Three Key Applications for Blockchain in Business

Companies have already made the transition from intuitive management to data-driven management. Big Data and cloud computing have become more accessible. To stay competitive, companies are now looking for more than just data management. Business intelligence is evolving, using a combination of various technologies, including blockchain.

Many people continue to think of blockchain as superfluous or technology suitable only for cryptocurrencies. However, a lot of companies today already include a vast of different types of blockchain systems, and it has even become a condition of business competitiveness.

Blockchain is needed for businesses that:

have multiple stakeholders involved in data management and decision-making,

need to securely store and protect data,

must be transparent and build trustworthy client and partner relationships based on data,

need to keep their data up-to-date constantly.

If a company doesn't work with data streams or all decisions are made internally, blockchain can only burden this system. However, blockchain can play a critical role in improving business outcomes together.

Immutable data

Businesses are surrounded by endless streams of data, and technology has already learned how to gather that information into applications and systems. Website visits, registrations, conversions, clicks, store visitors, the number of items in stock, in transit, and production, sales figures, revenue, the effectiveness of promotions, and much more make up the vast and constantly updating data streams that compose the picture of the enterprise. According to McKinsey, 70% of companies will be using decision analytics in 7 years.

Blockchain can provide secure storage and immutable data. For example, this can be achieved through one-way encryption systems. Data is encrypted, the hash is written to the blockchain, and when data verification is required, the system checks the hash in the blockchain against the hash of the data in the system. If they match, the information is unchanged.

With the blockchain, you can not only store history but also ensure that this history has not been tampered with at any time, meaning that the information stored in it is authentic. According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, small businesses are often the hardest hit by cyber threats, with 44% of small businesses reporting having been the victim of an attack with an average value of $9,000. Blockchain systems prevent access fraud, make data tampering more difficult, and prevent many types of cyberattacks.

More trust between parties

Enabling blockchain not only changes business processes but also the way companies interact with each other. Parties do not have to commission additional costly audits or hire lawyers to close important deals. Decisions can be made faster and cheaper, meaning that business partnerships do not complicate their work, and they remain sufficiently adaptable and competitive.

Supply chain and property rights control

The supply chain system includes not only manufacturers and suppliers, but also shipping, assembly, and other participants that are aligned with different systems. There are various blockchain solutions to improve the efficiency and transparency of operations.

For example, a company produces exclusive goods and needs to prove its authenticity to a partner or a customer. To solve this problem, the company carries out tokenization, tying the good to a token on the blockchain, and printing a QR code on the package. Each transfer from the factory to the carrier, then to the store and the customer, is confirmed with a transaction on the blockchain. In this way, the customer can trace the path of the good from the factory and verify its authenticity. When paper documents can be lost, tokens and blockchain records remain unchanged and prevent opportunities for fraud and counterfeiting.

Tokenization is already heavily used in the arts and real estate, and states are testing and using tokenization in state registries. Smart contracts, blockchain-based system management, and data protection systems are also actively developing.

Blockchain is still a relatively new technology, but it has already changed business and the economy in many ways. Considering how many companies are still testing their capabilities, the future economy will become more adaptive, transparent, and digital in the future.