Welcome to the Blockchain Era

Your data is sensitive and crucial, and blockchain can significantly change how your critical information is viewed. By creating a record that can’t be altered and is encrypted end-to-end, blockchain helps prevent fraud and unauthorized activity. Privacy issues can also be addressed on blockchain by anonymizing personal data and user permissions to prevent access. Information is stored across a network of computers rather than a single server, making it difficult for hackers to view data.

Without blockchain, each organization has to keep a separate database. Because blockchain uses a distributed ledger, transactions and data are recorded identically in multiple locations. All network participants with permission access see the same information at the same time, providing full transparency. All transactions are immutability recorded, and are time- and date-stamped. This enables members to view the entire history of a transaction and virtually eliminates any opportunity for fraud.

Blockchain creates an audit trail that documents the provenance of an asset at every step of its journey. In industries where consumers are concerned about environmental or human rights issues surrounding a product — or an industry troubled by counterfeiting and fraud — this helps provide the proof. With blockchain, it is possible to share data about provenance directly with customers. Traceability data can also expose weaknesses in any supply chain — where goods might sit on a loading dock awaiting transit.

Traditional paper-heavy processes are time-consuming, prone to human error, and often require third-party mediation. By streamlining these processes with blockchain, transactions can be completed faster and more efficiently. Documentation and transaction details can be stored on the blockchain, eliminating the need to exchange paper. There’s no need to reconcile multiple ledgers, so clearing and settlement can be much faster.

Transactions can even be automated with “smart contracts,” which increase your efficiency and speed up the process even further. Once pre-specified conditions are met, the next step in the transaction or process is automatically triggered. Smart contracts reduce human intervention as well as reliance on third parties to verify that the terms of a contract have been met. In insurance, for example, once a customer has provided all necessary documentation to file a claim, the claim can automatically be settled and paid.