Blockchain is best known as the underlying technology for Bitcoin. A blockchain can enable financial transactions directly between individual traders, without requiring a centralized authority figure or any third party to watch over or control the money being transferred. After its launch in 2009, Bitcoin almost immediately became very popular among traders across the globe, and its community of loyal followers has only increased in the years since then. This success is undeniably owed big time to the blockchain.

The blockchain keeps a decentralized distributed ledger that records all details regarding the transactions that occur on the chain, and shares that with every participant on the network. Blockchains are also immutable; it’s almost impossible to alter or clear any data recorded on them. The transparency and decentralization of blockchains are what most appeal to crypto traders.

So far, blockchain’s applications have mostly been confined to the decentralized finance sector, but the technology comes with disruptive potential for applications far beyond the cryptocurrency space. In recent times, many have begun to realize that one of blockchain’s greatest strengths is that it can improve existing systems and technologies.

For instance, blockchain is already being used to register land titles in Georgia. Blockchain has also impacted multiple other industries, including cloud storage, self-executing smart contracts, identity management and verification, crowdfunding, and healthcare.

Politics and art are two of the areas that stand to benefit greatly from the integration with blockchain tech. In this post, we explore the implications of blockchain in politics, art, as well as various other aspects of our daily lives.

Blockchain in Politics

Now, politics might seem like an unlikely area for the applications of blockchain tech. However, when you really think about it, blockchain in politics opens up the scope for a lot of innovation in the current ways of global politics, and especially the electoral process.

Let’s start with the implications of blockchain voting. While modern voting systems require voters to be physically present at polling booths, blockchain can bring the entire process online, that too with the maximum possible security due to its encryption, transparency, and immutability. Plus, a blockchain-powered voting application will not be affected even if the security of its internet connection is compromised, because even if a hacker gets access to the open network, it won’t be able to affect any of the other nodes present.

Since blockchain allows the participants to remain anonymous and only use a digital signature, voters can submit their votes without disclosing their identities or political preferences. With blockchain voting, each voter could be assigned a wallet, which would work as a user identifier, and a coin, which would signify a chance to cast a vote. The distributed ledger structure of blockchain would allow the resulting votes to be stored in many independent nodes, or at different locations. And because every user ID can be ascribed to one single vote, blockchain voting leaves no scope for any sort of tampering or creation of fake identities, ensuring the legitimacy of the polling system.

There’s at least one instance of blockchain voting in the real world that we have already witnessed. In November 2018, the Thai Democrat Party conducted a blockchain-based election using ZCoin, thus becoming the very first major political election reliant on the blockchain technology.

Horizon State is a company actively trying to bring blockchain in politics. They propose voters use HS tokens to vote from their mobile phone or PC. This polling system can prove useful for making decisions in an environment where both resources and authority are distributed, and increase participation. There are also platforms like Follow My Vote — a blockchain project that enables secure, anonymous voting, and Blockchain Technologies Corporation — a protocol to integrate blockchain in voting with paper ballots.

Aside from blockchain voting, blockchain in politics can also bring about a direct democracy, where voters can directly propose their ideas for changes in governance to the administrators, and polls can be conducted so the entire populace can express their opinions regarding the idea. Admittedly this direct democracy system utilizing blockchain voting is not going to become a reality anytime soon, but it’s clear as daylight that blockchain in politics would improve the state of global politics greatly, and encourage voter participation as well.

Can Blockchain Also be the Future of Art?

The primary quality of blockchain that makes it suitable for the art world is that it arranges direct communication between the buyer and seller. Blockchain in the art can create a platform equally beneficial for both artists and collectors.

Firstly, blockchain can attest to the authenticity of an artwork, and make sure the artist gets to profit from it. Especially in today’s world, as artists are creating digital artwork, their works are also getting copied and distributed without consent. However, with blockchain in art, artists can establish ownership of their works by registering it on a blockchain network. Blockchain also makes sure artists get to interact with their customers directly and get the right price for their work.

There are so many applications of the blockchain in art. Take a look at this visual from DisruptorDaily.

Coming to the collectors, with blockchain in art, there will be no doubt regarding the originality of the artwork an investor is about to purchase since its owner can easily be tracked with the blockchain ledger. That’s what NFTs (non-fungible tokens) is all about, and they’ve been all the rage in 2021. Artists like Beeple have sold their NFTs for millions of dollars, while NFT platforms have been thriving. Organizations like Verisart and Codex are providing artists with the opportunity to register their work and get it time-stamped on the ledger. This way information regarding artwork is easily accessible to collectors.

The application of blockchain in art has endless possibilities, and it sure will be exciting to witness as blockchain transforms the art industry.

What About Blockchain’s Impact on Other Aspects of Our Lives?

Blockchain can have numerous use cases in our daily lives. For example, when it comes to cybersecurity, blockchain is probably the best technology to adopt, with its transparency and the maximum possible security. Blockchain in the government sector can ensure the safety of public records, store federal government data, and increase clarity in government operations.

Blockchain in the retail industry can make online shopping more trustworthy to the consumers, by providing them with complete details about a product- including its date of production, the material used, etc. As for blockchain’s use in traditional finance, it can bring about cost-effective and easily accessible financial products and services. Blockchain can also work wonders in healthcare, by keeping patient database authenticity, as well as making the supply chain more efficient.

To sum it all up, blockchain comes with valuable qualities, especially regarding tamper-proof, permanent databases, and security, which could bring enhanced authenticity, transparency, and increased engagement of the general populace in areas that impact our daily lives in every possible way.

At Giottus, we’re thrilled to be witnessing the evolution of the world as we know it, as more and more use cases of blockchain technology emerge with every passing day.