Bitcoin and the underlying blockchain technology are already creating waves in the financial sector with many people considering it as the next big thing since the internet.



The blockchain technology is nothing but a decentralized public ledger that no one person or company owns or controls; users control it directly. The technology is not just limited to bitcoin but has much broader applications.



In a bid to become a pioneer in the field, Vermont has recently taken some legislative steps that could see the state using the technology for state records, smart contracts and other applications.



A recent report by Huffington Post says that by 2020, using blockchain technology might even become a best practice for the verification of public records online.



"Property records, particularly in the developing world, are notoriously subject to hacking," Oliver Goodenough, a professor at Vermont Law School, observed in an interview. "Honduras got money to do an electronic record land registry, but when they were done, many key properties were held by relatives of people who set up the ledger. Now, a contract was awarded to a company in Texas to set up a blockchain-based property system."



Looking at the growth of blockchain technology in recent years, Goodenough says it's just going to require hard work to get it into use -- and he hopes that Vermont will be a leader in that area.



In the United States, the blockchain might be used to authenticate voter records before and after elections, examine entries and protect them from fraud. It might also be applicable to securities, adding a technological component that would make fraud by corrupt officials much more difficult.



"It's [blockchain technology] a little bit like cellphones 20 years ago. Again, I want to emphasize that this does not change lots of stuff, but the things it does change, it does change -- profoundly", Goodenough added.