The Future of Blockchain: New Trends, Use Cases and Impact on Businesses

DeFi

Decentralized finance or DeFi is one of the revolutionary technologies that comes from blockchain. It eliminates the intermediaries and provides a more open, transparent, and accessible alternative to traditional financial solutions. Defi is also referred to as open finance as it removes the middleman and central authorities from allowing direct financial transactions.

DAOs

Decentralized autonomous organizations or DAOs is a decentralized and community-owned operation that removes any central authority by allowing blockchain-governed organization. In simple terms, instead of deciding every aspect of the business by a team of board members, in DAOs, every token holder has a voice. It democratizes the traditional business model allowing every participant in the network to vote.

With blockchain network, DAOs makes decision-making transparent and fair. All decisions are made through a consensus mechanism where every user can vote through a token. It also uses smart contracts to automate certain tasks, such as tallying the vote, announcing results, carrying out commands, and more. This path-breaking technology will be a game-changer in the future.

Blockchain As a Service

Blockchain as a service are platforms that provide services to businesses to create their own blockchain applications. Like PaaS or SaaS, businesses can use BaaS to build their blockchain network, applications, and services. Blockchain provides countless solutions, but new technology often comes with a higher initial cost. BaaS provides an affordable blockchain development platform where SMEs and other businesses can develop a blockchain app.

Blockchain offers a secure, transparent, tamper proof environment where businesses can store or share data. With smart contracts, businesses can automate certain tasks that take time and require intermediaries. BaaS allows a cost-effective platform where businesses can build their applications at a fraction of the cost to streamline the work process. With the rapid demand for blockchain development, BaaS will prove to be an effective and efficient way to build blockchain applications.

NFTs

Non-fungible tokens or NFTs, are digital arts that are represented by blockchain tokens. All NFTs are unique and assign a specific number; all data is stored in blockchain. It includes a description of the art, artist, verification, and more. NFT revenue is expected to reach $1,601 million in 2023 and it is projected to reach $3,161 million by 2027.

NFTs allow a different type of trading compared to the traditional art market. NFTs arts can be a song, picture, video, or even a meme. NFT marketplace like OpenSea allows users to buy, sell or trade their NFTs on the platform. NFTs operate in a blockchain environment which is why it’s one of the hottest trends in the market.

Metaverse

Metaverse is a virtual space where people can join and interact in 3D. Metaverse was introduced by Facebook’s parent company Meta in 2021. Blockchain is going to be a cornerstone in the metaverse as it will provide a decentralized platform. Blockchain will also allow cryptocurrencies in the metaverse for any monetary transaction.

Metaverse will change how we use social media platforms and allow users to create their digital virtual space. Blockchain will play an important role in creating a metaverse and providing security and transparency. Users can buy, sell or trade digital goods on Metaverse using cryptocurrencies. Metaverse is the future of what blockchain can accomplish.

Energy Efficient Blockchain

One of the main issues with blockchain is the power consumption for resource-intensive computation. Every blockchain transaction requires lots of computations, which takes lots of energy. That’s why blockchains are the newest trend in green initiatives to reduce the carbon footprint and build a better energy-efficient blockchain network.

Currently, many blockchain platforms are experimenting with consensus mechanisms. Currently, proof of stake is the most popular consensus mechanism; however, it is a resource-intensive process. That’s why they are shifting to proof of work and others. They are also trying to limit the energy consumption from fossil fuel energy and adopting renewable energy options such as wind, solar and more.

Supply Chain Management

Supply chain management is one of the best fields to implement blockchain technology. Supply chain management requires transparency, traceability, and security, which blockchain can provide. We can build supply chain management software using blockchain that can eliminate intermediaries by creating smart contracts. We can track every order more accurately, trace every good to the origin, and automatically pay once the goods are received. It will create a trustless environment allowing different businesses to operate without a middleman.

Banking

Banking and financial institutes can significantly benefit from blockchain technology. Blockchain provides ironclad security, which is helpful for banking transactions. It also offers immutability which means no one can alter the transaction data, which will bring more trust to the platform. Blockchain will protect banking data from hackers by providing tamper proof data. It will also bring transparency with a decentralized ledger where every user can access the data. Blockchain can change the way traditional banking organizations work and provide a better solution.

Health Care

Healthcare systems deal with large amounts of confidential patient data, requiring enhanced security and accuracy. Blockchain allows healthcare institutes to keep their data safe and secure with a decentralized network where every block is secure using a cryptographic algorithm. It will streamline healthcare data processing and add better accuracy and efficiency. With smart contracts, we can help patients get their health insurance or prescriptions once they complete the test. It will create a transparent and traceable network to access all patient data and reduce counterfeit medicine.

Gaming

The gaming industry is one of the biggest markets in the world, as it will reach US$396.20bn in 2023 and is projected to reach around US$533.00bn by 2027. However, there are no new innovations in the field, and many issues which can be solved with blockchain. Blockchain can introduce a decentralized environment where gamers can play without any centralized authorities dictating rules. They can buy, sell or trade their gaming assets on the blockchain marketplace using cryptocurrencies and NFTs. Players can store their items in wallets without worrying about being stolen.

Eliminating Intermediaries

One of the biggest advantages that can impact businesses is removing middlemen. Currently, all businesses need intermediaries for deals, payments, or other transactions. Blockchain will remove them by introducing a trustless environment. Trustless means using a decentralized network where companies do not need to acquire middlemen for every transaction.

Companies and businesses deal with contracts, banking, settlement, and more, which requires a third party as both client and service provider have no trust. However, with blockchain, companies can deal with other businesses using a decentralized ledger where all data is tamper-proof and transparent. It will create trust and allow them to make a deal without a middleman.

Cost Effective

Blockchain will lower the cost of businesses by employing different sets of technology. It offers better security, allowing businesses to keep their data safe from cyber-attacks and reduce costs on cybersecurity. It offers higher transparency and traceability, allowing them to save expenses on data breaches and business malpractices.

With smart contracts, businesses can automate certain tasks allowing employees to focus on the core business. It will also help them with contracts and payments. Once we program the smart contracts, it will automatically release payment when goods are received. Smart contracts provide them with the same services as intermediaries, saving them a great amount of money.

Security and Privacy

Blockchain is built on the principle of security. It provides a secure environment where businesses can store and access confidential information or IPs. With a decentralized ledger, anyone with authorization can access the data. Every block is secured with a cryptographic hash that protects the data. Also, every block relates to the previous block, making removing or altering data impossible.

Blockchain also protects users’ data and privacy. It can keep the data secure from any outside entity. This is useful for businesses that deal with large amounts of user data. Every user on the blockchain network has public and private keys, just strings of numbers allowing them to access data.

Transparency and Accountability

Companies are always looking for a way to improve transparency in their process. Transparency builds trust allowing them to create a better product. Blockchain uses a decentralized ledger to create a transparent network. Every node or user can access every transaction in the network. Apart from that, all data is immutable, which means it cannot be altered once the data is stored. With this feature, all data is tamper-proof, creating trust and eliminating doubts.

Blockchain also increases accountability within the network. Every block on the blockchain records data regarding which users created and accessed it. It will allow them to trace back any issue to a user. Every transaction is transparent and auditable, creating a secure environment without data breaches.

Allow Access to Financial services

Blockchain will disrupt the banking sector by allowing millions of people who do not use any banking services. In the US only 5.9 million people do not have a single bank account. One of the main reasons behind it is lack of services or credit score. Blockchain will allow all these people to use their services without any issues.

Cryptocurrency is different from traditional fiat money. It does not have any central authority managing or limiting them. Cryptocurrency will allow all those people without a bank account to buy or sell goods with them. They can store cryptocurrency in their wallet without any banking process. Like when most businesses adopt a cashless approach, they will soon implement cryptocurrencies too.

HOW TO IMPLEMENT BLOCKCHAIN TECHNOLOGY IN YOUR BUSINESS