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The applications of blockchain technology have been endless and will continue to grow as developers come up with new ways to use it. Many people may think of only one application for blockchain technology, but there are a variety of uses for all industries.

One of the most popular applications for blockchain technology is smart contracts. Smart Contracts are an agreement between two parties, usually made without third-party involvement. This would be very useful in many different types of transactions like business to business, business to consumer, or even consumers to consumers (sharing economy). Smart contracts have some benefits over traditional legal contracts; they are faster, more efficient, and cheaper than standard contracts.

Another great application of blockchain technology is its ability to create transparent data that no one can alter. For example, if you were buying a house, your real estate agent could embed information about a property into a block on a blockchain network, and it would remain unchanged by any outside source.

In this article, we will go over some of the most interesting applications of blockchain technology.

Supply Chain Tracking

The supply chain industry is facing problems daily because of the lack of transparency in transactions. This problem results in money spent on unnecessary fees, loss or damage to goods, and production delays. It has become increasingly difficult to track the source of products purchased by consumers, especially for products like fruits and vegetables.

Many food companies have had issues with contamination during shipping causing massive recalls for products that are later thrown out because they cannot be used anymore. A transparent tracking system will help businesses save money and help keep all their customers safe.

Also, with the recent increase in consumer privacy, consumers are becoming more interested in where their products come from and how they were made. Consumers like to know what is going into their bodies and what type of labor went into making a product before they buy it.

The blockchain provides an opportunity for businesses to track their supply chains without any outside interference and provide the same service to all parties involved in the transaction. This will allow them to cut costs and save time by preventing fraud and unneeded delays.

Live Streaming Content & Sports Betting

Streaming services have taken over the entertainment industry, with companies like Netflix taking over cable TV for many different reasons such as better content selection, lower prices, etc.

But there is one issue with streaming services like Netflix and Hulu. They cannot provide live content. This means that if you miss a show or event, you may not be able to watch it until the full season finishes airing.

With live streaming becoming more popular, we will see blockchain companies come up with solutions similar to our previous example. For instance, Flixxo uses blockchain technology to take out middlemen like Hulu and YouTube and connect viewers directly with filmmakers using smart contracts and peer-to-peer file sharing. The resulting effect of this is lower prices for consumers and higher payouts for those who produce original content.

Another application in the sports betting industry would be an increase due to all bets being placed on a blockchain network. This would benefit the sports betting industry by reducing operation costs and increasing the security of all transactions between betters and bookies.

Healthcare Records

The US spends over $3 trillion on healthcare every year, but this also comes with a downside. There is no national healthcare record system that can be managed securely and privately as we do in many other countries worldwide, including Canada, the UK, and Australia.

This creates an issue where patients cannot find their medical records when they change facilities or doctors, which results in inefficient care and higher prices because of duplication of services.

Patients usually have to wait until they visit a doctor's office before they get any treatment. This wastes valuable time while your health is at risk. Also, without a system for medical records to be shared, insurance companies have little control over what type of treatment they receive and how much money they will have to pay as a result.

Blockchain technology can solve these problems because all transactions are secure and auditable by anyone with access.

Music Streaming & Data Access

Over the last decade, music streaming has taken over album sales thanks to services like Spotify, which allow users to listen to any song on demand for a low monthly fee. But there are some issues with the current model that leaves musicians short-changed by not being paid fairly or receiving credit for their work in most cases.

With thousands of people uploading new content daily, it becomes difficult for record companies to give proper credit and payment to artists. 

Blockchain technology could save the recording industry billions of dollars by allowing users to pay directly for what they want instead of extraneous costs like marketing and distribution.

Another application would be to provide open-source data about music listeners without direct access, allowing artists more freedom over their own work.

Food Supply Chain Management

When we buy food at our local supermarket, most people don't think about where it came from before it reached its final destination at your local grocery store shelves (or should I say local Walmart?).

This is not because people are oblivious to the process; it is often quite complex. There are several processes that take place before the food arrives at the grocery store. First, farmers have to grow crops which means they need money, equipment, and land to make this happen. Secondly, farmers need workers to help them get their products ready for harvest or transport into cities where supermarkets can buy supplies.

There are also costs associated with transportation, including fuel prices and additional staff needed to manage these operations effectively. With all these different components in place, there are plenty of locations for things to go wrong, which makes maintaining transparency very difficult without a blockchain-based system in place.

Using a transparent supply chain would be beneficial because it will give companies and customers the proximity and insight they need to build trust and transparency around what they buy.

Vehicle History

We've all heard about lemon cars before where someone ends up with a car that won't start or was in an accident but never reported to insurance which leaves you high and dry if something goes wrong. Even though laws state that every car sold should have a vehicle history report, this information is not always correct or accessible to buyers who may be interested in buying your used car.

A blockchain-based system could provide proof of sales records for any given vehicle, whether it's just been serviced at a dealership or has had many accidents over its lifetime, which would allow insurance managers to determine how much to charge for premiums.

This system could also be useful in the case of cars that may have been stolen, which would help owners recover their rides faster than ever before.

Gambling

The gambling industry is a huge market that generates over $500 billion per year worldwide. However, it has some serious flaws, including cheating and unfair house advantage for casinos, even with random number generators (RNG). Blockchain can help resolve these issues by providing transparency, allowing anyone to audit games without having direct access to back-end servers or databases where players' information is stored.

It would not only increase trust but would also reduce instances of fraud which bring down profits overall. Most importantly, blockchain can provide provable fairness regarding outcomes to both players and casinos.

Real Estate & Property Management

Blockchain is still an emerging technology, so it might be pointless to use it for something as important as property management until it's more widely accepted with little or no risk of failure, which could damage your reputation among the public. However, blockchain provides a secure platform for data transmission that can significantly reduce fraud, especially in large metro areas where real estate deals are often complex and prone to human error.

This technology will also allow users access to their information from any device from anywhere in the world at any time because they have full control over their digital documents without needing to interact with a third party company who may provide your personal info to others outside of the service you hired them for.

Voting

The US election process is very complex and controversial, leaving many people across the country feeling like their vote doesn't count, especially in cases where voter fraud is involved. Blockchain can help solve this problem by providing a secure platform for voting that will allow hackers limited access to information because each transaction on the network is encrypted.

While it's true we live in an age of hacking and cyber warfare; blockchain has been proven time and time again to be one of the safest storage platforms around if implemented correctly without any breaches over its 10-year history.

The technology could also provide better insight into campaigns, including total advertising budgets, staff salaries, etc. This would help regulate the amount of money a candidate can spend on an election.

Digital Identity

Digital Identity is the online trail we leave behind after years of browsing. Most people have dozens of accounts across various platforms, from social media to music streaming services, that could compromise your information, leaving you at risk for identity theft or worse.

A blockchain system would give users complete control over their digital identity, which they could choose to share according to the features they use without sacrificing quality and ease of use, which is necessary, especially with younger generations who have grown up in this technology-driven world.

Bonus: Humanitarian Aid

During its rise to fame, Bitcoin was often thought of as a tool for terrorists and other criminals. However, after the Dominican Republic government announced it will be using blockchain technology to aid in its humanitarian efforts and other organizations worldwide, it has followed suit to help people who are less fortunate than others. This includes refugees from war-torn countries, which are very vulnerable because they often lack the documentation needed to apply for legitimate aid packages making them prime targets for traffickers or slave traders.

Final Thoughts on the Applications of Blockchain

As you can see, blockchain technology has a wide variety of applications and use-cases that will likely change how we live and interact with others online and offline. Although this is only the beginning, 

new uses for blockchain continue to emerge every day. However, there's still lots of work to be done before it becomes mainstream which could take years or even decades as new technologies always do, especially when they come from such an unknown entity like cryptocurrency.

Finally, blockchain technology is still in its infancy, with many years of development ahead before it becomes widely accepted by consumers. This means there are risks involved in investing in the future of blockchain, including the risk that cryptocurrency will go extinct similar to what happened to MySpace, which is very unlikely considering how far cryptocurrency has come in a relatively short period.