How can alternative applications of blockchain technology create opportunities for improvement in different fields?

Abstract

Recent interest in cryptocurrency has fueled massive price increases and given rise to a host of new apps and software within the field of decentralized finance. This interest is definitely justified, since crypto offers several notable benefits over traditional currency. The underlying technology behind it, blockchain, was invented more than a decade ago. Blockchain’s decentralized nature offers security and efficiency, while its immutability increases the transparency of actions taken on it. As a result, it is appealing for a wide variety of industries, many of which are already taking advantage of its versatility to make improvements. They include: information storage - decentralized servers are more difficult to hack into, since there is not a single location that a hacker can attack. Real estate - storing property deeds on the blockchain speeds up transactions and increases transparency. The current paper system is slow, and records are not easily accessible. Internet of Things - passwords and other data can be stored on decentralized servers, where tampering with data is almost impossible. Digital identity verification - creating and using an identity on the blockchain can act as a digital watermark that can be assigned to any online transaction. Some companies are trying to reduce the risk of identity theft by creating a system that utilizes blockchain. Many other useful applications for blockchain technology exist, and the majority of them are relatively new and not fully developed yet. This paper examines those applications and how they function in detail, also comparing their effectiveness.