How Blockchain is Used in Custom Software & App Development Beyond Cryptocurrency

You may have heard of Blockchain for cryptocurrency, but did you know this technology also works well for software and web application development? Blockchain offers a higher level of real-time security, irrefutable audit trails, tamper-proof tracking, and encrypted transaction processing.

When it comes to your business, a custom Blockchain solution can provide a next-level data source that can organize and store your data, your customer data, and anything that would benefit from a chain of information that depends on one-hundred-percent accuracy.

What is Blockchain?

The easiest way to think about Blockchain is as a digital version of a paper ledger. The difference between the paper ledger and the Blockchain ledger is that the paper ledger can be altered. With Blockchain, if the ledger were to be altered (which would be nearly impossible to do), anyone having access to the Blockchain would immediately know it has been changed. That is why Blockchain is so critical in handling cryptocurrency data.

Blockchain is made possible using something called a hash. A hash is an irreversible algorithm that encrypts data into a string of a fixed number of characters. Once encrypted, a hash can NEVER be decrypted. Once encrypted, if a single bit of the original data is modified, the resulting hash would be different.

That’s how Blockchain provides a method of irrefutable proof. If you create a block in a chain with a hash, you know forever that the block exists in the same state as when the block was originally created.

For example, if you create Block A for one set of data, then Block B for another set, you know forever by the hash that Block A existed before Block B AND that Block A was never altered. That way you know it’s completely accurate.

Other areas where Blockchain is extremely valuable, and may become the required methodology for certain industries, include financial transactions, healthcare information, and manufacturing data. It’s also ideal for encrypting chain of usage data, images, or even plain text, such as an email.

According to the latest research, 81 out of 100 of the world’s largest companies are already using Blockchain, with banks leading the charge.

The Advantages of Blockchain in Custom Software Development

The advantages of Blockchain in custom software development are endless. If you can imagine transparency and complete accuracy in unalterable and indestructible data that’s sharable throughout your organization or with customers, vendors, or contractors, without fear of data manipulation – you’ve got Blockchain.

Here are a few Blockchain benefits …

• Data can’t be tampered with
• Offers increased security
• Provides the ability to trace history
• Creates trust; there can be no manipulation
• Presents greater transparency
• Eliminates middlemen
• Provides individual control of data
• Increases speed of transaction processing
• Improves business process automation
• Speeds up verification capabilities
• Contributes to cost efficiency across the organization

What Are Some Typical Blockchain Uses Beyond Crypto?

Although Blockchain is primarily used today for financial transactions, it is starting to be used in business for tracking items such as physical assets, nonphysical assets (data), real estate, secure record transactions, materials, and anything else that needs irrefutable historical proof of location, status, etc.

Custom Blockchain can be used for…

• Product lifecycle tracking
• Data tracking
• Supply chain management
• Logistics
• Product history tracking
• Financial data
• Insurance data
• Secure data sharing
• Partial data sharing
• Historical data archiving
• Maintenance tracking
• Device location or status tracking

In 2022, the global Blockchain technology market is estimated to be worth $11.54 billion (up from $1.57B in 2018). By 2027, the expected market valuation $162.84 billion.

Custom Blockchain in Software Development & Applications

So, you may be asking yourself, “how can custom Blockchain be used in my company for the development of software, web applications, and new technologies?”

Let’s use the example of critical preventative maintenance in a manufacturing facility. Some facilities are governed by standards that require maintenance of a given quality on a specified interval.

Utilizing custom Blockchain in software application development:

• A maintenance schedule could be established as the first block in a chain, proving that it was established at the beginning of a time period.
• The blocks could then be used to keep a record of every preventive maintenance action, ultimately proving that each maintenance action was done with the required quality, at the specified interval, as originally established by the maintenance schedule.
• These records would be set in stone without any question as to their accuracy.

Using current technology, all someone would need to do to alter a record would be to go into the backend database where the maintenance records exist and change the data. No one would ever know the change took place. With Blockchain, this is not the case.

For this reason, we are going to see more and more systems that need the aspect of irrefutable proof move to custom Blockchain development and Web 3.0. (Learn about Web 3.0 and its impact on business here).

The Bottom Line … Blockchain is Here & Useful for All Business Types

Blockchain is no longer “the future.” With the advent of cryptocurrency, we saw first-hand how Blockchain uses real-time, unalterable data with maximum efficiency and security. Now, all-sized businesses are using it to solve issues and create irrefutable proof in their processes, data, and information. The transparency, trusted chain of usage history, and ability to share data while meeting compliance with the utmost confidence are priceless.

If you’re ready to explore custom Blockchain development and learn how it could help your organization improve efficiencies, enhance security, and increase compliance, thereby enriching your bottom line, contact Swip Systems today, with no obligation. We love to help businesses use technology to its fullest without the confusion that can come with something new. 877.377.SWIP