Blockchain technology started the year 2018 with a bang. After the bubble burst of Bitcoin in 2017, Blockchain technology took off and became the “next big thing” in the blink of an eye. And it continued to be so as the year proceeded. Now, we’re at the end of 2018, and Blockchain technology only seems like the gold mine that it is of hidden and proven practical applications.

This technology might have been the result of the infamous cryptocurrency, Bitcoin but it has found enough independent applications of its own in literally every known sector of the world.

And in the year 2019, Blockchain technology will only continue to grow in every field.

Let us see, what were the major trends of 2018 in Blockchain technology that are not going to die down in the coming year 2019.

Internet Of Things

Internet of things or IoT is another huge technology that has left mankind curious. It refers to a network of hardware devices which are interconnected via the internet and all of these devices are capable of communicating among each other, i.e., sending and receiving signals.

When Blockchain is Paired with IoT, the combination of these two great technologies becomes more disruptive than ever.

Theoretically, the combination of Blockchain with IoT will provide us with a verifiable, secure and permanent way of recording data that can be processed by any smart device. And as a result, we will have an endless network of interconnected hardware devices which will enable sharing the whole world’s data among the network without any kind of manual intervention.

Practically, Blockchain will help IoT in keeping a track of all the data exchanges an maintaining the history of all the transactions. Also, being a distributed ledger, Blockchain technology can eradicate a single source failure in an IoT ecosystem, thereby, protecting the data of all the other devices.

Blockchain can also, very well, enable any device’s freedom via Smart Contract.

The possibilities for Blockchain and IoT together are endless, and 2019 is going to see a major shift in both of these technologies.

Use of Smart Contracts

One of the main areas of focus in the Blockchain technology has been Smart contracts. Smart contracts are computer protocols that work towards digitally facilitating, enforcing or verifying the performance of a real contract. But unlike contracts on paper, Smart contracts cannot be forged and do not require a source of credibility in the form of a third party.

The transactions which take place via smart contracts are always traceable and irreversible.

For both Blockchain developers and blockchain app development agencies, development of smart contracts has taken a flight in demand in this previous year. In 2019 also, smart contracts are expected to see a surging high demand for development.

Blockchain with Artificial Intelligence

Blockchain and AI together are going to be a robust technology. Blockchain has gathered all the talk of the town with its security and data protection capabilities. But every technology can always be improved in one way or the other. And Artificial Intelligence is the ultimate answer to the advancement of Blockchain technology. For example,

• Mining takes a high amount of time and energy. And being an incredibly hard task to complete manually, AI has proven how it can be put to use to conserve energy while mining and bring down the cost of investment in the entire process also.
• Although Blockchain technology is incredibly safe, it still has layers that are prone to breach (like, the DAO, Mt Gox, etc.). And AI can guarantee that additional security to Blockchain.
• Additionally, Blockchain can help AI in increasing its effectiveness also. By providing a safer barrier for secure data sharing, Blockchain will allow more data to be shared in the same amount of time.

Robust Cyber Security

2018 has been a paramount year in terms of implementation of advanced Cybersecurity measures and this practice is most definite to grow in the coming year 2019. After a number of ransomware attacks, cyber crime department turned to blockchain for help. And Blockchain technology provided the protective shield that was missing from the security layers.

Cryptocurrency Wallets

Cryptocurrencies have become the classic trend of 2018. There have been a number of innovations and what started with just Bitcoin has given birth to several cryptocurrencies which are disrupting the whole world’s economy. There is no second-guessing that Cryptocurrencies are going to be a part of our normalised economies and so will cryptocurrency wallets.

Blockchain technology has a great future ahead of itself and it does not limit to these few use-cases which are mentioned above. These are the most anticipated and most complex technologies to look forward to in the coming year. AI, IoT, Smart contracts, these sum up what technology is capable of achieving and the great thing is that, this only the beginning of a whole new revolution.