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Some blockchains were created to enable cryptocurrencies. Others serve primarily as smart contract platforms, allowing to decentralize digital economy: online platforms, financial flows, collaboration... and of course the nascent Web3 sector.



The number of blockchain use cases is constantly growing, as does its ecosystem.



This is a high level view on what blockchain in practice looks like today. 



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<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Cryptocurrencies </h2>



With <a href="https://d.center/explore/bitcoin" class="ek-link">Bitcoin</a>, the first practical application of the blockchain was currency, or more precisely “P2P electronic cash system”, as described by Satoshi Nakamoto himself. Invented in order to remedy the failing monetary system, the blockchain proved itself to be particularly well suited for such a role, providing an independent, immutable and transparent transaction ledger.&nbsp;



Following Bitcoin, new <a href="https://d.center/explore/cryptocurrencies" class="ek-link">cryptocurrencies</a>-focused blockchains have emerged, trying to ameliorate this or that aspect of the blockchain: transaction throughput like Litecoin, privacy like Monero… 



Some cryptocurrencies have appeared as an extension of a community, like the Doge memecoin.



Other cryptocurrencies, created as tokens (and not native coins), serve as representations of fiat currencies on the blockchain. They are called stablecoins, the biggest ones being USD-pegged Tether and Circle.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Smart contract blockchains</h2>



Currency is not the only thing that can profit from the blockchain's decentralization.



Virtually any digital system (hence most of organisation that use them) can benefit from eliminating central authority.



This is achieved through the use of <a href="https://d.center/en/explore/smart-contrats" class="ek-link">smart contracts</a> - autonomous and self-executing programs that run on the blockchain. Smart contracts allow the development of DApps, or decentralized applications, and power the emerging web3 sector.



The first and most popular smart contract platform is Ethereum blockchain, but it has many competitors: Solana, Cosmos, BNB Chain... etc



The difference between a Cryptocurrency blockchain and a Smart contract blockchain is now rather theoretical and can be understood only by questioning the blockchain’s purpose: whether it was conceived to support a currency or to host elaborate smart contracts. Both types of blockchains need a native coin to pay the network nodes for running the protocol, however in cryptocurrencies’ case the native coin is a goal in itself, whereas for smart contract blockchains it is a payment for running smart contracts. 



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Blockchain use cases</h2>



Almost every traditional economic sector can use blockchain's qualities.



⛓️ Decentralized systems are intrinsically fairer than centralized ones: their transparency and self-executing nature are much better in redistributing value and allowing the users to be true and sole owners of their data. This quality is substantial when it comes to online platforms, be it social media, cloud computing or ride hailing.



⛓️ Blockchain being a transparent and immutable ledger, it is also particularly suitable for data certification purposes.



⛓️ Smart contracts can automate numerous processes, not only increasing the overall cost and time effectiveness, but also providing users with a guarantee that no one can unilaterally change the rules underlying the DApp.&nbsp;This notably enables the new type of trustless collaboration within DAOs, or Decentralized Autonomous Orgnizations.



⛓️ Finally, the blockchain structure allows fast and easy data and values transfer, without any borders or other limitations. This quality is highly appreciated in finance, and many traditional players have already incorporated crypto into their offer: exchange, custody, asset management, asset tokenization... Besides, a crypto-native version of finance, known as the DeFi, is developing very fast.







<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Web3</h2>



Blockchain and cryptoassets can be used both in centralized and decentralized way. 



The exact boundary between the two is not always clear, but usually when the core operations happen on-chain, the value is transparently distributed, and governance decisions are taken by the community, we can speak about <a href="https://d.center/en/explore/web3" class="ek-link">Web3</a>, a new era of the internet where users are in control. 



The most obvious example of web2 using blockchain vs web3 are exchanges: a centralized one like Binance is centrally managed and controls its users' cryptoassets, while a decentralized exchange like Uniswap never gets in the possession of its users' funds and evolves according to its DAO's decisions.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Blockchain ecosystem</h2>



Blockchain is a collective endeavor, and it needs an extensive ecosystem to function and to serve its purposes. 



Numerous products and services have therefore been developed: <a href="https://d.center/explore/crypto-wallets" class="ek-link">wallets </a>to interact with the blockchain, <a href="https://d.center/explore/crypto-exchanges" class="ek-link">exchanges</a><a href="https://d.center/explore/crypto-exchanges" class="ek-link"> </a>to buy and sell crypto, <a href="https://d.center/en/explore/oracles" class="ek-link">oracles</a> to interact with the real world and feed information to smart contracts, not to mention the miners who maintain the network, or interoperability protocols connecting different blockchains. 



<h2 class="wp-block-heading"> </h2>

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A well-developed ecosystem is crucial for the blockchain: while assuring its maintenance and specific functions it also allows people to easily use cryptocurrencies.



The blockchain is a decentralized method of storing a continuously changing ledger and registering all transactions that compose it. It is a powerful tool that has generated an entire ecosystem around it, assuring that:



<ul class="is-style-checked"><li>the blockchain network is correctly maintained (mining for PoW-based blockchains)</li><li>a user can easily connect to the blockchain, initiate and receive transactions (<a href="https://d.center/explore/crypto-wallets" class="ek-link">wallets</a>)</li><li>a user can exchange a cryptoasset against [tooltip content=" fiduciary money with no intrinsic value backed by and dependent on the government (e.g. dollars or euros) "] fiat money [/tooltip] or another cryptoasset (<a href="https://d.center/explore/crypto-exchanges" class="ek-link">exchanges</a>)</li><li>a user can spend her cryptoassets paying for a real-world product or service not yet available in crypto (crypto payment systems)</li><li>a decentralized application (DApp) working on a blockchain can get real-world information in order to be able to execute its pre-programmed sentence (oracles)</li><li>different blockchains can work together, allowing people to use the most suitable blockchain for each particular purpose and easily switch between them when needed (interoperability protocols)</li></ul>







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With all these directions developing really fast, the blockchain ecosystem becomes yet more efficient and complete, further propelling crypto adoption.

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An Oracle in the blockchain ecosystem is a source of information that communicates real world data to smart contracts, allowing to bring real-life use cases to the closed blockchain environment.&nbsp;



For example, if Alice and Bob make a bet on a football game using a blockchain-based tool, an Oracle will fetch the game data from a previously approved source (e.g. a particular website), and a smart contract deployed on a blockchain will call the Oracle to get this data, determine the winner, and then distribute them the reward.



This kind of oracles, known as data feeds, are widely used in the DeFi (communicating data on cryptoassets prices for example), sports, weather, and blockchain-based insurance (communicating about the insurable event).



Other than being used as data providers, Oracles can serve as decentralized services that are impractical to do on-chain due to technical, legal, or financial constraints. Known as compute-enabled oracles, they are becoming widely used by all kinds of DApps.&nbsp;



Random number generators are one such example: blockchain being a fully deterministic environment, the only way to produce a random outcome is to call an off-chain ressource.&nbsp;&nbsp;



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Oracle types</h2>



Oracles are very important for the DApps that need an off-chain input, as that data can be crucial for the outcome. This, however, means that the oracles act as a trusted third party - a concept not at all appreciated by the blockchain industry, for a trusted third party always carries a risk of corruption.



Some companies, like Provable, choose to embrace this adversity and propose the centralised oracle services that must be trusted to provide the correct data.



Others, like Chainlink, decide to decentralise the oracle service and use a set of incentives to keep the oracle network in check.