What Exactly Is Blockchain?

Its distributed nature is one of the reasons blockchain is becoming so popular with businesses. Financial institutions, for example, are increasingly using blockchains to store, verify, and secure financial records (via WeForum).

Rather than storing records on a single server, banks and financial institutions can store their transactions on a blockchain, protecting against the possibility of data loss or compromised data. This has helped to increase the security and integrity of international money transfers, protect against money laundering, and improve accounting compliance and audit integrity, according to Business Insider.

According to the South China Morning Post, the medical industry is also using blockchain to solve problems, including battling counterfeit COVID vaccines. Zuellig Pharma is a Singaporean health provider using SAP blockchain to power their eZTracker, tracking vaccines to ensure they’re safe.

“For products registered with eZTracker and depending on the needs of our pharma principals, patients can scan the 2D data matrix on the product packaging to verify key product information like expiry date, temperature, and provenance through its app powered by blockchain,” said Daniel Laverick with Zuellig Pharma.

Games, supply chains, contracts, non-fungible tokens (NFTs), royalties, voting systems, real estate transactions, and identity security are just a few of the many applications of blockchain technology.