5 Surprising Uses for Ethereum

A majority of the cryptocurrencies out there at the moment that are in use all rely on the standard blockchain platform. This was the first decentralised blockchain platform and is the basis for Bitcoin. However, there are other blockchain platforms out there. One such platform is called Ethereum, which is the basis for the cryptocurrency Ether. It regards itself as the future of decentalization due to its innovative features. One such feature is smart contract capability. Meaning it has the ability to automate events and actions according to what has been determined in a contract between two parties. There are many different uses for this platform; however, today we’re going to look at the top 5.

It’s favoured among the gambling community.

Some of the best Ethereum casino sites that are currently available out there pride themselves on the benefits of having the Ethereum platform available on their sites. It has a much faster transaction speed and a much lower cost. It is equally as secure as the blockchain protocol and ensures that the online casino operators are held to account and rightfully so, ensuring a fair and transparent gambling experience for everyone when they play on these sites.

Banking and Financial Services

One advantage Ethereum has over the standard legacy blockchain is that it has faster transaction speeds. This is preferred amongst the banking and financial services sectors, as it could not only speed up but at the same time simplify a lot of their processes. The use of automated smart contracts could essentially be a game changer for a lot of the processes currently in place that have long needed an overhaul.

Digital identification checks

Do you not find it a bit odd that, with all of the advances in technology, to identify ourselves, we still use the likes of a passport and driving licenses? The reason behind this is that, until the invention of Ethereum, there had been no solid, reliable, and definitive way to determine the legitimacy of an online document. However, with the way Ethereum works, it has the ability to determine its legitimacy and validate it in an open and transparent way that can provide the reassurance needed for it to be the next default process.

Payments

As we have mentioned already, Ethereum inherently makes payment transactions faster. And so to explain how smart contracts can help even more, we will give you an example that relates to the ‘if this then that’ or IFTTT logic that is embedded into the Ethereum blockchain. This means, for example, if you wish to purchase a song off Apple Music, let’s say, the logic in the contract can determine that if the payment is made for song X, then song X is automatically downloaded. This removes the need for anyone to mediate between the two.

NFTs (non-fungible tokens)

You may have heard of NFTs; typically, you will have heard them in the context of digital artwork. Each piece of art has a specific identification to prove whether it is real or not. So you can’t simply copy and save an image, as the Ethereum blockchain will determine if it is the original image or not. And it is, in fact, Ethereum that mints and trades NFTs.

In summary

As we touched upon at the start, there are so many more uses for Ethereum. The future looks really exciting as it starts to be adopted in more and more applications and industries. The overall improvement it will have, not only on the industries but on our daily lives, will start to become more transparent over the next few years.