CLOUD & CYBER
B
Blockchain has to date primarily been a financial tool , most visibly as an emerging way to transfer money and make payments . But blockchain technology has an array of use cases that reach far beyond the financial world , from medicine to industry and beyond . The strengths of the decentralised distributed ledger are that it is extremely secure and that it keeps a record of previous transactions , allowing for data to be overwritten without destroying history in the process . Blockchains are also unique , unlike most digital assets which can be freely copied . But how can we employ these skills to enrich businesses and individuals ? Read on .
FINANCE
Payments , money transfers , currencies … see you later , banks . Yet so far those dreams have faltered amid suspicion that cryptocurrencies are subject to market volatility . The inherent security of blockchain also means it ’ s an attractive banking system for criminals . But don ’ t let that put you off its other financial uses , such as trading , compliance , copyright and loyalty programmes for businesses .
OWNERSHIP
Look , you don ’ t need a blockchain to tell you who owns a box of eggs , but larger transactions could certainly benefit from a trackable ongoing receipt system detailing the sale history of a big-ticket item . On a domestic scale , that probably means resellable assets such as houses , land and cars , but it ’ s a neat trick for transfer of company ownership , too , and could be applied to sales in industrial shipping or arms , for instance , where high value items change hands several times over their lifespan and proof of provenance and previous ownership might prove beneficial .
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