A blockchain– originally block chain – is a continuously growing list of records, called blocks, which are linked and secured using cryptography. Each block typically contains a hash pointer as a link to a previous block, a timestamp and transaction data. By design, blockchains are inherently resistant to modification of the data. A blockchain can serve as "an open, distributed ledger that can record transactions between two parties efficiently and in a verifiable and permanent way." For use as a distributed ledger, a blockchain is typically managed by a peer-to-peer network collectively adhering to a protocol for validating new blocks. Once recorded, the data in any given block cannot be altered retroactively without the alteration of all subsequent blocks, which needs a collusion of the network majority.
Blockchains are secure by design and are an example of a distributed computing system with high Byzantine fault tolerance. Decentralized consensus has therefore been achieved with a blockchain. This makes blockchains potentially suitable for the recording of events, medical records, and other records management activities, such as identity management, transaction processing, documenting provenance, or food traceability.
The first distributed blockchain was conceptualised by an anonymous person or group known as Satoshi Nakamoto, in 2008 and implemented the following year as a core component of the digital currency – bitcoin – where it serves as the public ledger for all transactions. The invention of the blockchain for bitcoin made it the first digital currency to solve the double spending problem without the use of a trusted authority or central server. The bitcoin design has been the inspiration for other applications.
Blockchain technology doesn't have to exist publicly. It can also exist privately - where nodes are simply points in a private network and the Blockchain acts similarly to a distributed ledger. Financial institutions specifically are under tremendous pressure to demonstrate regulatory compliance and many are now moving ahead with Blockchain implementations. Secure solutions like Blockchain can be a crucial building block to reduce compliance costs.
Block-chain technology is broader than finance. It can be applied to any multi-step transaction where traceability and visibility is required. Supply chain is a notable use case where Blockchain can be leveraged to manage and sign contracts and audit product provenance. It could also be leveraged for votation platforms, titles and deed management - amongst myriad other uses. As the digital and physical worlds converge, the practical applications of Blockchain will only grow.
The exponential and disruptive growth of Blockchain will come from the convergence of public and private Blockchains to an ecosystem where firms, customers and suppliers can collaborate in a secure, auditable and virtual way.
The blockchain. A hot topic. Every single industry, with no exceptions, is either working on blockchain solutions or trying to find appliable use cases. Every developer is studying witch niches haven't been discovered/solved and every tech savy / entrepreneur is trying to capitalize on the movement.
We are accustomed of thinking about money when we think of Cryptocurrencies, but we should be focusing on the underlined technology, the blockchain. There are so many uses for blockchain technology, that every industry will various blockchains for various purposes.
There are two ways of answearing this question:
Knowing witch industries desperatly need it.The ones that will not be able to compete without implementing it.
Knowing witch projects solve problems witch were very costly / hard or impossible to do without it
If we can gather this information then we can pinpoint with atomic precision where tomorrows value will be and witch industries will get a bottom-up remodeling from this movement, opening other investment opportunities.
This list will be very incomplete. the time taken to gather the current list was too high, I'm sorry. But I will slowly update the post with more niches and projects:
Projects:
Ethereum Classic ETC
https://ethereumclassic.github.io
Lisk
https://lisk.io
Stratis
https://stratisplatform.com
EOS
https://eos.io
Civic
https://www.civic.com
2WAY.IO
https://2way.io
Atencoin
https://atenwallet.com/
BlockAuth
http://blockauth.org/
Blockstack
https://blockstack.org/
Bitnation
https://bitnation.co/
BlockVerify
http://www.blockverify.io/
Cambridge Blockchain LLC
http://cambridge-blockchain.com/
Credits
http://credits.vision/index.html
CredyCo
http://www.coindesk.com/trustatom-raises-100k-blockchain-based-due-diligence-service/
CryptID
http://cryptid.xyz/
Evernym
http://www.evernym.com/
ExistenceID
http://www.existenceid.com/index.html
Projects:
Pokitdok
https://pokitdok.com
Patientory
https://patientory.com
GEM
https://gem.co/
GuardTime
https://guardtime.com/
Chronicled
https://www.chronicled.com/
Projects:
Ripple
https://www.ripple.com
Stellar
https://www.stellar.org
PayCommerce
https://www.paycommerce.com
Streami
https://www.streami.co
Currency Cloud
https://www.currencycloud.com
Bloom Solutions
https://www.bloom.solutions
OmiseGo
https://omg.omise.co/
Bitshares
https://bitshares.org/
Bitsquare
https://bitsquare.io/
NXT
https://nxt.org/
KMD/Komodo
https://komodoplatform.com/#top
OpenLedger
https://openledger.info/
Shapeshift and Blocktrades are an intermediate solution between centralised exchanges and DEXs.
There are currently some cities developing such blockchains, one is Dubai.
The current system for producing and transporting electricity is another dinosaur. The losses between generation and transportation account for 97% of the "production". This is a bad joke.
With renewable energy sources like solar panels, households and office buildings are now generating their own power. However, the ability of solar to provide adequate supply is not always net zero – sometimes it is in excess, and sometimes it is not enough, depending on the demand for power.
This has brought about the smart grid, wherein individual households and buildings with solar capability can sell back their electricity to the grid; the same buildings can also buy power from the grid when they cannot produce enough from their solar cells.
SolarCoin
https://solarcoin.org/
GENERcoin
www.genercoin.org/
ENERGYcoin
https://energycoin.eu/
Power-ledger
https://powerledger.io/
