Blockchain is much more than cryptocurrency
Using the term blockchain in a conversation will usually lead to a discussion of several newsworthy topics, such as cryptocurrency, metaverseand Web3.
Theoretically, next-generation technological developments tend to dominate discussions of technology. Blockchains have created entirely new asset classes for investors in cryptocurrencies and non-fungible tokens (NFT). They will fuel a new generation of inventions based on intangible concepts such as metaverse and Web3.
According to Kieran James-Lubin, CEO of BlockApps, the potential of blockchain will be realized in more traditional domains. BlockApps is a blockchain technology company that focuses on real-world applications of the technology to improve the efficiency and security of business operations.
“You hear something different than most blockchain people. Maybe it’s a personality thing, but I think the biggest promise for blockchain technology is to improve the world as it is today,” James-Lubin said. “It’s less about creating a whole new world on a blockchain for all of us to live in or all these interesting new asset classes.”
There are practical blockchain applications.
BlockApps search for transactions with insufficient transparency and trust. Firstly, James-Lubin has identified a unique potential in the food market, where consumers and restaurants are more concerned with sourcing.
BlockApps can assist food producers and customers track where their food has been and what procedures it has experienced from seed to table using blockchain technology.
This trend began with food, according to James-Lubin, who noted that there is a growing demand from consumers for transparency in supply chains. People used to take the retailer’s word for it when they saw labels like produce from Argentina or Australia or organic in grocery stores. Now they want to know what that means, for example whose farms the food came from and what happened to it along the way.
BlockApps provides comparable environmental and social governance (ESG) services, providing a blockchain application that helps track carbon footprints and offsets across the value or supply chain.
In a further application, BlockApps uses blockchain technology to help the city of Reno, Nevada, track and maintain information on historic sites.
According to James-Lubin, they had used an email system to keep track of this, but then they digitized all information, and the mail was immutable on the blockchain. It’s a compelling use case that impacts their day-to-day operations. There were a few trillion blockchain-native assets in the crypto industry, but over $500 trillion in traditional assets are still waiting tokenization.
Future Cryptographic Uses of Blockchain
James-Lubin is aware that cryptocurrencies represent a significant advance in blockchain technology.
“They’re amazing,” he said. Suppose you remove regulation as a barrier, even for a few years, and enable programmable financial services. In that case, you end up with a lot of rapid innovation – something disgusting and exciting.
Non-fungible tokens (NFTs), which are not quite an asset class, are another beneficial blockchain innovation as they can enable new business models, including long-term residual payments to artists, producers and publishers.
Applications of blockchain on the horizon
Eventually, most of the world’s wealth will sit on or be monitored by blockchains, but real estate will be among the first to be affected, according to James-Lubin.
Most of this wealth will consist of land, land titles and real estate. If we consider the process of acquiring and owning a property, their municipal and state record keeping practices are outdated. There is a sense of urgency to implement a more transparent, real-time system for these assets, and blockchain solves a significant part of these problems.
In addition, blockchain enables an efficient settlement layer for trading traditional assets. While publicly traded stocks and some bonds are already and are effectively traded, private securities and other types of debt are often traded obscurely and inefficiently.
Also, investing in private funds and securities is sometimes a time- and resource-intensive process, which blockchains can help automate.
According to James-Lubin, public markets are working quite efficiently at the moment. In the long term, blockchain technology will be used for them. In the near future, however, specific market sectors lack enough infrastructure, and this is where the technology will take root first.
