2.5 Examples of DApps

We have shared everything we know about Decentralised Applications with you, and if you have just joined us at this blog post, why not take yourself back to 2.1 What are DApps? to digest all the content we have published about DApps. Before we turn our focus to a different topic, we want to finalise our 2.0 DApps section with some examples of DApps, so you can take your new understanding and put it to use on one of the live DApps. We will explore a number of current live DApps, which you may have heard of before, but we are also going to take you into the unknown, discussing the future of DApps and where they are currently being developed for future use.

Which DAPPs are currently available? 

Banking and Financial Services 

Compound

Compound is an application that has been created to generate interest on cryptocurrencies. Currently investing in many cryptocurrencies isn’t offering a level of interest, but Compound aims to change this, and you will gain interest for your cryptocurrencies both in your wallet and whilst on exchange. If you already invest in cryptocurrency, or have plans to invest, Compound is a DApp you need to research to make sure you gain interest on any investments you make. 

Aave Protocol

Aave is a decentralised finance application that coordinates lending and borrowing between users of digital currencies. You can either invest your cryptocurrency into the pool of assets and earn interest by allowing others to loan your assets through Aave. Or you can be on the other side of the deal and you can borrow assets from the pool based strategy Aave offers, however this does mean you will be charged interest for borrowing, but it is an easy to use DApp and you will have access to the desired loan. 

Gambling 

Dice

Recognised as the world’s first decentralised gaming software in the world, Dice is a gambling/gaming DApp powered through blockchain. As a platform they want to provide users with a secure, reliable and easily accessible ecosystem. If you are looking to gamble and play games using a decentralised application Dice could be the platform you need to visit.  

BlueBet

Another DApp for anyone looking to gamble or play games is BlueBet. BlueBet has a wide range of games available including Texas Poker, Blackjack and Baccarat, but their biggest statement is the fact they are the world’s first cross-chain casino. BlueBet supports the use of Bitcoin, Ethereum and all other major cryptocurrencies, so you can be in the same competition as fellow crypto enthusiasts who may invest in a different cryptocurrency to you.

BetHash

Finally, we have BetHash, another DApp for gambling and playing games, all powered through blockchain. Promoted as the fairest decentralised crypto casino available, BetHash is worth researching. With a slightly different set up, BetHash requires you to use hash when choosing your numbers and it is in the hands of blockchain technology to fairly declare the winning number. Every single bet made and reward gained stays on Blockchain forever, therefore offering security to your bets and winnings at all times.

Which industries are currently developing DApps? 

Across many industries DApps are a hot topic and as more and more people recognise their potential, research is being completed to develop DApps that will support the different requirements. We are going to explore two industries that we have discussed before in relation to blockchain, however the list of industries is endless and eventually every industry will adopt Decentralised Applications powered through blockchain technology.

Sovereign Identity 

For years now the idea of moving to a decentralised digital identity system has been explored, but no one has managed to produce the final product and start the movement. However, all that changed when blockchain technology came to the surface and people began to explore the possibilities again. With an estimated £3.3 billion per annum cost to support Self-Sovereign Identify in the UK alone, it is going to cost a lot of money, but it is possible and the benefits that we will encounter definitely sounds worth it to us. 

We have listed some of the key advantages to Self-Sovereign Identity that we will experience once it is in place.

• It will prevent massive data breaches, some that we have experienced previously could have been avoided.
• Companies can efficiently gain the identity assurance they need of different individuals.
• Most importantly it will allow individuals to take control of their own data and decide where and how it is shared. It could even become a trade off with businesses that they have to pay you to receive your data in the future.

A world with the above benefits is a part of our future, but it is going to take a lot for us to get there. Once it is in place, we won’t rely on the likes of Facebook or Google anymore to store our personal data and they won’t be able to monetize it without our permission. We will eventually be in control and you will decide where and how your data is used. 

Healthcare 

We previously discussed using Blockchain within the Healthcare sector in our blog post 1.6 What is Blockchain used for?, and we just want to reiterate a few points we have already made. Powering Decentralised Applications through Blockchain to support Healthcare in the future is going to make for a smoother, secure, efficient system that will support healthcare organisations around the world. 

At current the Healthcare industry faces a number of problems specifically focused around the sharing of medical information, treatments and the distribution of medicines. We are also putting ourselves in a vulnerable position by leaving our important medical records on a centralised server that hackers can access if they wanted to. Whilst the simple transfer of documentation between two different healthcare organisations also takes much longer than we would expect. All of the above are problems that can be solved by adopting blockchain technology and creating a DApp that offers all the services the healthcare industry would need.

To give you an idea of a healthcare industry that uses DApps we have detailed some benefits below that will in turn become apparent once the technology is up and running.

• DApps and blockchain are both decentralised therefore the system won’t need a centralised server to run, removing the mechanism that made the data hackable in the first instance.
• We again take control of our data and have access to it as and when we need it, giving users full control of who we share it with and when it is exposed.
• Furthermore, it will mean that we no longer need to rely on healthcare professionals to coordinate our records, making the process to receiving treatments quicker and smoother.

Finally, it is worth noting that there are currently DApps that people are using for personal healthcare such as tracking their exercise and fitness performance. If you are looking to start your journey using healthcare DApps now, you may want to research the following DApp further, Actifit, as it is the most popular and most used.

Looking for more Blockchain related content?

We have officially ended our 2.0 DApps topic and we hope you now have a clear understanding of DApps. Make sure you do further research into specific DApps before you start using them, but we hope our content has encouraged you to delve into the Decentralised world that is set to be our normal in years to come. We are currently researching new topics to pull together more content for you, so keep an eye out on our social media channels for announcements about 3.0.