Paul Osadchuk
In this day and age, blockchain technologies are setting the zeitgeist, as their dramatic impact on the globe is hard to be underestimated. The distinct structure of code, implying the custody of data within unique “blocks”, has shaped the realm of advanced technologies as we know it — blockchain’s patrimony lives in cryptocurrencies, smart contracts, metaverse, and even artificial intelligence. It is thus not surprising, that global businesses are now on a streak of adopting the novelties, however, the info field recklessly neglects the truly amazing cases of blockchain integration in favor of more accessible. Indeed, the usage of the technology by companies is not confined to releasing the collections as non-fungible tokens or opening restaurants in the Metaverse. Optimizing the entrepreneurial processes with the Internet of Things, ensuring decentralization with smart contracts, and a vast amount of other different options are being elaborated as you read this article.
Thus, here I share the cases of the most optimal and efficient usage of blockchain-based technologies by the world's companies.
The collaboration of petrol giant Shell, major consulting player Accenture, and enormous travel company American Express Global Business Travel (Amex GBT) brought to life Avelia — a blockchain-powered sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) book-and-claim solution for business travel.
Avelia is a complex yet cutting-edge toolkit. Specifically, this book-and-claim model is capable of ensuring the secured allocation of SAF’s environmental attributes to companies and airlines after the fuel was delivered into the fuel network.
Simply put, Avelia makes the carbon footprint from SAF traceable and monitorable within the sole chain of airlines and aviation companies, which contributes to the reduction of the emissions, transparency and mitigates the risks of calculating issues or double-counting. The blockchain technicalities unlock the possibility for Avelia to provide clarity and security in tracking the amount of fuel used and the carbon emitted. As a matter of fact, the data is operated and validated on the basis of Proof of Ownership.
Walmart is an undeniable leader in supply logistics in the world. Still, it faced the common problem, typical of the industry — vast data discordance in the invoice and payments for third-party freight carriers, which caused durable payment delays and costs. As an answer to this crucial issue, Walmart Canada coined an automated system for managing invoices from the carriers and payments to them. The part and parcel of this toolkit is that it is built with the integration of blockchain.
Ultimately, distributed-ledger technology did the trick — less than 1% of the invoices are disputed now, compared to the 70% ones before Walmart’s novelty. In fact, whether the experience of Walmart’s enterprise optimization is adapted by the retail entities, the industry of logistics would be taken several stages further, regardless of the total business’s efficiency growth.
Jeff Bezos’ brainchild Amazon did not limit itself to building a logistics empire based on blockchain — it went further. Amazon Web Services (AWS) department is offering distributed and centralized ledger solutions for the business, operating with Ethereum, Blockstack, Hyperledger Sawtooth, and other advanced frameworks.
The company has managed to implement the blockchain databases into the cooperative processes of many enormous economic entities, among which are BMW, Nestle, Sony Music, and other international businesses. The purposes of Amazon’s solutions differ, yet the core remains identical — providing automation and enhancing the efficiency through utilization of blockchain networks. As a matter of fact, the overwhelming success of Amazon drove the popularity of Ethereum as well — 25% of all blockchain’s global workloads run on AWS.
Walmart’s idea to power up the supply chain using blockchain technology was not utterly pioneering and one-of-a-kind. PepsiCo Labs is a case in point of sustaining supply-chain through integrating prominent high-end technologies. Accordingly, the transnational giant collaborates with Security Matters — a company that coined cutting-edge means of clear traceability in recycling and the circular economy. To be more specific, Security Matters developed a blockchain-powered recycling conveyor, which detects plastic during recycling with the chemical marker, which is instantly copied to the network. Consequently, that enables precise product identification and increases its sustainability of it.
Notably, Security Matters is keen on blockchain-based compound detection. Namely, it had already collaborated with the Australian Perth Mint to track the authenticity of gold in the coin production.
Undoubtedly, the list of cases in point of efficient blockchain utilization shared within the article is only a tiny part of the businesses’ technology adoption. The skyrocketing increase creates opportunities and places challenges, as the rising usage of the blockchain requires higher awareness and a decent theoretical basis. Hence, the trend of not only using the products of technology but also putting it under deep scrutiny to build a base of future specialists is at its peak — a great bunch of educational initiatives is being carried out. Regardless of the courses, blogs, and collaborations with the highest educational institutions, the global distributed-ledger community is aspiring to make up something unique, revolutionizing both crypto and studies.
Namely, not so long ago one of the largest European cryptocurrency exchanges WhiteBIT launched a first-of-a-kind coworking in collaboration with the educational platform Cryptology “Digital Traders Hub”. Its foremost aim — is to put mature traders, experts, entrepreneurs, and beginners under one roof for one to converge into the powerhouse of blockchain knowledge. Presumably, the concept would allow the enthusiast to share the experience and insights, study, and grow in the realm of Blockchain.
Global companies have no limits for the ways to implement crypto in their corporate processes. And this is not only remarkable — this is fascinating. The technology, which is associated mostly with cryptocurrency, is given proper credit, and its potential is utterly unlocked. Or not utterly? Time will reveal how the blockchain evolves — and how the world consequently changes because of it.