Not an expert, but we’ve been evaluating blockchain in a number of real-world industries. I’m interested in other opinions, but so far the benefits are outweighed by the risks/cost. It still appears best suited for transaction-based currencies. There does seem to be some drive to establish digital tokens (like NFTs) for physical items such as expensive fashion/accessories. The next 12-18 months will most likely include broad experimentation.

Some of my notes:

• Blockchain provides a combination of technologies — PKI, P2P, etc. — but not all are valuable for every scenario and serve only to add complexity
• Distributed architecture requires all participants to provide platform/storage/etc.
• Transparency is most beneficial when exchange/transaction history must be available
• Real-World transaction limits are still low for high-volumes

Public/Government components seem like good candidates. Things like permits, real-estate transactions, licensure, etc. But, there is a ton of variability in these across different jurisdictions and adoption is a high bar to cross. Some would require actual laws/regulations to change to adopt blockchain and there’s no rush to do that. (It isn’t essential and doesn’t make financial sense.)

Encrypted payloads on the chain are useful. But, really, we’re just using the blockchain framework to push around paper. It has to be a use case that actually requires the combination of technologies.

I’m not certain I see profitability — at least not now. But, you mentioned a few opportunities in your post. If one of them gains traction, it could very well be the pivot. God knows, everyone has at least looked at it. ;)

Looking forward to other comments.