When you think of the blockchain, you probably think of Bitcoin — or whichever cryptocurrency happens to be the hip coin of the day. While cryptocurrency is very much a product of blockchain technology, there are also a host of other equally exciting uses for the decentralized ledger system that is blockchain technology.
We’ve rounded up some of the most exciting NYC-based companies who are using the blockchain to transform their industries. Don’t worry — you don’t have to actually understand how the blockchain works in order to appreciate these super cool companies.
Changing the journalism game, one block at a time
Digital journalism is emerging as one of the most exciting uses for blockchain. Civil, a Brooklyn-based company, aims to break free of modern journalism’s reliance on social media and advertising dollars in order to succeed. Instead, the company aims to create a self-sustaining network of writers and readers, whose work will exist free of third-party influences.
What would a serverless app look like?
When you log on to, say, Instagram — it’s Instagram’s servers that start whirring and processing your data. When you use an app developed on Blockstack, you are in control of your own data, directly. Blockstack creators hope this will put the power of privacy back in the app user’s hands.
Putting the blockchain in the hands of the people who need it most
True, the blockchain may have enabled certain investors to build up veritable empires of digital currency, but the unique networking system is also allowing companies like Blockchain for Change to do some social good. Presently, the tech company is working on programs that fight homelessness and empower underprivileged individuals with blockchain-based technology.
This blockchain-based startup is music to artists’ ears
A lack of transparency in the music streaming industry has resulted in multiple major lawsuits filed against everyone from Spotify to Apple Music. Ujo hopes to put the power back in the hands of the musicians with its blockchain-based database of music rights and automated royalty-payments system.
A VC firm unlike any other
It’s an unfortunate truth that companies founded by women receive less venture capital than those founded by their male counterparts. Still, women-led tech firms are finding new funding streams on the blockchain, be it through ICOs or accelerators like Kavita Gupta’s ConsenSys venture production studios, which is pioneering a wave of new blockchain-based startups (and much-needed fresh perspectives).
