One of the most important needs in blockchain at the moment is use cases. While there is much speculation about what the technology will do, what it is already doing is going to push it over the hurdle from idea to reality. Of course, scalability, speed, and security are all necessary components of blockchain currently being worked on. These factors will play an essential role in more companies adopting it for their business—or in seeing new business opportunities to apply the tech to.
We’re seeing more examples of how blockchain will change infrastructure on a weekly basis. Access Network launched off-chain in 2014; two years later, its simple mobile banking app, Atlas, was introduced, growing to service 30,000 customers in West Africa. Earlier this year the company began exploring blockchain as a means to cut out middlemen in providing infrastructure solutions, including harnessing solar power on a continent in which 600 million people lack electricity.
In nations with little to no access to electricity, Access is helping build a blockchain solution that will allow users to invest and crowdfund for energy needs while offering outside investors transparency and traceability in emerging solar supply chains. The big picture makes sense: providing electricity on an entire continent by using the most abundant energy source on the planet through a decentralized network in which those using the energy have a stake. This is certainly one of the most exciting use cases of blockchain that we’ll be seeing in the coming years, one the world desperately needs as the effects of climate change become more apparent.
