Despite mostly finance-related interest in blockchain technology, the areas of distributed ledger technology (DLT) application are not limited to the financial services industry. Along with banks and FinTech startups, non-financial players have been paying attention and looking for ways to leverage the opportunities that DLT opens. Let’s look at some interesting examples of the applications of blockchain technology beyond financial services:

Authorship and ownership

Ascribe helps artists and creators to attribute digital art via blockchain. Ascribe’s marketplace allows to generate digital editions with a unique ID and a digital certificate of authenticity to prove provenance and authenticity. It also allows to accept consignments from artists and transfer digital works to collectors with all the terms and legals.

Examples also include Bitproof, Blockai, Stampery, Verisart, Monegraph, OriginalMy, Crypto-Copyright, Proof of Existence and other companies carving authorship and ownership into blockchain.

Cannabis (cash-heavy businesses)

Serica is one of the examples of a blockchain companies in the cannabis industry. Serica brings software engineering, crypto finance, financial custody and blockchain technology to traditional custodian finance. It allows entrepreneurs to establish their business legitimacy through the largest network of verified customers in order to grow conversions, registrations, memberships and average order sizes. Serica’s Secure Socket Layering Technology encrypts all communications between a user’s personal wallet and Serica. Serica uses the blockchain in order to track and record every purchase of medical marijuana, providing businesses an easy way to accept payments online.

There are also companies like Tokken, Hypur and others leveraging bitcoin and blockchain in cash-heavy businesses like legal marijuana.

Commodities

The Real Asset Company enables individuals around the world to buy gold and silver bullion securely and efficiently. The company’s investor-friendly platform sits on top of global vaulting infrastructure, providing an online account for buying gold and silver and holding precious metals. Goldbloc, the company’s gold-backed cryptocurrency adds an additional layer of transparency and control to users’ gold investment. Backed by one gram of gold, the company believes its cryptocurrency to be the first step to bringing gold back into the monetary system.

Uphold is a platform for moving, converting , transacting and holding any form of money or commodity. The company connects banks, credit and debit cards and bitcoin to digital wallets for free financial services and transactions. Businesses and consumers can fund their Uphold accounts via bank transfer or by linking a credit/debit card in addition to bitcoin.

Data management

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