Using the blockchain is extremely expensive relative to using a traditional database. The most widely used public blockchain, Ethereum, could be millions of times more expensive than AWS per ledger entry.
This is because it is designed to have its state stored permanently by thousands of computers, with any entry becoming part of a permanent canonical shared history of the network going forward.
What all of that distribution and synchronization gives you is unparalleled immutability, data permanence and uptime.
So the applications best suited to this highly constrained and highly reliable/accessible computing environment are those which require relatively small data transfer/storage, where the data operations are of extremely high value relative to the computing resources they consume.
So far these applications have been currency, marketplaces and financial contracts, which all benefit from being on an open platform that is effectively resistant to capture by any party. You're also seeing very large markets emerge in digital collectibles.
This is because it is designed to have its state stored permanently by thousands of computers, with any entry becoming part of a permanent canonical shared history of the network going forward.
What all of that distribution and synchronization gives you is unparalleled immutability, data permanence and uptime.
So the applications best suited to this highly constrained and highly reliable/accessible computing environment are those which require relatively small data transfer/storage, where the data operations are of extremely high value relative to the computing resources they consume.
So far these applications have been currency, marketplaces and financial contracts, which all benefit from being on an open platform that is effectively resistant to capture by any party. You're also seeing very large markets emerge in digital collectibles.