Professional Documents
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REPORT
Blockchain
a game-changer for
every industry
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Introduction
Since Bitcoin technology became a hot Slowly and steadily, that environment has been shifting, and
pick for global investors, the hype has been blockchain is now benefitting multiple verticals with various
building around its foundational technology: applications. In 2021, the blockchain market was valued at
blockchain. Still, for many years, blockchain US$4.9 billion and could hit US$67.4 billion by 2026, representing
solutions had a high barrier to entry, making almost 70% growth over five years. The global blockchain market
it seem inaccessible and reversing the hype will be worth $1,431.54 billion by 2030, growing at a CAGR of
for most organizations. approximately 85.9% between 2022 and 2030.”
Three key aspects make blockchain technology stand out: transparency, immutability, and non-repudiation.
Companies are now realizing these benefits, along with its well-publicized security, scalability, and efficiency
perks, and are using this technology to improve customer experiences.
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01
accessible and trustworthy information for all stakeholders and
customers while granting total security.” Discuss how blockchain is reinventing the
digital landscape
Marcio Degiovannini, Co-Founder of Atix Labs, a Globant Division
03
to make transcendent leaps that will take us further and further by Share impactful applications in various
introducing us to new models for cooperation that allow individuals
industries highlighting blockchain
to help others through peer-to-peer exchanges. It’s expanding
adoption’s challenges and benefits
the way we think about how we can organize and co-manage, for
example, online communities, companies, and systems.
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The
foundation
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The foundation
Let’s align on some fundamentals.
Blockchain is a distributed ledger technology (DLT) that allows Blockchain closely resembles a database at its core, but every
multiple parties to transfer and store sensitive information time a user inserts new data, it generates a permanent copy
securely, permanently, anonymously, and efficiently within a of the previous data. These copies, or “blocks,” can never be
decentralized network. All network participants see the same data edited, giving organizations a dependable, secure, permanent
simultaneously, and all transactions are immutably recorded with history of every transaction on the blockchain.
time and date stamps, preventing any possibility of modification.
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Blockchain’s decentralization can industries were highly centralized, and users had to place their
trust in an intermediator to operate. This is now no longer the case.
reduce weak points in systems that
rely too heavily on specific actors. As Satoshi Nakamoto, a name used by the presumed
pseudonymous creator of the first blockchain database,
For example, a bank currently serves as a middleman when stated, “The nature of the blockchain means that individuals
two individuals wish to send funds to one another. With no can transact between each other, even if they don’t trust each
middlemen, there are fewer trust issues when processing other.” Blockchain technology looked to solve an intrinsically
important transactions. human matter by eliminating the issue of trust. Blockchain
removes the possibility of distrust versus other technologies
Blockchain minimizes the amount of trust required from any applied to transaction and information processing since it’s
single actor in the system. They do this by distributing trust built, confirmed, and validated by a mix of cryptography and
among different actors in the system via an economic game dispersed networking that’s impossible to alter.
that incentivizes actors to cooperate with the rules defined by
the protocol.
Changing
traditions
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02 Changing
traditions
Blockchain opens the door to new industry opportunities through
the following triggers, reinventing how businesses operate and
relate to their clients and consumers with more effective and
precise processes and applications.
8
SENTINEL 9
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Tokenization
digital one protected by blockchain technology. The acquisitions of assets. It also provides transparency,
properties and rights of this digital asset can be security, and privacy by keeping all operations
controlled exclusively by the token owner. publicly available, encrypted, and pseudo-anonymous
(or anonymous, sometimes).
For example, tokenization establishes new
investment means in the financial field, expanding Due to blockchain technology, tokenization has also
access to investment tools. Such is the case of made an impact in crowdfunding. “The crowdfunding
tokenized Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) and Initial industry emerged to “disintermediate” capital
Exchange Offerings (IEOs). formation by giving backers (aka “pledgers”) or
individual investors the ability to directly fund
These applications allow for decentralization by creators and entrepreneurs, providing a natural
maintaining the operation of these assets within alignment with blockchain capabilities.”
02 Decentralized
Finance (DeFi)
DeFi is the general term for decentralized financial services on
public blockchains based on technology such as Ethereum, Solana,
and Avalanche, among others. With DeFi, an individual can perform
most things traditionally done by banks (earn interest, borrow, lend,
buy insurance, trade derivatives, trade assets, and more). However,
it’s faster, with no paperwork required or third-party involvement.
03 Non-Fungible
Tokens (NFTs) Music and video clips from
EDM stars like Deadmau5
04 Decentralized Autonomous
Organization (DAO)
This type of organization can function without “human” The value of DAOs lies in managing on-chain projects or
hierarchical management, with a common interest and companies in such a way that the technology is used for
shared (treasury) account for a few or thousands of people. joint decision-making, disregarding who the token holder is.
There is no central authority or leader. The organization is For example, many users want to invest in NFTs or digital
based on a smart contract with clear rules that no one can items but do not have enough capital; that is why DAOs
modify without editing the blockchain ledger and alerting its allow them to participate with less money and diversify
members. Decisions and changes are made by consensus, against these assets.
usually by the majority.
DAOs are how most crypto-blockchain companies organize
The organization’s goal is to manage, invest, or control themselves, and they have the potential to transform, in
certain activities around a decentralized, anonymous, and the short term, how joint ventures are managed. A few
horizontal objective. The form of participation in the DAO reasons are because DAOs presented a new path in how
consists of buying or accumulating tokens, which grant we think organizations work, can work, or could work in the
voting rights. The voting power depends on each member’s future. They revealed a structure where decisions can be
number of governance tokens. Most commonly, DAOs are made on a community level rather than just focusing on
used in the crypto realm as a joint investment channel or for returns and earnings. Lastly, DAOs present many potential
the administration of a decentralized protocol. benefits, including greater transparency, independency, and
decentralized cooperation.
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05 Decentralized
Identifier (DID)
Reinventing
industries
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Reinventing
industries
Everyone has a stake in understanding the potential
of blockchain, there is not an industry that will be
untouched by it.”
There are multiple benefits of blockchain applicable for many For example, public and private entities such as governments,
different uses, from improving the efficiency of transactional charities, businesses, or brands sometimes make commitments
processes to tracking inventories, guaranteeing product that are difficult to prove. Blockchain is a way of holding
authenticity, and more. them accountable through public transparency and verifiable
information. Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin donated $1
Blockchain has had some positive social effects. Things like billion of cryptocurrency to India’s Covid-Crypto Relief Fund, and
improving supply chain integrity, securing digital identity his blockchain-backed digital wallet revealed the transaction.
management, and connecting the ‘unbanked.’ However, it can
potentially have an even more significant social impact on all Below, we explore use cases specific to each industry and discuss
humankind. how blockchain is applied to make the most of its possibilities.
Finance
The financial sector is the first we often think of when Most blockchain ledgers represent balances, transfers,
it comes to successfully leveraging blockchain. In fact, and other operations, but they can also represent stocks
“the financial sector accounted for around 30% of the and commodities like gold or coffee.
market value of blockchain.
When these assets are effectively “tokenized” and
added to a blockchain, financial companies can perform
conventional ownership transfers faster and cheaper
while providing enough transparency for customers to
Blockchain is an enabler for real-time, easy track every transaction stage.
integrations and a highly scalable solution
for transactionality.”
Cea explains that “...modern cryptography has come to The applications of blockchain in finance
stay forever to help organizations embrace their true brand concentrate on four main verticals:
value; in particular the ones having Financial Services at
their core or the many ones that are adding it as part of
their value proposition. Simply because they don’t need to 01 Capital markets: issuance and
exchange of new assets
worry anymore about complex and legacy software and old
security standards that slow innovation.”
02 Payments: stable currencies on the
blockchain, backed up by different assets
Additionally, this infrastructure is more secure, enabling
different players to interact in the same database, while the
traditional databases in which they transact depend on a 03 Decentralized ID for financial scoring
Retail
As the world begins reopening after the global pandemic and Added to the current retail value proposition, where delivering
a new normal is established, the retail industry is experiencing the best experience is prioritized, is the challenge of providing
new challenges. Now is a decisive moment for the retail the best security and privacy to end consumers both in the
industry to use blockchain in addressing these challenges, online and offline world.
redefining the industry’s value proposition with this technology.
Fortunately, retailers are changing their strategies. They are
Currently, the main challenges in this industry include: starting to understand blockchain and all its potential uses.
According to BIS Research, blockchain in agriculture and food
High maintenance costs and legacy dependencies. will reach a value of $1.48 billion by 2026.
Delays in the approval and granting of contracts in the Blockchain can help participants record relevant information to
entire supply chain. more effectively manage the supply chain, increasing traceability,
lowering losses from counterfeit and gray market, improving
Hacks, fraud, and scams, especially in the last mile of visibility and compliance, and enhancing an organization’s
retail facing with the final consumer. position as a leader in responsible manufacturing.
Asset swap with poor visibility and lost records in cross- GlobeNewswire states, the blockchain market in
border payments. manufacturing grew at a rate of
In the retail industry, blockchain Suppose an agricultural or livestock product must meet
particular food criteria.
can be applied in:
Tracking inventory The consumer can verify a product’s quality from start
to finish, from the acquisition of the raw material to
Automating back-office administration with the arrival of the product. Different validators will
smart contracts certify its stages, including government entities,
manufacturers, etc. This product traceability also
Managing customer data increases consumer awareness of the product’s
environmental impact, allowing customers to select
Enforcing labor rights within global supply chains honest, transparent suppliers based on factual
information.
Monitoring ownership with a tamper-proof,
resilient system supply chain management Blockchain also allows connecting different loyalty
programs across several brands by accumulating
generic loyalty rewards within a single “wallet” later to
Paper documents increase the risk of forgery and redeem the points with any company in the program.
physical damage, and centralized databases can be For example, retailers can build reward programs
hacked or altered. Blockchains are immutable and not on a blockchain-based loyalty platform, enabling
controlled by a single entity. customers to store currency in a digital wallet and
redeem it at any point.
Supply Chain
There are numerous benefits blockchain and supply
chain offer businesses. Through the joined use of
both of these technologies, organizations transform IDC predicts that:
by becoming more reliable, resilient, and efficient; By 2025, 17% of organizations in the Logistics
they also acquire adaptability to adjust quickly to Industry will partner with a services firm to integrate
market changes. blockchain with IoT platforms to record data
exchanged between M2M communications.”
Supply chain organizations require solid, well-defined
processes that consider all available information (IDC FutureScape: Worldwide Blockchain 2021
to help make relevant business and operational Predictions. Oct 2020, Doc # US45927420)
decisions. This is how supply chain technology leads
businesses to reduce costs, boost revenues, and
improve profitability. A well-planned integration of
processes reduces the risks of disruptive scenarios,
which results in organizations efficiently dealing with
events that drastically shift supply and demand, such
as a spike in product recalls.
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Healthcare
Blockchain can enable healthcare providers to The projected growth for blockchain in healthcare in
place the patient at the center of every transaction 2028 is USD 1.2 billion. Healthcare providers have the
while increasing patient data security, privacy, and opportunity with blockchain to introduce new models
interoperability. The healthcare industry primarily for exchanging patient health information, ensuring
uses blockchain for: more efficient, disintermediated, and secure transfers
of electronic medical records. From the customer
ID for clinical records experience standpoint, it can allow individual patients
to access and share their medical records with other
Supply chain management healthcare providers, avoiding miscommunication
between doctors and preventing mistakes.
Clinical trials
It can present the opportunity for interoperability,
Drug development making it possible to link the patient’s data with the
studies of their family in a laboratory or with their
children, which would help prevent diseases and apply
for more personalized medicine.
With health records in the blockchain, Blockchain increases the protection of sensitive information
of the patient. With blockchain, every patient obtains a
you are giving more control to the
public identifier and a private key for unlocking data on the
individual, on who can access the blockchain. Without that key, hackers can’t access or alter
health records or how those health patient information, securing the data in a way that no other
records get accessed over time.” technology can match. It also protects the sensitivity of
the data when sharing information; for example, a worker
Alvaro Gareppe, Tech Director at Globant can demonstrate their health is fit to perform specific jobs
without revealing any details.
Blockchain can also help organizations trace and secure medical supplies, track diseases and outbreaks, and
expedite clinical research for public health reporting. Statistics show that some medicines in circulation are
fakes, easily identified via blockchain technology.
Real Estate
Real estate tokenization enables asset or fund owners One of the benefits of blockchain for the real estate
to raise capital more efficiently and provides investors industry is investing anywhere in the world, quickly
unprecedented transparency and liquidity in private real and without a high transactional cost. “Blockchain
estate investments. The retail industry uses blockchain significantly accelerates the usual processes of
for the following actions, bringing several benefits: the real estate market. As users have access to
all the information stored in the blockchain, they
1
Investments in projects with a save considerable time obtaining data relating to a
blockchain-based tokenization platform, property or land….”
such as coworking offices, building
presales, shopping malls, etc. Blockchain-enabled digital identities and smart
contracts simplify the financing process for
mortgages and loan applications while streamlining
2 Tokenization of assets documentation and due diligence. By applying a
digital identity to a property, customers can enjoy
faster processing times and reduce concerns over the
3
Blockchain-enabled digital identities
integrity of the transaction.
and smart contracts
26
Elimination of
Creating and owning Advertising Preventing digital
third parties or
unique digital property metrics piracy and fraud
disintermediation
Education
Blockchain also alters the complex education industry,
showing diverse benefits for institutions, students,
and teachers. Currently, the education industry faces
problems ranging from issuing certificates to the
difficulty of verifying that the credentials and a person’s
identity are valid. These problems result in many
cases because individuals do not have a tool to store
information about their academic achievements from
Kindergarten to university and postgraduate.
Schools can use blockchain to issue tamper-proof diplomas while streamlining the verification process
for education institutions, saving approximately USD 19,000 annually and saving time that equals close
to 36 weeks of work.
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Blockchain technologies offer the opportunity to Through these uses, trust is built among participants,
build such a governance model....a common view of strengthening commitments and agreements made,
information based on an agreed set of values, and as the implementation of the actions is carried out,
it can allow for self-executing activities based on monitored and verified. It’s also a cost-effective
those values.” solution, as it promotes proper finance management,
accelerating and securing operations and transactions
For example, through governance models based on while diminishing blockages in the transfer of value.
DAOs, explored in section two of this document.
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CONCLUSION
The growth or survival of your business will
be defined by a strong blockchain strategy
The value of blockchain is not only found in crypto asset “Web 3.0 will include a blockchain-based layer where With a working knowledge of frameworks like Ethereum,
management or new ways of interacting with money, but users collectively manage and control their data, social Cardano, Ripple, Polygon, EOS, Hyperledger, RSK,
it’s changing many aspects of our daily lives. networks, search engines, and marketplaces. Data Avalanche, and Algorand, our capabilities cover several
ownership returns to the users as a decentralized way to essential practices that can help businesses tap into the
store and share information, opening the door to a new CX benefits of blockchain. We focus on four main pillars:
digital decentralized realm.” Platforms Consulting and Development, Finance and
The first step towards understanding blockchain is Decentralized Finance (DeFi), Asset Tokenization, and
to see it as a tool for change, applicable to multiple Globant’s Blockchain Studio leverages cross-industry Blockchain Deep Development.
purposes to improve the efficiency of processes expertise and state-of-the-art blockchain technologies,
that empower people, industries, and businesses.” helping clients reinvent their businesses. We design Contact us to learn how our dedicated Blockchain
and build tailored decentralized and resilient solutions Studio can help your organization achieve its goals.
Pablo Lipstein, Business Developer at Globant that boost strategic business value, enabling efficiency,
Blockchain Studio immutability, and transparency.
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Fernando Cea Juan Bertiche Juliana Caccavo Nelly Ortiz Emiliano Horcada
About Globant:
We are a digitally native company that helps organizations reinvent
themselves and unleash their potential. We are the place where innovation,
design and engineering meet scale.
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