Blockchain 101: Industries Affected by Blockchain Tech?

Remember “Blockchain technology represents a potential 3%-10% cost savings on every good that uses it as a medium of exchange”

Most people think that blockchain tech is having no effect on any industry yet. People say, “It is some future technology that will one day affect value transfer, but today there is no reason to pay attention because nothing is being implemented.” This is demonstrably false on many accounts. Both private blockchains (Purists will say this isn’t a true blockchain) and public blockchains are being utilized to affect change in different areas. From backends of stock exchanges to supply chain management. From video games to high tech projects like hyperloop. Blockchains are changing the way these industries are being built out. The overview of some techs will be discussed below. The next few Blockchain 101 articles will dive into industry use-cases that are being built-out.

Many companies have already ante’d up and are diving into the blockchain space. Ethereum is the second largest blockchain by market capitalization. There is a group that was created in 2017 called the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance (EEA). This think tank is developing projects on the Ethereum blockchain. The companies in the EEA include AMD, JP Morgan, BBVA, BP, ING, Intel, and Microsoft. These companies have signaled that they are exploring and beginning to implement use-cases with a public blockchain.

On the private blockchain side, the giant in the space is the hyperledger product built by IBM. Airbus, SAP, Deloitte, GM, LG, Oracle, Samsung, and Tencent are some of the companies that are building out projects on hyperledger’s products. This is a private blockchain, meaning that it is verified and permissioned by a centralized company, IBM. Maersk has partnered with IBM and has been testing a supply chain product to track & automatically verify delivery in a distributed fashion. They have been making strides in the supply chain management vertical.

Some medium sized stock markets have been integrating blockchain tech into their backend to verify transaction in real time as opposed to the slow settling systems that most markets use. HKEX has expressed interest in a blockchain based settling system after the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) migrated to one. ASX’s blockchain system will go live in 2020.

Blockchain tech is affecting many industries already. Remember, it has only been around for 9 years, and only in a workable way for the past 4 years. Use-cases are popping up each day. The next few articles will be industry dives into how different real world industries are seeing preliminary effects of blockchain tech. Check them out.