by Maurice E. Bakker BSc MBA, partner
When most people hear the word “blockchain,” they think of cryptocurrencies, speculative bubbles, or digital monkeys wearing sunglasses. But behind the buzzwords and memes lies a powerful technology that’s already transforming how real businesses operate—from supply chains and healthcare to finance and sustainability.
The truth is: blockchain is not about crypto. It’s about trust, transparency, and automation—and businesses that look beyond the hype are gaining a serious competitive advantage.
In this blog, we explore the business applications of blockchain that actually matter and showcase successful use cases that prove blockchain’s value beyond coins and collectibles. Because at its core, blockchain is a decentralized digital ledger. It records transactions across a network in a way that’s secure, immutable, and transparent. This means:
- Every party can verify the data without relying on a central authority.
- Once data is recorded, it can’t be changed without consensus.
- All participants share the same version of the truth.
In practice, this makes blockchain especially powerful for:
- Improving traceability in complex supply chains
- Eliminating fraud in sensitive sectors like healthcare and finance
- Reducing administrative overhead in industries bogged down by paperwork
- Enhancing trust between partners, customers, and regulators
Supply Chain: from farm to fork with blockchain, use case: Walmart & IBM Food Trust
Walmart uses blockchain to track food products like mangoes and pork across its supply chain. With IBM’s Food Trust platform, what used to take 7 days—tracing the origin of a food item—now takes 2.2 seconds. This improves safety, streamlines recalls, and builds consumer trust.
For businesses dealing with perishables or regulated goods, this kind of traceability is a game-changer. Blockchain ensures that every step in the supply chain is documented and tamper-proof, helping companies comply with regulations and respond faster to issues.
Logistics: speeding up global trade, use case: Maersk & TradeLens
Maersk, one of the largest shipping companies in the world, partnered with IBM to launch TradeLens—a blockchain platform that digitizes and streamlines ocean freight documentation. The result: fewer delays, fewer errors, and greater transparency for all stakeholders.
Over 150 companies, including ports, customs authorities, and logistics firms, have joined TradeLens (now sunset but still a leading example), showing just how much appetite there is for blockchain in reducing friction in international shipping. Blockchain cuts down paperwork, manual checks, and fraud in global trade by creating a single version of the truth across organizations.
Healthcare: fighting counterfeit medicine, use case: MediLedger & Pharmaceutical Giants
MediLedger is a blockchain network that enables pharmaceutical companies to verify and trace drugs throughout the supply chain. Big names like Pfizer and Genentech use the platform to comply with the U.S. Drug Supply Chain Security Act (DSCSA), preventing counterfeit medications from reaching patients.
In healthcare, trust can be a matter of life and death. Blockchain helps authenticate drugs and improve patient safety by ensuring that medications are genuine and traceable.
Cross-border payments: faster and cheaper, use case: Visa B2B Connect
Traditional B2B international payments are riddled with friction—intermediaries, delays, and high fees. Visa’s B2B Connect uses a permissioned blockchain to process cross-border payments securely and in near real-time between banks and businesses in over 100 countries.
Blockchain’s ability to settle payments faster and with fewer intermediaries is making it a strong alternative for international transactions, particularly in high-value B2B contexts.
Sustainability: ethical sourcing and carbon tracking, use case: De Beers & Tracr
De Beers uses blockchain to track diamonds from mine to retail, ensuring they’re ethically sourced. Their Tracr platform creates a permanent digital record of each diamond’s origin, authenticity, and journey, helping to prevent “blood diamonds” from entering the supply chain.
Similarly, startups like Carbonplace and Circularise are building blockchain platforms to track carbon offsets and circular production practices, making ESG reporting more credible. Blockchain gives businesses the transparency and auditability needed to meet ESG goals and prove ethical sourcing claims to regulators and consumers.
Identity & credential verification, use case: governments & education Institutions
Estonia’s government uses blockchain to secure everything from citizen records to e-residency programs. Meanwhile, universities are starting to issue diplomas and transcripts on blockchain to combat credential fraud. In an increasingly digital world, identity verification is crucial. Blockchain-based ID and credentials offer a tamper-proof, easily shareable solution.
Despite its promise, blockchain adoption still faces hurdles:
- Misconceptions: Many still associate blockchain solely with volatile crypto assets.
- Complexity: Blockchain implementation requires new infrastructure and mindset shifts.
- Scalability & speed: Public blockchains can be slower than centralized systems (though private/permissioned ones are addressing this).
- Regulatory uncertainty: Rules are still evolving in many countries.
But like many breakthrough technologies (think cloud computing or AI), blockchain is crossing the chasm—slowly moving from hype to real utility. If you’re considering blockchain for your business, start with these steps:
- Identify the pain points in your value chain where trust, transparency, or traceability is a challenge.
- Map stakeholders: Who needs access to the data? Where are trust gaps?
- Decide on the type of blockchain: Public? Private? Permissioned?
- Find the right partners: Work with platforms or consultants that specialize in business-grade blockchain solutions (e.g., IBM Blockchain, Hyperledger, etc.).
- Start small: Run a pilot project in one area, measure results, and scale from there.
But blockchain is not a magic bullet—but it is a powerful tool for building systems where trust is built-in, not bolted on. As the hype fades, what’s left are real, operational use cases that are already making businesses smarter, faster, and more resilient. Whether you’re in logistics, healthcare, manufacturing, or finance, blockchain has the potential to remove friction, reduce fraud, and improve customer confidence.So the question isn’t “Is blockchain still relevant?” It is: Where in your business would a single source of truth create the most value?