Welcome to our new ‘What’s the story?’ series, where we highlight the top trends, events and storylines in a particular industry. But why, you ask?
Having a cool idea, launch, funding round or zero to hero story is one part of a successful PR campaign. The other part is knowing where you fit. How is your story relevant to what’s been happening over the past month, or year?
In this blog post we’re taking a closer look at storylines around blockchain, so let’s dive straight in!
Look at crypto as a tool to support currency rather than as money
Blockchain is most notably used for cryptocurrencies. But more interestingly, it’s being used to support currencies and the way we interact with money.
From big blockchain giants to newer startups, there are countless companies using this technology to support vulnerable communities with fintech:
Most notably, the United Nations used the Ethereum blockchain to send cryptocurrency-based vouchers to 10,000 verified Syrian refugees. The platform used was set up by blockchain infrastructure company Parity, whose technology is used by Google and Microsoft.
International money transfers have been a costly and time consuming activity in the past – Ripple is changing this to support underbanked populations. Beyond this they partner with universities, charities and other organizations to raise awareness of technical solutions.
The secure nature of blockchain gives users peace of mind that the information they receive is accurate. Enter, Bloom. Calling themselves the ‘Truth Platform’, Bloom helps enterprise, developers and consumers validate and protect sensitive information.
Blockchain benefits go far beyond ‘currencies’
The security and anonymity is the key benefit of blockchain, something highly sought after for storing and sharing sensitive information. Here’s how blockchain is being used to keep information secure:
Trading partners in the Life Sciences world have to deal with sensitive data being created, exchanged and updated on a regular basis. Chronicled uses blockchain to ensure these processes are automated, trackable and transparent, enjoyed by Pfizer and Bayer (to name a few bigwigs).
What do you really know about your car? Thanks to carVertical, that answer is about to get much longer. The blockchain-based car history company allows users to get a comprehensive report of a vehicle from over 25 countries.
From self-describing software to reimagining our digital identities, Follow My Vote has ambitious dreams. Their end goal is to improve the integrity of voting systems, underpinned by a decentralized application development platform that will give users easy and secure access to blockchain-based platforms.
The environmental impact of blockchain
The environmental impact of blockchain isn’t a hot topic – but consider the fact that mining a single Bitcoin takes up the same amount of power as it does to power the average U.S. household for 78 days.
Revolutionary technology calls for revolutionary solutions. Here’s a few:
More of a catch-all, PositiveBlockchain is an open database of blockchain projects that are doing good. A quick search of environmental-focused projects immediately throws up the carbon removal marketplace Nori and Ash Elements, turning coal and ash into an asset-backed coin for good.
Plastic Bank is using blockchain better to track the recycled plastic supply chain, from initial collection to the final recycled manufactured products worldwide. Bonus, when collectors bring in plastic to be recycled they’re given digital tokens! They’ve now recovered 41.64kg of plastic.
Software solution Provenance is tackling this same problem, but on a much larger scale. How can you trust what companies tell you about their products or services? With blockchain, that proves every claim with an unchangeable, traceable piece of data.
Is your blockchain company doing unique things with this technology? We want to hear from you. Contact our tech marketing and PR firm to see how we can help your company.