4 Ways to Utilize Blockchain

With the rapid rise of Bitcoin’s value, and just as unexpected decline to less than half of its highest value, cryptocurrency has been placed into the public eye. Nevertheless, cryptocurrency is only one use of blockchain technology. Below we'll look at a few of its other potential applications.

Automated Contracts
Blockchain technology can assure that the agreements made in contracts are maintained, triggering when the conditions of these agreements have been accomplished. This is possible via the utilization of smart contracts that have the involved parties’ information, terms, and payment processes populated, permitting the entire process to be securely automated.

Identity Authentication
Because it serves as a permanent record, the blockchain may soon be utilized as an identification and authentication tool. Instead of continuing to utilize the various insecure methods that we do today to identify ourselves, as well as birth certificates, passports, and other digital identities, we may soon rely on the blockchain to verify our identity.

Voting
The blockchain can also be utilized to combat potential voter fraud. If applied to the voting process, the blockchain would not only permit the identity of each voter to be verified, but  also their vote could not be altered by another person afterwards, making the democratic process more transparent.

Notary Functions
A notary must be present in order for many documents to be properly signed; this is to confirm that all parties are willfully signing the document at a given time with the notary serving as a neutral third-party witness. The blockchain can fulfill a similar purpose. By adding a timestamp to the blockchain along with data, the whole chain becomes a witness of sorts to the agreement.

There’s no denying that focus is currently on cryptocurrency, but it probably won’t be long before the blockchain is utilized for many other purposes.