How can blockchain help improve WordPress?

Blockchain has been around for some years now and has even found applications in a range of industries, including banking & finance, security, digital identity and more. However, the globalisation of blockchain still remains a target to achieve.

In the real-world application context, the blockchain has shown its potential in the fields where security and transparency of data are big concerns.

WordPress, as we know it, is one of the largest content management platforms on the web. It hosts millions of websites and takes special security precautions to protect these websites against online theft and hacks. But it still has a lot of scope for improvement, in terms of authorised user access, content management, data security, etc. In this article, we will try to analyse whether blockchain can help improve WordPress and how.

What is Blockchain?

The blockchain is a network of nodes (computers) that are interconnected for the purpose of sharing and verifying transactions that are processed through that network. All the transactions on the network are stored in a file, called ledger, which is shared by all the nodes. The nodes on a blockchain are distributed around the world thus making it a truly decentralized system.

Bitcoin was the first successful blockchain, which was followed by several other cryptocurrencies, some of which were based on their own blockchains while others were built on an existing blockchain like Ethereum.

The applications of blockchain technology soon spread out beyond the crypto world, with finance & banking becoming the most common hosts for it. Today, this technology is being used in a number of applications, including digital identity, payments, money transfer, voting, cloud storage, smart contracts, online shopping and more.

Blockchain for WordPress

The true application of blockchain is the one that implements the value of the token for the fulfillment of the project goal. Now, in the case of WordPress, the goal is to provide users with a secured platform to host their applications, websites and files with the ability to monetize from them. Let’s see how blockchain fares against these requirements.

Much like WordPress, blockchain is a technology with profitability and utility features. It has many ideals, most of which are applicable to the web.

Applications of Blockchain technology for the Benefit of WordPress

In addition to being a perfect global payment gateway for eCommerce websites, Blockchain can do much more for the improvement of WordPress. While it makes it easier for WordPress websites to integrate methods to accept Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies for their services/products, it can also help make the platform much secure and user-friendly. Let’s see how.

Crypto Payments

This application is for those WordPress sites that sell products and/or services through the online platform. These sites pay thousands of dollars in fee to various payment gateways for accepting payments from customers. Blockchain can provide a perfect alternative solution that not only accepts multiple types of currencies including crypto and fiat currencies but also the transaction fee is much lower as there are no intermediaries involved. This feature is especially beneficial for those websites that are involved in blockchain related services and/or applications.

The blockchain technology can be realized for both B2B and B2C types of transactions. In addition to the usual cost challenges, the technology will also provide a solution to the other payment issues of speed, security and transparency.

Smart Contracts

If you are any familiar with the term “smart contracts”, you must know that these are blockchain-based digital contracts that work without third-party involvement. Smart contracts can be created and used for almost every task, such as online sale, ownership change, insurance, payment cards, logistics, etc. Smart contracts have the potential to change the way we do business. There will no longer be need of physical papers and contracts, and every business (or personal) contract will be managed on a smart blockchain that is secure and self-dependent. This feature is particularly useful for WordPress businesses that are involved in frequent business transactions and contracts. Blockchain, if anything, makes it easier to derive new contracts and ensure that they are executed upon fulfillment of the underlying conditions.

Identity Access & Verification

WordPress is an online website hosting platform, where the security of the websites hosted on this platform is too important. While WordPress itself implements several security measures in order to protect the data of its users, securely maintaining and verifying the identity of each website user is a challenging task. The weak username and/or passwords used by website users even owners open their sites to hacking and other fraud activities.

There are some blockchain-based digital identity verification applications that can be used to tackle these issues. One example of such application is Lynked.World that makes use of the decentralization and encryption features of the blockchain technology to provide users and organisations with a secure way to verify identities online. The platform encrypts personal and other digital information of the users in a secure blockchain. Then, the user can select and share their data with anyone for verification. The technology can be used to protect the identities of individual users of the WordPress platform.

Online File Storage

Even though WordPress is a very secure online file storage and management system, it is still limited in capacity and prone to errors. There are other third-party cloud storage applications like Dropbox and Amazon Cloud that are used by WordPress users for storing their data, but again they are centralized and still prone to hacking. Blockchain provides a much better alternative for online secure storage of files and other digital data. Decentralized storage applications are not only more secure but also more reliable and cheaper than the existing methods.

Content Monetization Opportunities

Blockchain goes beyond the traditional content monetization services like Adsense and WordAds by introducing a decentralized service that could work without a central trust authority. This would enable WordPress website owners to make money from their content even without having to show ads in the traditional way. The idea is yet to been implemented on a large platform by any company, but the blockchain technology still has miles to go, and we hope to see a real application sooner than later.

So, these are just a few ways how blockchain can help improve the WordPress as we see and use it now. There are many more to come in the future.