
Blockchain technology also had an impact on the real estate industry because it created new opportunities for investors and homeowners. Property tokenization is the materialization of a real estate asset and it’s rights (like shares of a company) in a token on the blockchain. This allows the birth of a secondary real estate market, in which real estate assets can be traded peer-to-peer on a blockchain, instantly and securely. This method also facilitates the management and conditioned distribution of tokenized assets. A new era opens for real estate assets: their digitalization. This gives us alternative ways to invest in a tokenized property: Invest in the primary market via a crowdfunding platform and Invest in the secondary market by buying a real estate token on an exchange.
6. Efficient Management of Supply Chains
Transparency and accessibility are the fundamentals of efficient logistical operations- qualities that severely lack within industrial infrastructure nowadays. Misplaced, delayed, or damaged shipments are becoming a norm, which ultimately gives root to corruption.
However, blockchain ensures transparency and traceability through its strict and unalterable nature. Regular updates within a digital ledger of every ongoing activity ensure every participant present within the platform can monitor the status of assets.
This process is considered secure as it reduces the chances of fraud and allows precise identification of errors and issues. It ultimately eliminates the need for paperwork too.
Therefore let it be over global or local scale supply chains working through blockchain technology guarantees scalability while enhancing security through improved transparency. Ultimately the TL;DR here blockchain-based supply chains are guaranteed to be more effective, efficient and ultimately robust.
Blockchain Future Is Surely Inevitable
Blockchain is undoubtedly an effective technology and has taken the world by storm. It proves to be an efficient tool against fraud, corruption, and crime. Additionally, it makes processes faster and efficient.
Just now, blockchain technology has started embedding its roots in various sectors of the world, and there is a welcoming acceptance towards it, too, with blockchain technology courses being offered in various universities. In light of such advancements, it is safe to say that a blockchain future is long evitable.