The allure of blockchain technology has increased exponentially across industries over the past year. More and more organizations are beginning to explore blockchain’s potential impact in their space and how they can benefit from it. More recently, industries like supply chain, fintech and cybersecurity have adopted the emerging technology of blockchain, but how are they utilizing it? What blockchain trends are reporters talking about and who are they? Here are three blockchain technology trends we’re seeing across the supply chain, fintech and cybersecurity industries.
NFTs Beyond Digital Art
When it comes to non-fungible tokens (NFTs), many people may immediately think of JPEGs of apes selling for millions of dollars but the technology behind it may have more use cases than you think. NFTs represent digital ownership which allows for anything to take shape as a cryptographically unique asset that retains its originality. We’ve seen supply chain trade publications like FreightWaves and SupplyChainBrain cover how organizations in the supply chain industry have been leveraging NFTs for their benefit. Jack Daleo of FreightWaves notes how companies can attach NFTs to shipping crates for increased visibility into the status of their individual products in real time, helping companies become aware of delays and get ahead of unexpected disruptions. It doesn’t stop with the supply chain either, reporters in Forbes, Fintech Magazine and The Fintech Times have covered how NFTs can enhance data security and identification for cybersecurity companies through its smart encryption and validation signatures. Allowing for transactions to be verified without a central authority. More recently Jordan Major at Finbold reported that American Express has filed for trademarks with plans to offer NFT backed multimedia. While NFTs are helpful in creating immutable, easily traceable assets for these industries; there are other trends that help in ways that go beyond digital ownership.
Sustainability in Blockchain
Sustainability is often a topic of concern when it comes to the supply chain. Aaron Hurst of Information Age reported how the implementation of blockchain technology in supply chain companies are fostering new ways to achieve sustainable food distribution. Blockchain’s immutability helps verify products with an added layer of reassurance of mitigating risks like illegal fishing, worker exploitation and food fraud. Pramod Sajja of SupplyChainBrain also recently reported how the traceability of blockchain technology can reduce food recalls and sometimes even prevent them altogether. A company utilizing blockchain can easily detect where the source of food contamination came from and immediately alert downstream vendors or distributors. We’re also seeing Global Government Forum and BBVA discuss how green fintech platforms are utilizing blockchain technology in ways to further evaluate and reduce their environmental impact, as well as help investors to funnel their operations into more sustainable assets. Although there is still skepticism on the energy consumption of blockchain technology, we’re seeing how industries are leveraging this technology to promote sustainability efforts.
Interoperability
The ability to interact seamlessly with multiple ecosystems is critical in supply chains. Deloitte and EETimes have reported how blockchain interoperability capabilities could offer new ways of communicating between multiple sectors and ecosystems within the industry allowing for extremely high level visibility between networks. Not only are we seeing interoperability play a role in the supply chain but we see this trend roll over into fintech and cybersecurity as well. ZDNet recently reported how B2B payments are in need of innovation as things become convoluted between the many systems and platforms. Blockchain’s implementation into B2B payments allows for a much smoother integration of multiple networks or systems. Banks have also begun to embrace blockchain for its interoperability applications. EuroMoney reported how JPMorgan, Bank of America, Citi and Credit Suisse have begun future-proofing their technology by using blockchain in loan markets, not only to increase visibility but to prepare for interoperability with new and existing loan market platforms. With more organizations slowly building upon blockchain technology, interoperability will play a crucial role in scaling and connecting upcoming networks and ecosystems across industries.
As more companies adopt blockchain technology, the trends and innovations within each industry’s space will continue to evolve with new use cases and applications. For now, blockchain interoperability, sustainability applications and use cases for NFTs remain the topic of conversation as seen through the supply chain, fintech and cybersecurity industries implementations. Now that we’ve identified some of the trends in blockchain technology and who’s talking about them; the challenge is getting your company noticed within the mix. Feel free to reach out to the 10Fold team to discuss how we can help you with the process.