Just like Bitcoin, blockchain was treated like a thing for nerds, but we see great progress in adoption in 2025. From a farmer receiving an automatic drought insurance payout, to a patient granting a specialist instant access to secure health records, to a citizen casting a blockchain-recorded vote from abroad – blockchain is delivering practical solutions.
Finance and Banking
In finance, blockchain is all about the speed and security of transactions. Banks are using blockchain networks to streamline traditional payments. Yes, many payment systems already support crypto and many banks started serving clients who deal with regulated exchanges. For example, the Ripple network allows real-time cross-border payments, helping banks move money more efficiently.
Aave and Compound run on blockchains to let people lend or borrow funds directly, without relying on traditional banks. And that’s a big thing for the entire P2P lending industry. Even major payment companies have adopted blockchain: by 2025, Visa had processed over $225 million in stablecoin transactions on its network while igaming brands like 777 adopt crypto in their payment system. This means some Visa transactions are now settled in cryptocurrency (USDC) on blockchain rails, enabling 24/7 cross-border payments with lower fees. Blockchain is also streamlining complex trade finance.
Real Estate
Blockchain has entered the real estate sector with live applications that make transactions faster and more accessible. One important innovation is real estate tokenization. This means ownership of a property can be represented by digital tokens on a blockchain. Platforms now allow investors to purchase fractions of properties – for example, you could buy a 1% token share of an apartment building and trade it on an exchange. This concept, implemented by companies like Atlant, increases liquidity in the traditionally illiquid real estate market.
This reduces the paperwork and middlemen required. Beyond private investments, governments are using blockchain to secure land and property records. Georgia was one of the first countries to put its land registry on a blockchain, and others like Sweden have followed. In these systems, when a property is sold, the transaction is recorded as an immutable block, timestamped and verified by the network. This makes title transfers very transparent – anyone can verify the chain of ownership and nearly impossible to forge. It speeds up title searches and reduces legal disputes over land.
Supply Chain and Logistics
Global supply chains use blockchain primarily to track goods in real time and protect from counterfeits. Blockchain provides a single source of logistics information for all parties, reducing errors and delays. For example, Maersk worked with IBM to build a blockchain platform that gives end-to-end visibility for cargo in transit. All departures, arrivals and customs clearances are logged on a shared ledger. It’s no longer a thing for geeks, all cargo owners can use this system to track their cargo. FedEx uses blockchain and smart contracts to automate logistics processes and make their deliveries faster and reduce the paperwork. These systems help to cut down the costly manual tracking and improve data flow.
Blockchain is also crucial for verifying product origins and quality in supply chains. In the automotive industry, Renault developed a blockchain network to trace compliance of car parts. This helped Renault meet thousands of safety and quality regulations and cut compliance-related costs by 50% through better transparency.
In retail and food supply, blockchain is proving its value as well. Walmart has asked its produce suppliers to log shipments on a blockchain to quickly trace contaminated food, preventing outbreaks. And as a striking example, Nestlé’s blockchain-based formula tracking in China (mentioned above) restored public faith in a supply chain that had been broken by fraud.
Energy and Utilities
In the energy industry, blockchain is used in building smarter grids. A new trend is so-called peer-to-peer energy trading, where homeowners with solar panels can sell their excess power directly to neighbors. There are live platforms in Australia, the United States, and Japan that use blockchain to match buyers and sellers of renewable energy in local communities.
Traditional utility companies are beginning to adopt blockchain to bring grid management to a brand new level. TenneT made a network based on blockchain to assist in balancing electricity supply and demand. They linked home battery systems and electric vehicles to be able to manage these resources to either charge or discharge during peak hours which has reduced the need for dumping excess wind power or firing up backup plants.
Media and Entertainment
The media and entertainment industry is finding new ways to use blockchain to protect intellectual property. One prominent example is in music streaming. Audius is a decentralized music platform that runs on blockchain and is already used by artists and listeners worldwide. Unlike traditional streaming services, Audius uses tokens and smart contracts to automatically distribute royalties to musicians when their songs are played. Because it’s on a blockchain, the process is transparent – artists can see exactly how many streams they have and get paid instantly, without multiple intermediaries taking cuts. This model addresses long-standing issues in the music industry around opaque payouts and rights management. Another real-world application is in digital art and photography.
Insurance
The insurance industry, often seen as traditional, is also experimenting with blockchain through live pilot programs. One groundbreaking example was AXA’s Fizzy project, a flight-delay insurance product built on the Ethereum blockchain. In this system, whenever a covered flight was delayed beyond a certain threshold, a smart contract automatically triggered a payout to the customer – no claim forms needed. This kind of parametric insurance (where a payout is tied to an objective event like a weather reading or flight status) shows blockchain’s power to remove friction. The blockchain was fed real-time flight data by an oracle, and if the conditions were met, the insurance payout (in euros) was issued immediately to the policyholder’s account.
Most customers like a hassle-free experience, and AXA benefited from lower administrative costs and increased trust. Similarly, startups like Etherisc have used blockchain smart contracts to provide crop insurance for farmers and hurricane insurance, with automated payouts based on weather data. By 2025, we also see consortia of big insurance companies (for example B3i in Europe) using blockchain to share data on claims and risk, which helps detect fraud and speed up claim settlements.