But that’s only the view from the outside. Take a closer look, and you’ll find that blockchain is already being widely utilised, especially by businesses, which are using the technology to streamline a wide range of tasks, including making international payments, verifying the details of employee candidates and customers, and managing their finances.
And what’s especially exciting about blockchain technology is that, as we’ll see below, there are already plenty of different applications, yet it’s expected that there’ll be plenty more in the not-too-distant future.
One of the chief criticisms of cryptocurrency is that, while it’s viewed as currency, no one has actually been using it to make payments. But that criticism often overlooked a key detail, and that’s that in the past, it wasn’t realistic to pay using crypto because businesses didn’t offer it as a payment method.
That, however, is beginning to change. There are more businesses than ever that accept crypto payments, including Tesla, Microsoft, BMW, and Ikea, and there’s every hope that one day it’ll become a mainstream payment method.
Sending money via cryptocurrency removes both of those issues. Not only is it significantly cheaper, but the money will arrive almost instantaneously. Throw in the fact that, unlike traditional payments, you can send crypto payments at all times of the day, outside of bank working hours, and it’s not hard to see why it’s becoming the favored payment method of large businesses.
Businesses are also increasingly using blockchain technology to manage their finances. In the past, businesses might place their cash reserves in a savings account that offered 0.5% interest. Today, they can deposit their stablecoins into a DeFi platform and earn interest that can run much higher, often in the 3 - 10% range.
The best Ethereum dapps make it easy to handle a wide range of finance-related tasks, including getting instant business loans and exchanging currencies, while also ensuring that the business has total control. After all, a bank can, and sometimes does, freeze corporate bank accounts.
The global supply chain can be complicated, yet blockchain technology is making it significantly more straightforward. It allows for every stage of the journey or every product to be verified and recorded, which makes it much more difficult, or perhaps even impossible, for fraud to occur. It also makes it a lot easier for recalls to be implemented if necessary, since the ledger will demonstrate exactly which batch of products has been affected.
The integration of blockchain technology into supply chain management hasn’t only helped businesses, either. Customers also benefit. With a strong data trail that can not be tampered with, regulatory bodies are better equipped to ensure that products and businesses are meeting their regulatory duties.
In a similar vein, businesses are also using blockchain technology to ensure that their products are authentic. Indeed, blockchain tools have been credited with playing a significant role in the fight against counterfeit goods.
Some brands, such as high-fashion brands that are often victims of counterfeits, are using blockchain to record every step of the manufacturing and delivery process. That offers customers complete peace of mind that the product they’re buying is genuine, since there is a clear record that shows the product’s history.
Businesses are using blockchain to verify the details of potential employees and customers. Through blockchain verification, employers can quickly verify the details of a candidate, including their educational and employment history, as well as any additional qualifications they might hold.
This can save a significant amount of time, there’s no need to make phone calls/emails, while also ensuring that the information is accurate. It’s not possible for the information on the ledger to be altered, which virtually eliminates the risk of fraud.
It’s also making it easier for businesses to verify their customers’ details. Instead of having to go through lengthy and sometimes repetitive KYC processes, businesses can simply verify the key details of their customers once.
We’re also beginning to see the use of blockchain technology to reward loyal customers. In doing so, businesses aren’t just ensuring that their customers’ points and rewards are safe and secure, but they’re also making them more valuable.
There are platforms that allow customers to use their points across different brands, which removes one of the primary pain points that customers experience. There are business benefits that go beyond improving the customer experience, too. For example, the data provided by blockchain technology ensures that future campaigns can be put together using precise data and targeting.
As we’ve seen, there are plenty of different ways that businesses are currently using blockchain technology, and we can expect that things will only ramp up in the years to come. It’s not unthinkable that, soon, every product you buy will have a detailed history that outlines the complete journey of the product from raw material to shelf.
We can also expect that there’ll be more deals between businesses that remove the need for layers, brokers, and banks. All in all, it’s an exciting time for blockchain.