Editors note: The original title was Banking is just the beginning: 58 industries that can be changed by blockchain, but the actual content introduced 60 industries, and we refer to the actual number. In addition, this article sorts out a total of 60 industries, which is too long. In order to facilitate your better reading, we split this article into two parts.
In the previous article of this report, Banking is just the beginning, 60 industries that can be changed by blockchain (Part 1), we introduced the blockchain in detail.andandpublic areafirst level title
retail
retail
Currently, consumers’ sense of trust in retail systems is mainly related to their trust in the marketplace they buy from, for example, trust is key to Amazon’s success. The blockchain can decentralize this trust relationship, and trust in different markets and platforms comes more from the seller than the website itself.
Startup OpenBazaar is developing a decentralized blockchain that connects buyers and sellers without intermediaries and associated fees. OpenBazaar is an open, peer-to-peer network that provides merchants with free services and does not limit the products that can be sold.
Customers buy items using any of 50 cryptocurrencies, and sellers receive a variety of different cryptocurrencies. All relevant data is distributed across a global network rather than being stored in a central database.
Other decentralized crypto retail marketplaces include GAMB, developed by German e-commerce software developer Gambio, and Virginia-based Bleexy.
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e-commerce
Blockchain technology has the potential to transform the e-commerce industry by reducing transaction costs and enhancing transaction security. E-commerce giants such as Walmart, Amazon, and Alibaba have begun exploring the application of blockchain technology in their related fields. Alibaba applied for a patent for a blockchain-based transaction system in Brazil in March 2020.
When it comes to global trade, blockchain can play an active role in traceability, ensuring proof of delivery and tracking contract details securely without the risk of data being altered or tampered with.
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food and drink
In recent years, there have been many disturbing problems in the food and beverage industry. E. coli, salmonella, and horsemeat accidents have caused consumers to have a sense of distrust. Blockchain technology can help producers and distributors avoid these accidents.
As a decentralized distributed ledger that records, stores and tracks data, blockchain offers a way to monitor food supply chains and effectively track down the root cause of contamination problems. This benefits food processors from sending hazardous items to distributors, while retailers can reduce product recalls or respond to recalls more quickly and efficiently, and consumers can be confident that what they are buying is safe.
Wal-Mart Supermarkets and Sams Club of Wal-Mart Group joined IBMs FoodTrust system. In 2018, the retailer asked their suppliers, especially leafy greens suppliers, to add their product data to the system by 2019. FoodTrust makes it easier and faster to trace the origin of food, and is particularly advantageous in situations such as trying to trace the origin of contaminated produce.
When all parties are on the same page, blockchain can serve as an accountability platform to help reduce food recalls, product mislabeling, and quickly identify problems. For example, combining a blockchain system with a QR code application, when the QR code is scanned, it can display the entire process of the product reaching the customers shopping cart.
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Gift Cards and Loyalty Programs
Blockchain can help retailers offer gift cards and implement customer loyalty programs, making the service easier and more secure. Acquiring and using blockchain-dependent gift cards can be more efficient and cost-effective as fewer middlemen are required to process the issuing and selling transactions.
Similarly, the unique verification capability of the blockchain improves the level of fraud prevention, saves verification costs, and helps prohibit illegal users from obtaining stolen accounts.
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crops and agriculture
In addition to the security and traceability benefits discussed in the food and beverage industry, blockchain also has potential applications to help agriculture grow. Decentralized blockchain systems can improve transactions, market expansion, and product-specific logistics across the agricultural supply chain.
In agriculture, records on the blockchain can create a level of trust between merchants who have no dealings, and can help expand markets and encourage healthy competition among sellers.
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animal husbandry
Similar to its application in agriculture, blockchain technology is helping to improve food safety, traceability, and sustainable breeding and husbandry in the livestock industry.
Food safety company Neogen has partnered with food-focused blockchain platform Ripe Technology. Use blockchain technology to record the growth history of animals, and integrate animal genome maps, feed, and medical history.
NSF Verify uses blockchain to create a trusted record of livestock from birth to consumers table. Developed by NSF International and other industry leaders, the platform tags animals with a radio frequency identification tag (Rfid) at birth, then tracks and records their movements throughout their lives on the blockchain.
Another start-up, Breedr, has developed an app that allows UK farmers to track and store cow data. Breedr claims the app can help farmers make better feeding decisions by reducing the time it takes to get animals to market by giving them insight into how individual animals are performing and growing.
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fishing
According to The Wall Street Journal, 20-30% of fish sold in the United States is caught illegally, and the fishing industry is one of the largest industries in the world that use forced labor. Blockchain-based systems can help make the industry more sustainable, greener, and more legally compliant.
Registering the type and amount of nets on the blockchain would allow authorities to track whether ships brought all the nets back to port, and the blockchain could also be used to identify and track the fish themselves.
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logging and timber
Organizations like the American Forestry and Community Foundation are exploring how blockchain can help secure the global lumber supply chain. In October 2020, the organization released the ForesTrust blockchain network system created in cooperation with IBM to track wood and wood fiber products from forest to consumer, an initiative aimed at promoting consumer awareness of international wood trade. Trust and enable transparency on the origin of imported timber.
mining
mining
Blockchain is a transformative force for the mining industry, which requires the coordination and cooperation of many different intermediaries with different incentives. Additionally, the industrys late transition from manual record-keeping processes and lack of data transparency made issues such as fraud and unsafe worker conditions difficult to address. Blockchain can help track the path of metals and minerals from mine to manufacturer, improving supply chain collaboration and traceability.
Companies such as Ford and LG Chem are using IBMs blockchain platform to track cobalt used in lithium-ion batteries mined in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Also partnering with IBM is Canadas MineHub Technologies, which is trying to build a blockchain-based platform to digitize parts of the mining supply chain that are largely human-record-based.
Meanwhile, De Beers Diamond Group is developing a blockchain-based traceability solution for the diamond industry, called Tracr, that will tag and track diamonds from the mine to the buyer. Major diamond producers such as ALROSA Group have also joined the pilot.
In December 2020, the World Economic Forum (WEF) Blockchain in Mining and Metals released an initiative for a blockchain-based carbon tracking platform that aims to ensure “traceability from mine carbon emissions to final products,” 7 companies in the mining and metals sector joined the project.
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Education and Academia
By their nature, academic qualifications must be universally recognized and verified, and in primary, secondary, and even university education, the verification of academic credentials remains largely a manual process requiring extensive documentation and checking on a case-by-case basis.
Deploying blockchain solutions in education can simplify the verification process, thereby reducing instances of falsely claiming educational credits.
For example, Sony Global Education partnered with IBM to develop an education platform that uses blockchain to secure and share student education records.
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instant messaging application
Many instant messengers are integrating blockchain and encryption-related features into their apps to enhance users security and privacy.
Status bills itself as a “privacy-first messenger,” an open-source platform that supports peer-to-peer messaging based on Ethereum, removing “surveillance third parties.”
Signal, a popular encrypted messaging service, is planning to expand into cryptocurrency payments. These applications operate in an uncertain regulatory environment.
publishing
publishing
Blockchain can have a variety of applications in the publishing industry, from entering the publishing industry, copyright management, to preventing piracy.
Currently, the publishing industry is controlled by a small group of publishers, making it difficult for new and unrecognized authors to break into the industry. New platforms are emerging to level the playing field for writers and to encourage collaboration among authors, editors, translators and publishers.
Bookchain, a project from Montreal-based startup Scenaraex, is an Ethereum-based e-book publishing platform. Authors and publishers can upload files to the platform and configure a smart contract for each user to control how the book is accessed and priced. The platform enables authors to bypass third-party sellers, transact directly with readers and track the real-time status of their e-books. Once readers purchase these books, they will also enjoy full rights.
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library
In December 2017, the San Jose State University School of Information received a $100,000 grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services to fund a one-year project exploring the potential of blockchain technology in information services .
Potential uses of blockchain in libraries so far include: building an enhanced metadata archive, developing protocols to support community-based collections, and facilitating more efficient digital rights management to help libraries scale their services.
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entertainment
Music/Entertainment Rights and Intellectual Property
Entertainment entrepreneurs are eyeing blockchain technology to make content sharing fairer for creators using smart contracts, whereby revenue from the purchase of creative works can be distributed automatically based on pre-determined licensing agreements.
Music media platform Muzika has partnered with cryptocurrency trading platform Binance to help artists get paid from listeners. Muzika plans to give 90% of the income to artists.
In 2017, Spotify acquired blockchain startup Mediachain. The company has been developing a decentralized media library to better identify rights holders on Spotifys platform and pay royalties.
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video traffic
Blockchain can help significantly reduce the cost of video traffic by decentralizing video encoding, storage, and content distribution. This could affect Netflix, YouTube and other players in the video distribution ecosystem.
VideoCoin Network is already working hard to liberate this part of the capital. The decentralized network provides the infrastructure for cloud video encoding, storage and distribution in the form of a peer-to-peer algorithm market. It runs on a brand new blockchain through which customers can rent these services.
game
game
The online gaming industry continues to grow and is now considered a competitive sport. Esports athletes can win coveted titles, earn major cash prizes, and gaming-related products can even be traded on the black market.
Blockchain technology enables players to have a more level playing field to earn rewards and exchange assets in the digital world. Through the blockchain, digital tokens can be securely exchanged for cryptocurrencies without third-party investment.
Through the blockchains distributed ledger, players can use a perfect character or a set of skills and items in the digital world. This means they can earn rewards faster and then exchange them through a decentralized platform.
Projects in this space have seen some players, such as the Huntercoin project launched in 2014 and delisted in 2019, which is a gaming ecosystem where players can earn internal cryptocurrency rewards (in this case in HUC).
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sports management
Investing in athletes is usually done by sports governing bodies and corporations, but blockchain allows ordinary fans to invest in future superstars and reap the rewards.
The concept of using blockchain to invest in (and earn returns on) athletes has yet to be tried at any scale. But the Jetcoin Institute promoted this idea and launched Jetcoins to help fans invest in their favorite stars and get a small amount of benefits, such as watching VIP games, seat upgrades and other benefits.
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spinach
Online spinach has grown significantly over the past few years. But some of its core problems, such as the huge problem of transparency, have not been solved.
The introduction of blockchain technology helps to maintain transparency and build trust between businesses and consumers. This technology helps ensure fairness in the gambling: records cannot be manipulated on the blockchain, so there is no house always wins situation. Sites like Wagerr use the concept of trustless betting to decentralize the system so that participants no longer have to question it.
Art
Art
The art industry has begun to adopt blockchain and achieve tokenization to increase the opportunities for ordinary people around the world to enter the art market and reduce transaction costs.
In July 2018, Dadiani Fine Art, a London art gallery, cooperated with Maecenas, an art investment block chain platform, to sell part of Andy Warhols 14 electric chairs. The auction was conducted using Ethereums smart contract.
Another example of a breakthrough in this space is the blockchain company Artory, which provides a public registry to track the history, provenance and archival materials of artworks. Raised $7.3 million in Series A funding from 2020 Ventures and Hasso Plattner Capital in April 2019.
photography
photography
In the digital world, where image theft is often just a double click, photographers struggle to earn royalties for their work.
YouPic is developing a decentralized photography platform where photographers can securely register and license their images using smart contracts. Through this platform, photographers get paid directly by their clients without requiring an agent and paying them a commission.
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Cloud Computing and Storage
Cloud services require massive computing resources and data storage capabilities, which can be inefficient when launching IoT products. Blockchain technology can help facilitate more decentralized cloud services, improving connectivity, security and computing power.
Salesforce, which provides cloud solutions for enterprises, has launched Salesforce Blockchain. The product is built on CRM software Salesforce, which is well known as a smart contract and blockchain-based data sharing platform.
Businesses that offer cloud storage typically protect customers data on a central processor, increasing the risk of hacking. Blockchain cloud storage solutions allow for decentralized storage of data and are therefore less vulnerable to attacks that could cause system crashes or widespread data loss.
Filecoin, dubbed the Airbnb for file storage, is a high-profile crypto project that rewards file hosting, helping to create decentralized S3 from Amazon Web Services.
Protocol Labs, the company to which Filecoin belongs, has received investment from several well-known companies such as Union Square Ventures, Naval Ravikant, and the Winklevosses. In fact, Filecoin is just one of many projects in this field, and Storj and Siaccin are also leaders in this field.
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Internet Identity Authentication and DNS
In the current network environment, it is difficult to determine the real identity of a user. Your personal information is stored on company servers with little interaction with the apps you use, even if you log in with Facebook. Platforms like Serto (formerly uPort) are committed to making users real identities easy to interact with different applications in the future.
IBM offers an identity management tool developed using blockchain technology called IBM VersionCredentials
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Online Advertising
As far as we know the Internet has specialized advertising solutions, and in general, advertising increases the usage of a lot of mobile data to load web pages, both advertisers and consumers are troubled by it.
In 2017, Brave raised $35 million through the ICO of its token BAT within 30s, developing projects to make up for the loss of advertisers and user traffic. Advertisers will log directly into Braves blockchain-based browser, rather than using middlemen like Google or Facebooks advertising division.
Brave’s token raised $35 million in 30 seconds to compensate advertisers and users in the Basic Attention Token (BAT) ICO. Advertisers will be listed directly on Brave’s blockchain-based browser, rather than using a middleman like Google or Facebook’s advertising arm. Users who opt in receive fewer ads, but better targeted ads without malware. Advertisers get better spending data. Users who opt in receive fewer ads, but are more targeted and free of malware. Advertisers also get better results.
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human Resources
Conducting background checks and verifying employment history is a time-consuming and manual process for HR professionals.
If an employees employment and criminal records are stored on a blockchain ledger (so there is no chance of falsification), HR professionals can streamline the review process and move the hiring process forward more quickly.
Chronobank, a blockchain project trying to disrupt the HR industry, is currently focused on improving short-term hiring for on-demand jobs (cleaning, warehousing, e-commerce, etc.). The startup aims to use the blockchain to make it easier for individuals to find work and earn rewards for their labor through a decentralized framework based on cryptocurrencies without the involvement of traditional financial institutions.
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Business and Corporate Governance
The benefits of using blockchain to implement smart contracts and verifiable transactions can also be used to increase the transparency of business accounting. APP Boardroom provides a governance framework and applications that enable businesses to manage smart contracts on the Ethereum blockchain.
The application provides organizations with a governance system to ensure that smart contracts execute (or update the rules themselves) according to the rules encoded on the blockchain. Boards can also use the app for shareholder voting through proxy and collaborative proposal management.
Aragon has gone further in this area, using blockchain to decentralize the creation and maintenance of companies and other organizational structures. Aragon believes that decentralized organizations can solve the worlds worst problems, and Aragon is committed to providing enterprises with blockchain tools to help managers manage their employees.
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predict
As more industries embrace blockchain technology in a holistic manner, the research, analysis, consulting, and forecasting industries may also be impacted by this technology: With an impeccably accurate record of transactions to support data analysis, predictive operations will Have a stronger foundation to use machine learning algorithms to develop targeted predictions and insights.
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marijuana
Cannabis is legal in Canada, supporters of legalization are growing across the U.S., and the cannabis industry has seen significant investment in technology and research.
A legal cannabis industry is likely to be tightly regulated and could benefit from a transparent and secure tracking system for production and distribution. Blockchain technology can provide a record of product movement from farm to dispensary, helping to improve security and regulatory compliance.
As a producer and supplier of CBD products, Mile High Labs has partnered with chain.io to build a blockchain-based traceable supply chain for the cannabis industry. In addition to supply chain, MileHighLabs is also working on using ledger technology for regulation and compliance.
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charitable
For those who make charitable donations, blockchain offers the ability to track exactly where donations go, when they arrive, and whose hands they end up in.
This is an area where blockchain can provide accountability and transparency to address the perennial complaints surrounding charitable giving, including organizational inefficiency and even financial misconduct that can prevent funds from reaching their original goals.
A bitcoin-based charity, the BitGive Foundation uses a secure and transparent distributed ledger to give donors greater visibility into how funds are received and spent.
postscript
postscript
I believe that readers will have a clearer understanding of the application of blockchain after reading the nearly 20,000-word report of CB Insight, and we believe that with the development and popularization of blockchain technology, we will see more and more More and more applications are appearing around us. As a business observer, we need to be keen to discover the business opportunities in them, and as an individual, we can also find the context of future industry development.
The original report comes from CB Insights, an emerging technology insight platform that provides clear information on emerging technologies and new business strategies. The Chinese version is compiled and organized by the Chain Market team, and the English copyright belongs to the original author. Please contact the editor for Chinese reprint.
