Blockchain Gets Real Across Industries
Blockchain use cases are exploding across industries because these days trust is ‘a thing.’ Here are 11 examples.
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Bitcoin arguably put blockchain technology on the map for the general public. Of course, without blockchain technology, Bitcoin wouldn't exist.
Few remember the early "digital cash" initiatives that emerged not long after the debut of the World Wide Web. Back then, the fatal flaw was operating outside the established financial ecosystems. Blockchain, because it provides permanent, immutable records of transactions, was apparently the missing piece.
While many organizations have launched blockchain initiatives, multinational professional services network KPMG is now approaching it differently.
"Blockchain is now at a point where it's just part of the overall technology stack and that's how we're approaching it," said Tegan Keele, managing director of enterprise innovation at KPMG.
Up until about a month ago, Keele's team was branded as "the blockchain team." Part of that team focuses on crypto asset services that are about making blockchain useful for large financial services companies and helping crypto-native companies understand regulatory control Know Your Customer (KYC) transaction monitoring. Keele's focus is climate monitoring -- specifically, climate accounting that enables companies to prove their emissions footprint and their progress toward Net Zero and other climate-related goals.
"There are starting to be FCC rumblings about climate disclosures [and] other countries are looking at regulations as well. All of that is sort of pointing to the direction of we better have climate data," said Keele. "The real driver is making things more efficient, more reliable, auditable, ready -- all those kinds of things. It's probably matured to the point where it's probably being used in a lot more places than we really know about."
Following are some other examples of where blockchain is being implemented.
Patents are a type of global currency, though they're subject to local rules, which is why companies should at least consider registering patents in more than one jurisdiction. But what about buying and selling these assets? IPwe built what it promotes as the world's first global patent market that enables traditional patent transactions such as licenses, sales, and acquisitions. It also allows new classes of transactions such as reporting, financing, and insurance. The company built its platform on the Casper blockchain.
"Intellectual property is the largest and often most critical asset of most corporate balance sheets," said IPwe CEO Erich Spangenberg. "CTOs and CFOs today are taking a greater interest in how IP is tracked, managed and deployed. As obvious as it might seem to many executives, it is difficult to capture the benefits of an asset without a high level of confidence in the data surrounding the asset. IP has underperformed because of this."
Underperformed? Consider how many patents the high-tech industry alone represents. However, according to Spangenberg, the value of annual patent sales and licenses is estimated to be more than $180 billion, but only 2% of all patents are involved in those transactions. IPwe is trying to unleash the other 98%.
Luxury brands have their own, unique cachet. People who wear couture and buy luxury brands wouldn't be caught dead owning a fake, but some less affluent customers are happy to pay far less for a cheap imitation that looks real enough to fool most people. However, in doing this, they're helping to legitimize illegal operations. It doesn't help that law enforcement is some jurisdictions turns a blind eye to such piracy.
Trace Network allows brands to create a non-fungible token (NFT) that corresponds with a particular product, like a barcode. For example, when a luxury brand purse is being manufactured, an NFT is created specifically for it. The NFT is then used to track the item's movement through the supply chain. Then, at the point of purchase, the NFT is assigned to the buyer's digital wallet, proving its authenticity. If the buyer decides to resell the item later, an interested buyer can confirm the product is genuine by checking the token.
"The key problem [with] expensive lifestyle goods, is proof of originality and sustainable sourcing. Blockchain-based solutions built using public on-chain infrastructure such as Ethereum and Polygon can literally bring the transparency about the originality and source of material into the hands of consumers," said a Trace Network spokesperson.
Online fraud is rampant, and persons of influence are popular targets. Bad actors engage in considerable social engineering to manipulate the targets (and people close to the targets) into providing confidential information such as personal and financial details. Armed with those pieces of information, fraudsters assume real people's identities and many of them evade detection.
WindingTree, which is an Ethereum-powered travel distribution channel, created an open source registry on the blockchain that provides real-time identification and verification of companies and their representatives. It assures the authenticity of a sender and checks to see if a message was received from the person who claimed to send it. (That's one way to avoid phishing scams!)
According to a McKinsey & Co report, estimates from the World Bank’s ID4D database indicate that almost one billion people globally lack any form of legally recognized identification. An additional 3.4 billion who have some form of legally recognized identification have limited ability to use it in the digital world. The remaining 3.2 billion have a legally recognized identity and participate in the digital economy but may not be able to use that ID effectively and efficiently online.
Decentralized and regulated payment platform Everest offers an end-to-end financial inclusion platform for individuals and businesses. Its protocol enables citizens to digitally verify their identify for public services and claim their social and economic rights. It combines digital identities, electronic wallets, document management and biometrics, and is Ethereum-based.
Carnomaly uses blockchain for its automotive marketplace. Users can buy and sell loans and assets without relying on a bank. Users connect with borrowers and lenders through "loan pools." Each loan pool is secured in a blockchain with a public history that can be checked and verified. Carnomaly employs digital financing experts who protect marketplace users from value loss caused by coin fluctuations.
"Their marketplace allows users to access a better approach to lending as the loans are a cheaper, more transparent, and more accessible option for those looking for lending solutions. It lets [you earn] guaranteed income on your crypto assets by investing in loan pools," said a spokesperson.
Blockchain use cases tend to depend on the transparency of information -- among individuals, among businesses, among individuals and businesses. But what if certain pieces of information stored on a blockchain are too sensitive to share?
Swiss non-profit Aleph Zero is building a peer-reviewed, enterprise-ready public-private hybrid blockchain. On the public side, everything is recorded, unrestricted and cannot be changed. However, the private side can be used for confidential data and internal processes.
"A real-world example is of this is in supply chain management where everyone is able to track down a product from its origin right through to its journey to the shop shelf," said Aleph Zero co-founder Antoni Zolciak. "This can incentivize companies to transparently prove they aren't doing things like testing cosmetics on animals or using child labor for their products."
Vaccines, like any pharmaceutical, expire, albeit more quickly than pills, for example. Everyware, which provides asset tracking and monitoring, uses Hedera Hashgraph's distributed ledger technology at National Health Services (NHS) facilities to monitor the cold storage equipment that houses COVID-19 and other vaccines.
Apparently, COVID-19 vaccines require exact degrees of cold storage to maintain their efficacy.
When consumers open a bottle of wine, they have a certain expectation about the wine's quality and integrity. While few palettes may be able to discern between an authentic brand and a fake, it's pretty obvious when wine has spoiled as the result of high heat, temperature changes, light and improper storage -- all of which can occur somewhere in the supply chain.
eProvenence, which monitors and analyzes wine shipment conditions, and IBM are using blockchain to prove the authenticity and quality of European wine. It requires the participation of supply chain partners to work, of course, but the idea is to ensure trust in European wine brands.
Global law firm DLA Piper and Aldersgate DLS (Digital Ledge Solutions) launched a tokenization engine that provides smart contract and digital asset creation capabilities and assurance. For the first project, a group of DLA Piper Hong Kong partners commissioned and purchased a piece of fine artwork by Chinese artist Wang Ziao Bo. The project was structured as an unregulated security offering.
More generally, the platform can be used to create fractions of any asset, whether a fund or multimillion-dollar property. Asset owners can create product offerings, improve asset liquidity, and get access to a wider group of investors. Tokenization can also enable exit opportunities and reduce the risk of fraud.
The platform was developed in partnership with Hedera Hashgraph.
Leading content services provider Hyland and Hedera Hashgraph presented a proof of concept to the Texas Secretary of State to evaluate blockchain technology for the purpose of securing and verifying government-issued record. The PoC was spearheaded by the newly formed Texas Blockchain Council, a trade association that promotes the use of blockchain technology in Texas.
More recently, The Business Journal reported that two blockchain bills, one of which looks at other use cases and the other defines what digital currency is and how it can be controlled. Given the many possible blockchain uses cases, Texas reportedly wants to assume a leadership role in the space.
Check out other InformationWeek slideshows.
Leading content services provider Hyland and Hedera Hashgraph presented a proof of concept to the Texas Secretary of State to evaluate blockchain technology for the purpose of securing and verifying government-issued record. The PoC was spearheaded by the newly formed Texas Blockchain Council, a trade association that promotes the use of blockchain technology in Texas.
More recently, The Business Journal reported that two blockchain bills, one of which looks at other use cases and the other defines what digital currency is and how it can be controlled. Given the many possible blockchain uses cases, Texas reportedly wants to assume a leadership role in the space.
Check out other InformationWeek slideshows.
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