Blockchain technology is plain and simple an amazing piece of tech...everyone who has been involved at least for a while into this world knows that. We can use(and see) blockchain services in almost every aspect of our lifes: we can store safely our digital identity, we can use it for a voting system, for registering intellectual property or we can see it successfully applied into key sectors of the economy like Banking and Finance, Energy and Sustainability, Healthcare and International Trade and Commodities.
Some of the uses being implemented for blockchain could actually work better with a database.
...upper phrase was Brad Garlinghouse's thought when analizing during an interview several use cases for blockchain technologies, and maybe he's right after all, but the thing is blockchain is here to stay and it has, undeniably, the power to transform things as they're been done by now...the same Brad Garlinghouse recognized it in other interview:
As I was looking around, to me, what was happening in the blockchain and crypto world was a movement.
...blockchain use cases have branched since the very first day...that's a fact!
Now we can find it almost everywhere and as the days go by, more and more people gets involved into this kind of world inside our own world.
You would be surprised to know that as many other things in life, blockchain services are used in "weird" things too...let's say that we have too rare or unusual use cases where this technology is applied...successfully? :)
Blockchain...everywhere?
Weird use cases for blockchain? We are plenty of them...here's a compilation of the best ones:
❶ A token that gives a ...FUCK?
...as you hear it!! There is a token used for situations where you want to, as an example, show support to a friend of yours who is passing for a bad situation...then you send him some "fucks" and a smile is likely to be drawn on his face when he or she sees the transaction coming: my friend remembers me and he want to say: "hello, i am here mate!!"
"FUCK Token is a social cryptocurrency that aims to help everyone around the world give a FUCK. Our cryptocurrency allows anyone, anywhere to send and receive money almost instantly with extremely low fees." - https://fucktoken.com
This token is basically a brotherhood(maybe a community?) that promises to offer support to people struggling with personal issues, whatever they might be. The main point is that people nowadays do not “give any fucks” and in order to show your friends that you care about them (“give fucks”), you can send FUCK token tips to their wallet. :)
❷ Trees earning a salary?
This idea is crazy but some people think it could be implemented somehow.
There is a company that is working on a technology that will enable you to plant a tree and put a wallet on it, with a small micro-controller. The tree will then be connected to the blockchain. Thanks to the sensors embedded in it, the tree will be able to detect when people pass by and basically charge them cryptocurrency for the oxygen it has produced – and they have consumed. (:-/)
...as said before, really crazy but some scientists find the idea really useful at least to measure how much oxygen the tree is producing and how much we "owe" to that tree throughout it's life...it is like a mesure of how much, on a tree lifetime, we owe it in exchange for the oxigen produced by that tree....records will be stores in the blockchain for safety and perdurability.
There are more "serious uses" of blockchain technologies regarding trees and nature in general: TreeCoin and TREE Token are just a couple of those more serious use cases where some companies try to fundraise money to plant trees in exchange for a profit later.
❸ Descentralized marriage.
Just a few years ago someone had the idea of marrying people on the blockchain. The idea comes from a Swedish sportswear brand Björn Borg on utilizing blockchain to record the holy act of getting married, mainly due to barriers people of same sex have to get married by traditional methods.
Blockchain is stereotypically linked with money but in practice, blockchain is an effective ledger that can record all kinds of events as well as transactions - no finance is necessarily required. It has the ability to record and preserve events without the need for a third party so Björn Borg launched the digital platform Marriage Unblocked where you can propose, marry and exchange vows all on the blockchain. What’s more, the records can be kept anonymous offering security for those in potential danger. And of course, you can request a certificate to display proudly too!
When you get married, a symbolic marriage record is stored on the Ethereum blockchain. It's a symbolic marriage, so you can't use it in court. But - as stated in Björn Borg website- you can use it to send out a loud and clear message to open up marriages for everyone. And to store your love for each other, forever. :)
Marriage Unblocked is not alive nowadays but there are some other cases using the blockchain to store digital versions of government records like birth and marriage certificates....cool, isn't it?
❹ Keeping a record of sexual consent.
Speaking about marriage...you can use blockchain services too to keep a record of your sexual meetings and allow people for casual sex while preserving your privacy(till the moment of... :) )
Not too much people knows there is an app inspired by #MeToo movement called LegalFling, which uses blockchain technology to verify sexual consent.
The app goes beyond recording whether a user has consented to having sex. A user can specify requirements and whether certain practices are OK with them, from sharing photos and videos to using a condom to being STD free to using explicit language. Then they send a message request to a sexual partner, who decides whether to accept or decline the terms of the interaction. The person’s acceptance gets recorded on the blockchain, so neither party can tamper with that record after that time.
❺ Know your Thanksgiving dinner's...LIFE?
Some people has been always concerned about the origins of their food. That's why international food conglomerate Cargill presented a solution for Thanksgiving dinner, so people can meet closer the life....of the turkey they are gonna eat.
Turkeys distributed from select farms featured packaging printed with a tracking code, and buyers could go online, type in the code and learn about their individual bird. The online profile was complete with photos, information about the farm where the turkey was raised and even a message from the farmer. Users now can know how was the life of that "bird" they're gonna eat.
"...From a marketing perspective, it’s a way for consumers to feel connected to the American farmer – to those who are responsible for the food they are serving their families.” - says Debra Brauler who is Cargill’s chief information officer for animal protein and salt.
So from now on... sit at the table and say hello to Pinky Turkey: i know everything from you mate, thanks for being here...aaand, goodbye...!! :)
❻ Are you plenty of money...giving away a little, it never harms!
Have you heard of UselessEthereumToken (UET)
It’s no secret that many ICOs / ERC20 tokens are little more than scams, but at least the person behind UET is being honest about their intentions.
From the website (Useless Ethereum Token) :
"You're going to give some random person on the internet money, and they're going to take it and go buy stuff with it. Probably electronics, to be honest. Maybe even a big-screen television. Seriously, don't buy these tokens." - https://uetoken.com
Telling internet strangers to give you $ for nothing useful in return, and getting out with over $45k. I don’t really know what to say about this, other than that UET is a perfect example of blockchain hype gone mad. The logo is also a nice touch too...incredible!!!
...people seeing this and still buy UET token..i think those people who contributed in crowdsale thought those tokens could be converted into something collectible expecting some kind of profits in the future or maybe...they just did it for fun or to reward that smart guy who had this crazy idea at first!
I like the marriage thing...