Why businesses are moving to blockchain technology?

Blockchain technology is usually best known for supporting digital coins such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, and many others. The fact that it has been designed to be decentralized, transparent, and very secure makes it very attractive for companies to use it in their businesses.

The blockchain itself drives distributed data structure, and in a way, it replaces the role of a central bank or government backing. It is this fact that makes blockchain technology so appealing for many, especially because banks are notoriously known for charging high fees and taking a long time to verify and make transactions, predominantly when these are across borders.

For many businesses to business companies, the blockchain can be their virtual bank. It can move money from place to place, accept deposits, complete transactions, and much more. Although this may sound like online banking, it is actually very different, as it is not subject to regulation, monitoring, business hours, or any other restrictions that an online bank may have.

Who is using it?

Although the use of blockchain technology in businesses is really only just starting, there are already some companies taking advantage of the benefits that it can bring. These include travel companies, shipping, Bitcoin gambling sites and many more. It’s also worth mentioning that, since cryptocurrencies that utilize blockchain technology are almost completely anonymous, the risk for your cyber security is somewhat larger than when dealing with conventional payment systems.

The abovementioned Bitcoin casinos are a good example of this, so be sure to look up some legitimate ones first on a website like BitFortune, mainly to avoid being scammed or have your information stolen. That being said, here are just some of the huge companies that are starting to invest in blockchain technology:

Walmart – Walmart is using blockchain by providing employees the ability to track products literally back to their roots. By scanning products, employees can see where it came from and then where it is stored. This technology is starting to help with the restocking process.

British Airways – This airline has started out testing blockchain technology in managing flights data. By using one unchangeable source of history, the airline is hoping that in the future there will be little to no conflicting flight information.

UPS – UPS is a shipping company that hopes it will be able to push for increased transparency among all the parties in the supply chain by using blockchain technology. It is also looking into the possibility of using blockchain in its customs brokerage business.

Maersk – This is another large shipping company. It completed the first test of using blockchain technology back in March 2017. The company was looking at how it could utilize the blockchain’s features to help manage cargo. The outcome was that in the near future, the technology will be able to streamline and secure international shipping.

How does it help businesses?

There is a number of different ways for businesses to take advantage of blockchain technology.

Ease and Speed – As blockchain takes the middleman out of the transaction, this enables more autonomous types of transactions. Basically, there is no need for any banks or credit card processing and checking, escalating the speed of financial transactions.

The Sales Process – The sales process in business to business operations is based primarily on relationships between involved parties that can be costly; while in blockchain technology, the process creates a trusted relationships at a lower cost.

Smart contracts – These are self-automated computer programs that will automatically carry out the terms of any contract. There is no need for any downtime, third party interference, censorship, and most importantly, they cannot be broken by any party in the contract.

Loyalty programs – The blockchain possesses some unique verification abilities which could help to improve the loyalty services and gift cards provided by companies. It will not only make the process more secure but also cheaper.

Cloud-free data storage – The blockchain has already been manipulated to store information in unscalable ways. Currently, data storage is largely centralized, which means that organizations have to place all their trust in another organization. Using blockchain will decrease the dependence on third parties.