1. Cryptocurrency
It is a digital or virtual currency that works as a medium of exchange. Unlike the real-world currency, cryptocurrency will not have a physical embodiment. Since it operates independently and in a decentralized manner, new units get added when certain conditions are met. With cryptocurrencies, transactions happen in seconds and at any time of the day or night. It carries no transaction charges, and anyone can use it irrespective of owning a bank account.
2. Smart Contracts
They are self-executing contracts that negate the role of intermediaries in financial services. When compared with traditional systems, smart contracts make financial transactions efficient, hassle-free, and transparent. Since blockchain transactions are encrypted, it ensures improved security during money transactions. With industries becoming more aware of smart contracts' benefits, it is emerging as a trend in the business world now.
3. Streamlining Supply Chain Management
By putting blockchain technology into action, businesses can track goods' status in real-time throughout its movement in the supply chain. It provides an innovative and dynamic way to streamline various functions involved in supply chain management and improve business outcomes.
4. Media and Entertainment
Blockchain technology is considered to become a game-changer in the media and entertainment industry with an extensive range of applications. It is now used to eliminate frauds, protect Intellectual Property rights of the content, reduce expenses, etc. The potential use cases of blockchain in media %story% entertainment include implementing real-time consumption-based pricing systems, directly distributing content to users, eliminating content aggregation, etc.
5. Insurance Industry
Blockchain technology is slowly disrupting the insurance industry as it addresses some of the major pain points in the current processes. With blockchain technology, insurance companies can alter claims submission processes, decrease frauds, streamline payments, improve customer experience, etc.
6. Record Management
Be it governments, businesses, or non-profit agencies; record management is often cumbersome and frustrating. Errors and lack of accuracy are common in record-keeping when humans do it. Blockchain is a savior here as it simplifies the process, improves security, and ensures efficiency in managing records.
7. Improving Governance
Blockchain is capable of making the voting process easy, efficient, and secure. It negates the chance of election fraud as each vote will be given a unique ID. Governments can improve the efficiency of tax collection and filing processes by taking advantage of blockchain. Furthermore, this technology opens the door to better regulatory oversight on businesses and organizations, allowing prior detection of red flags and lack of compliance.
Who Should Learn Blockchain?
Anyone passionate about learning this revolutionary technology can learn about blockchain and eventually apply it to personal or professional purposes. You don't need to learn to code for learning blockchain technology. Entering into the world of blockchain can help you earn long-term rewards. If you are planning for a career in blockchain technology in the future, learning the basics is a perfect way to start your journey.
Prerequisites
If you're passionate about technology, you can begin learning the fundamental concepts of blockchain. The learning experience becomes easy if you have basic knowledge about programming languages, coding, and data structure. However, if you are looking forward to building a career in blockchain soon, you should possess technical skills too.
To become a blockchain developer, one should have a good understanding of informational technologies, information security, and computer science. The person should possess a basic idea about concepts like networking, distributed systems, cryptography, data structures, etc. Exposure to different blockchain platforms such as Ripple, Ethereum, HyperLedger Fabric, etc. will make the learning experience easy and efficient.