As a database technology, blockchain hit the scene in 2009 and stayed strong until this day. Of course, its purpose and implementation across various industries have been changing over these years, but its technological breakthrough has left a tremendous mark on the business world.
When talking about enterprise blockchain, many companies such as IBM, Walmart, and Visa have successfully implemented blockchain technology in their businesses and demonstrated the immense potential this technology might have for other companies in similar industries.
How Blockchain Works
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The majority of blockchain key attributes are from a type of distributed ledger technology, or shortly DLT. These ledgers were previously used to record financial transactions in digitized form in different pieces of business software.
The unique format of blockchain doesn’t store data in towns, columns, and files. Instead, it stores it in blocks that are linked together and crypto protected. This data block and mechanisms for transaction-verification make it almost impossible to hack a blockchain. More importantly, there is no central authority to target or someone with the possibility to change the rules without agreement or take data private.
Trust is one of the key attributes when talking about blockchain. In other words, a person can trust that their private information in blockchain is accurate and stored safely. However, it’s important to state that blockchain, just like any other technology out there, is not perfect. Its level of security and privacy will depend a lot on the fact if blockchain is running on a public or private network.
Blockchain & Its Vitality For Business
Many experts are predicting that enterprise blockchain will revolutionize corporations. Yet, there are a few complications when it comes to enjoying the full potential of this exciting technology and one needs to be aware of them as it’s still an evolving technology.
On the other hand, blockchain can reduce IT costs, expand business-to-business and business-to-consumer networks, enable new products, and create wealth. With time, it’s expected that the business value of blockchain increases as enterprise implementations become more refined and efficient for businesses.
Blockchain Benefits For Businesses
Enterprise blockchain processes involve various parties, and as they all need access to the same data, blockchain removes the middleman and automates all the processes that would typically take a lot of time and effort. Besides, blockchain has incredible potential to reduces not only IT costs, but also labor costs, and speed up eCommerce and financial procedures.
As mentioned above, the biggest benefit of blockchain is definitely the trust it fosters. The built-in privacy, data protection and integrity, and also transparency. Due to trust, companies across industries are able to do business with unknown parties and expand markets that way. There are also other benefits such as tokenization, innovation, and decentralization.
Blockchain Applications For Businesses
The most recognized blockchain application for businesses is smart contracts, which are not only the foundational components of blockchain infrastructure but also as a technology application. Think of it as a program using business logic in order to execute agreements and transactions between the participants.
Smart contracts can be used in the business world in various ways. These contracts can, for instance, completely automate the exchange of money and service delivery. They can also grant access to digital content or enforce privacy protections. Other blockchain applications for businesses are cybersecurity, cryptocurrency, IoT, and storage. If you’re looking for ways on how to invest in blockchain, companies like Tesla even add Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies to their investment portfolio and list it as a payment method for some of their products.
Enterprise Blockchain Across Industries
Blockchain technology can be used in almost any industry where companies have enough money to invest in it and also have tech-savvy market leaders who will know how to implement blockchain business applications.
One of the industries that started to use blockchain first was banking and finance and nowadays, the implementation of this technology is divided into two segments: cryptocurrency and decentralized finance. A new way of utilizing blockchain is also yield farming which is a set of strategies of giving crypto temporarily to a startup’s application until it earns the startup owner more cryptocurrency.
The healthcare industry also uses blockchain to support pharmaceutical research and simplify the transmission of electronic medical records. Many governments are already making the most of blockchain by transmitting personal identification electronically, voting online, acquiring passports and other legal documents, etc.
We can expect to see more of enterprise blockchain in the future, and not only in the industries we mentioned in this article.