The Creative Uses of Crypto and Blockchain Many People Haven't Heard Of
News Publisher Mar 06, 2024 15:02
Blockchain technology has the potential to revolutionize industries like online casino games, sports betting, micropayments, and decentralized voting, while also providing financial inclusion to underserved populations.
Gaming, voting, donating, and more…there are so many uses of blockchain and we’re really just scratching the surface of what’s possible with things like NFTs, secure currencies, and more creative uses of the tech. Blockchain and Cryptocurrency have been rapid in their growth, but some people still don’t know all the different ways that this new innovation can be used and actually help people in daily life.
Of course, it’s used for trading and investing – that’s the most popular use. But this particular technology has what it takes to rebuild a number of tech industries and influence many aspects of our lives. In this article, we’re discussing some of the different use cases for cryptocurrency that you might have never heard about.
Online Casino Games and Sports Betting
One industry that’s a great case study to look at when it comes to the uses of cryptocurrency is the online gaming industry. It’s easy to see why it has become one of the first areas to benefit from the unique advantages of crypto technology and largely produced a brand-new experience for gamers and sports fans alike.
Many users of games and sports betting websites love Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, simply because of the Blockchain model’s ‘trustless’ and ‘transparent’ nature. When playing a game of crypto poker, players know that they can quickly put down their money without having to worry about delays or transaction fees and that every transaction is verified to avoid corruption. It’s the same story with sports betting when sports fans want to bet on a trustworthy website and get the winnings they deserve if they are successful.
Micropayments and Content Monetization
Because of the low per-transaction cost and global footprint of cryptocurrencies, micropayments can be made seamlessly, down to as little as a cent. Users can now gain rewards for being attentive to particular content creators, without compromise, in the form of a cryptocurrency. Everyone benefits: the attention of advertising is moved directly to the content creator, without the environmental, psychological, and political baggage that comes along with the rest of advertising.
Decentralized Voting
When a decision requires a vote, blockchain can help make everything more transparent, and also allows communities to build decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) for collective decision-making. DAOs take advantage of the administrative statistics protocol properties of blockchain to develop transparent and secure voting protocols through which groups can make decisions without needing third-party management.
This may allow us to develop whole new models of collective action and self-management.
Identity Management and Secure Data Storage
Self-sovereign identity (SSI) systems are blockchain-based identification systems that empower individuals to own and control their own digital identities.
For example, if I have personal data that I want to share with a chosen organization, I will store my personal information on the blockchain. I can then grant who has access to this data and share specific information.
This newfound control will fundamentally transform the way individuals engage with the online world and how we decentralize our personal data.
Charitable Donations and Fundraising
Cryptocurrency can also provide an almost instantaneous, transparent, and frontierless way to give to charitable causes.
A donor can track in real-time how funds are used, making sure that their contributions are in fact reaching the intended recipients. Bitcoin can also help everyone reduce intermediary costs such as banks, payment processors, other currencies, etc.
Decentralized Insurance and Risk Management
Tentatively, start-ups are setting up their insurance on blockchain providing peer-to-peer insurance. This would take insurance back to where it originally was – a human conference – thereby avoiding the predatory actions of middlemen and reducing premiums.
Collaboration with smart contracts also means that claims could be processed more efficiently.
Democratizing Access to Financial Services
Cryptocurrency offers the promise of financial inclusion to unbanked people in certain areas of the world.
Without direct access to services and products provided by private banks, people can use cryptocurrencies for safe and simple transactions, saving money and accessing financial services such as micro-loans and remittances. In this way, cryptocurrency can bring power to people and economic growth to developing communities.
Decentralized Finance (DeFi) and Alternative Financial Products
DeFi refers to all financial services built on a blockchain. These services represent parallel systems to the traditional banking system.
DeFi platforms support services like lending, borrowing, trading, etc without the need for any intermediaries. It aims to provide financial services to underserved populations. While various DeFi projects exist as experimentation, the field is full of hype, so it’s worth keeping your eyes on this space to see what happens.
Final Thoughts
We should also recognize that the uses described above are still in the early stages and that the cryptocurrency space is fast-evolving.
Crypto and blockchain frameworks are still taking shape, and technological developments are themselves forcing new frontiers that we might not have thought possible five years ago.
Challenges still abound and caution must be exercised in step with innovation, but ultimately the creative uses of cryptocurrency described in this article present a good example of a future in which this technology can upend some of the very relationships and institutions structuring our lives.
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