What do cannabis entrepreneurs and adult entertainers have in common with the World Food Program?

While many have gained exposure to cryptocurrency by watching the prices of cryptocurrencies in their own — or maybe a friend’s — portfolio fluctuate wildly, it’s likely the real use cases of these cryptocurrencies that will bring blockchain technology to the mainstream.

And it looks like sex and drugs might take the lead.

Several blockchain endeavors that have the most incentive and even traction to bring real applications of blockchain technology to the mainstream come from these industries traditionally discriminated by legacy financial institutions.

“We’ve found an effective way of combining blockchain with big data and cannabis,” Rob Anson, Cannabis Big Holdings’ Chief Executive Officer, said.

There’s a market for all of these services across these industries because businesses in these spaces still struggle to access services via traditional financial institutions.

Even in states where cannabis has been legalized, it remains a banned substance federally. This means merchants cannot use any credit card rails or otherwise use traditional financial institutions to make transactions.

With anywhere from 10 to 50 percent of their earnings at stake, SpankChain, a blockchain-based application allowing adult entertainers to create and distribute content on their own streaming site, has found a community with incentive to promote the platform themselves.

The largest benefit of using blockchain, according to Quartz, has been the World Food Program seeing a significant drop in payments made to the usual middlemen: financial service firms.

Maybe, like the World Food Program, cannabis entrepreneurs and adult entertainers will soon be able to stretch their dollars a little further with the adoption of blockchain technology, too.

Have a story to share? We want to hear from you: cadence@blackboxinc.io.

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