Over the past years, blockchain technology has attracted considerable attention as a promising mechanism for security and optimization. Technology is expanding its potential not only in finance but also in education, medicine, logistics, etc. Its main advantages — decentralization, security, and reliability — make blockchain a valuable tool for changing the way things are done and improving the efficiency of data management and exchange. Central banks around the world have recently been actively considering the possibility of implementing blockchain technology in their work. The recent example of the European Central Bank (ECB) only confirms this.
ECB explores blockchain technology
A few years ago, the ECB engaged a research team from the University of Leuven to independently study the possibility of liquidity smoothing. And it recently completed a blockchain experiment for its central bank digital currency (CBDC), the digital euro. Speaking at the FHE Summit 2024 on 10 July, Zama CAO Nigel Smart told the audience that the academic team at KU Leuven has been working with the ECB on a test project. *The experiment was conducted independently with no further input or contacts by the ECB, and no direct involvement from Zama.
“We did one with the European Central Bank on liquidity matching. […] And several applications on CBDCs have been actually to remove the central bank out of the equation and replace it with a blockchain,” he notes.
Liquidity matching refers to the process of matching financial inflows and outflows of assets to avoid the risk of not having enough funds to meet financial obligations. However, according to Smart, liquidity matching remains a challenge for many parties transacting on the same blockchain network.
He explained: “Then the issue is if you have multiple entities on the blockchain, and it’s all encrypted stuff, how do you do liquidity matching? That’s a really big issue.”
For this reason, Nigel Smart is building solutions with fully homomorphic encryption (FHE) for blockchain and artificial intelligence. FHE-based encryption allows you to perform calculations on encoded data without disclosing it. In early March, Zama raised $73 million in a Series A funding round to further develop its FHE stack and provide developers with more tools to create data protection solutions.
How is Blockchain Transforming Various Industries?
Blockchain technologies have found their application in various industries. One of its key advantages is its decentralized structure. In traditional centralized systems, data is stored on a single server or in a limited number of locations, which makes it vulnerable to attacks and manipulation. Blockchain, on the other hand, distributes data among numerous network nodes. This means that each network participant has a copy of the entire blockchain, which makes it impossible to change the data without authorization.
Another significant advantage of blockchain is security. Each block in the chain contains a unique cryptographic signature that links it to the previous block. Therefore, it is virtually impossible to change information in one block without changing all the previous blocks, which requires huge computing resources.
Finance is a particularly common area of technology use. In addition to central banks using the technology in their work, it also facilitates fast and secure transactions. While traditional banking transactions can take several days and require high fees, blockchain allows them to be completed almost instantly and at minimal cost. Today, crypto payments are becoming increasingly popular around the world. Perhaps a few years ago, making a payment in cryptocurrency was something extremely complicated, but now there are a huge number of platforms that greatly simplify this process. These include GEO Pay, Whitepay, CryptoPay, and many others.
The technology has also found its application in the education sector. Blockchain has great potential to make education more accessible, transparent, and efficient. It allows students to store and control access to their data. Traditional systems are often subject to cyberattacks and data leaks, while blockchain offers decentralized storage that is much harder to hack.
Today, a large number of universities around the world are integrating this technology into their educational processes, such as the University of Nicosia, the University of Cambridge, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, and others.
They offer blockchain education programs and teach how to program smart contracts and create new products and services based on the technology. In particular, the Ukrainian University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy has recently completed a blockchain certificate program for master’s students of the Faculty of Informatics, developed in cooperation with WhiteBIT.
The graduates received their degrees in the form of tokenized certificates on the Whitechain blockchain. These certificates confirm the authenticity of traditional documents and make it impossible to transfer or falsify educational documents. One of the main problems in modern education is the verification of diplomas and certificates. Traditional methods can be falsified or lost, which creates difficulties for students and employers. Blockchain can ensure the integrity and transparency of these documents.
The healthcare industry is also on the verge of a significant transformation, prompting the adoption of blockchain to secure, share, and manage medical records. Medicalchain is an example of a blockchain application in healthcare. Its use allows for the creation of a unified, secure record of medical information that can be accurately and efficiently managed by various medical institutions. By ensuring the secure exchange of medical data, Medicalchain ensures that healthcare professionals have timely access to vital patient data.
Conclusion
Blockchain has the potential to transform various industries by providing greater transparency, security, and efficiency. From financial services to healthcare and energy, this technology opens up new opportunities for innovation and process improvement.
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