Many large companies are beginning to harness the potential of blockchain, transforming the way businesses of all sizes and sectors manage and operate. Imagine being able to have permanent and constant tracking of your food from the farm to your home or being able to verify the authenticity of a product by scanning a code. Here you can see which companies will buy Bitcoin in 2025.
What is enterprise blockchain and why does it matter?
Before we get into real-world cases of companies using blockchain, I’m going to explain in detail what a blockchain is in the business context. A blockchain is like a giant digital ledger that is shared among many computers. The key point is that if you write something in this ledger, everyone can see it and nothing can be changed without everyone knowing or agreeing.
Blockchain for businesses offers the following advantages:
- Total transparency: Everyone can see the transactions
- Maximum security: It is almost impossible to hack or manipulate
- Elimination of intermediaries: Companies can connect directly
- Complete traceability: Any product or transaction can be tracked
What is blockchain used for in businesses: Revolutionary Use Cases
Supply Chain Traceability
The large food chain Walmart decided to implement blockchain so that customers could track food products. In collaboration with IBM, they have a system that allows you to trace meat and poultry products from the producer to the consumer or final customer.
What makes the use of this technology so important? When the salmonella outbreak occurred, Walmart wanted to trace its origin but had major difficulties finding it. Blockchain gives you access to constant tracking of any product to its source.
We also have Maersk, revolutionizing the industry with the creation of TradeLens, a blockchain platform involving 94 participants and 20 port operators. The platform allows you to see all parts of the shipment in real-time regarding arrival times, customs documents, and commercial invoices. You will be aware and fully informed of the entire distribution process.
Identity Management and Verification
British Airways has a blockchain system called VChain verifying passengers' identities at airports like London, Geneva, and Miami. This system enhances security and facilitates the verification process for airlines and airport authorities, making document checks much faster.
Data Protection and Privacy
After the Cambridge Analytica hacking incident, Facebook (now Meta) formed a team led by David Marcus to explore the opportunity of implementing blockchain to increase the security of user data. Although Facebook acts as a data custodian, the implementation of blockchain achieves more secure and decentralized storage.
How is blockchain applied in a company? Transforming Sectors
Financial and Insurance Sector
MetLife, with its Lumen Lab innovation center in Singapore, developed the first automated blockchain-based insurance. Its Vitana platform offers financial protection for women with gestational diabetes, providing access to real-time medical records and issuing policies in minutes—all automated.
Next, we have AIA Group launching the first blockchain bancassurance, enabling the company and its partners to share data and policy documents in real-time and immutably, increasing security and transparency while speeding up processes.
E-commerce and Retail
Alibaba is a world leader in blockchain patents, despite its co-founder Jack Ma being critical of cryptocurrencies. The company has deployed luxury product tracking solutions on its Tmall platform and developed systems to improve cross-border supply chains.
Baidu has launched an image rights management system that allows photographers and agencies to create profiles and securely and verifiably protect the copyrights of their images.
Logistics and Transportation Distribution
UPS joined the Blockchain in Trucking Alliance (BITA) to develop blockchain standards in the transport industry. The company proposes innovations that offer logistics managers cheaper and more efficient management systems to solve the problem of hidden information in complex supply chains and thus expand.
On the other hand, FedEx uses blockchain mainly to facilitate the customer dispute resolution process. By storing its records, it is possible to quickly access the necessary data to resolve various issues.
Which companies use blockchain? Innovators by Sector
Entertainment and Media
Walt Disney has begun using the technology to track inventory, sales, and shipments through blockchain in its theme parks. In this way, the company’s Dragochain project explores the possibility of implementing the technology so that business systems can approve or reject transactions more efficiently.
Mining and Energy Industry
BHP Billiton, the multinational mining corporation, has decided to use blockchain to have greater control over sample records, rock movements, and well fluids. This improves the corporation’s efficiency by helping maintain real-time data integrity during expeditions and enhances collaboration with partners and suppliers.
Automotive Sector
Ford has developed a systematic blockchain patent allowing vehicles to assist each other to prevent traffic jams or congestion on roads. Through the technology, vehicles are connected, synchronizing speed to increase safety and give drivers peace of mind.
Chinese Financial Technology
Tencent is fighting fake invoices and reducing tax evasion in the city of Shenzhen. In collaboration with the State Tax Administration, they use the technology to validate invoices and assist tax officials in their work.
How does blockchain application work in practice?
Smart Contracts
Smart contracts are programs that automatically trigger in specific situations. Prudential, together with Starhub, developed Fast-track Trade, a platform where small and medium-sized companies can carry out partnerships, payments, and goods tracking automatically and without breaking the contract.
Digital Identity Management
Estonia, rated as the most digital country in the world, uses the technology to store tax and medical information. Estonian citizens are authorized to facilitate the use of encrypted data and control who accesses this information and when.
How can blockchain help companies safeguard their assets?
The second and one of the most valuable applications of blockchain is asset protection. The technology guarantees the following:
- Immutability of records: once information is recorded, it cannot be changed without the knowledge of all network participants.
- Complete traceability: thanks to the timestamp, every transaction or movement is recorded, creating a complete and unquestionable history.
- Fraud reduction: transparency and constant verification make data falsification or manipulation almost impossible.
- Process automation: smart contracts can act without human intervention once conditions are met, reducing the chance of errors.
- Decentralization: the risk of systemic failures is nearly nil due to the lack of a central authority.
Specific Sectors and Their Benefits
- Healthcare sector: privacy of medical records, drug traceability from laboratories to pharmacies, including cold chain control for critical medications.
- Food sector: food origin, increased consumer trust and improved food safety, simultaneously optimizing the supply chain and reducing costs.
- Public administration: process decentralization, promoting interoperability, and taking advantage of self-certification, maximizing the experience for both employees and citizens.
- Copyrights: origin authentication, rights management, distribution control, and proof of effective use, reducing legal process costs.
The Future of Enterprise Blockchain
The application of blockchain for businesses is by no means a passing trend, but a fundamental shift in how business is conducted. As we can see from these commercial cases—from Walmart tracking food to British Airways verifying identities—it is not only diverse but also innovative.
So, what is the most effective blockchain company? Walmart for retail, Maersk for logistics, MetLife for insurance, British Airways for aviation. They have one thing in common: recognizing the transparency, security, and efficiency that the new technology provides. The enterprise blockchain revolution has just begun. Those companies that implement this technology now will have the advantage of being the first in their field to provide greater trust, transparency, and efficiency.
The question is no longer whether companies should implement blockchain, but when and how they will do so in the most strategic way possible. The examples we have explored show that the future of business will be more transparent, secure, and efficient thanks to blockchain.