Blockchain technology is largely associated with the financial sector, but distributed ledger applications have much to offer other industries as well.
Deloitte University Press recently released a report titled, “Beyond bitcoin, blockchain is coming to disrupt your industry,” examining blockchain’s application in different industries. Industries besides the financial sector include: media, consumer products, industrial products, automobiles, travel, hospitality, retail, life sciences, healthcare, government, and energy.
The report, authored by David Schatsky and Craig Muraskin, reviews the history and workings of blockchain technology. It noted that $1 billion venture capital has been invested in more than 120 block-chain related startups, half of which has occurred in a recent 12-month period. Financial Sector Leads
Most investment has focused on the financial sector, the reported noted; 30 of the world’s biggest banks have joined a consortium to build blockchain solutions, and Nasdaq is working on a blockchain-powered private market exchange.
But beyond the financial sector, the report noted blockchain investments are emerging in every major industry, and Microsoft has deployed a cloud-based blockchain-as-a-service.
Businesses that deal with slow, costly, or unreliable transactions, or that serve markets with underdeveloped payments systems or a lot of unbanked customers, have good reason to consider distributed ledger technology. Blockchain benefits are reliability, availability, transparency, immutability and irrevocability.
Focusing first on the financial sector, the report referenced another report by Santander InnoVentures, a division of Banco Santander, which noted that distributed ledgers eliminate the need for central authorities to certify ownership and clear transactions. The Santander report identified 20 to 25 blockchain use cases, including securities trading. Media And Telecom Uses
Beyond the financial sector, the media and telecommunication industries offer use cases. Media sector applications include supporting low-cost micro-transactions that can be processed without the fees that existing payment networks require. A newspaper website, for example, can charge readers per […]
