Despite the transformative potential of blockchain technology across numerous industries, its practical implementation lags behind its popularity. While blockchain offers significant benefits like enhanced security, risk mitigation, transparency, and automated processes, a lack of awareness and technical knowledge around how to build blockchain applications hinders enterprise adoption.
Based on our vast experience in blockchain development services, the IdeaSoft team has prepared a professional guide on how to build a blockchain application, explaining the complex development processes in simple words. You’ll discover the basics of blockchain performance, its advantages, and some popular examples of the software market today. Finally, we’ll explain the key stages of blockchain app development and share the best practices for hiring a dedicated team for your blockchain-based project.
Let’s dive in!
Table of content:
- A Closer Look at How Blockchain Applications Work
- How Blockchain Applications Can Improve Your Business
- Blockchain Apps in Various Industries
- Blockchain Application Development: A Step-by-Step Guide
- What’s the Best Tech Stack for Your Blockchain Application?
- Blockchain App Development Cost & Timeline
- Challenges You May Face While Developing
- Develop Blockchain Apps with Ideasoft
- Summary
A Closer Look at How Blockchain Applications Work
Learning the key principles of blockchain app architecture is an excellent starting point that helps to understand your product performance and the ways it can be improved. So, let’s review how blockchain applications work and the value they can provide from a business standpoint.
At its core, a blockchain-based application operates on a decentralized network that shares all data among its nodes, storing this data chronologically in blocks. Once it’s added to a block, the data is automatically shared with all the nodes of the network and can’t be changed. Such tamper-resistance and immutability of blockchain are exceptionally important for applications working with large volumes of sensitive data.
Read also: Use Cases of Shared & Based Sequencing
While it’s fully enough to understand the blockchain basics for the ideation and planning stage, blockchain application development is way more challenging. To create a successful and secure blockchain application, it’s essential to hire blockchain professionals with a profound level of technical expertise and development experience. These developers will help to navigate through the complex protocols, consensus mechanisms, and cryptographic principles while keeping in mind the technical capacities of the devices, app architecture, and your project requirements.
How the Development of Blockchain Applications Can Improve Your Business
Being efficiently integrated into the app’s architecture, blockchain technology can provide numerous benefits from a business standpoint. The inherent features of blockchain offer a multitude of ways to streamline operations, enhance security, and foster transparency.
Based on our vast expertise in blockchain app development services, IdeaSoft has analyzed the key benefits this technology can bring to your project and business today.
#1 Enhanced Security & Data Integrity
Robust security remains the most important advantage of blockchain development. The cryptographic techniques of blockchain make it more resistant to hacking and unauthorized access, system breaches and data compromises.
Additionally, blockchain ensures data immutability and integrity, which is particularly important for industries where the confidentiality and accuracy of data are paramount: finance and banking, healthcare, insurance, supply chain management, logistics and many others.
#2 Transparent & Efficient Transactions
The decentralized nature of blockchain eliminates the need for intermediaries, making the system more transparent, reliable, and trusted. The transaction information in blockchain-based applications is fully encrypted and traceable, which can be leveraged to build trust with customers and partners across industries where provenance and authenticity are crucial, such as luxury goods and real estate, financial technologies, and intellectual property.
Moreover, decentralization in application development helps to speed up payment processing, optimize the transaction cost and reduce the risk of errors – all these advantages are exceptionally valuable from a business standpoint.
#3 Efficient Process Automation
Another innovative solution of blockchain that can help in building blockchain apps is the concept of smart contracts. Basically, these are self-executing codes that automatically trigger actions according to the predefined conditions.
Smart contract solutions greatly contribute to process automation and are applied across a wide range of niches, from supply chain management to payment processing. By removing the need for manual operations, companies can reduce administrative overhead, minimize delays, and ensure accuracy in executing agreements.
#4 Improved Scalability
Blockchain technology can become an excellent solution for building decentralized applications (dApps) that easily adapt to the increasing number of users, transactions, and data volumes without significant performance degradation. So, scalability challenges can be addressed with different solutions:
- Sharding. This technique implies breaking the blockchain into smaller, more manageable non-dependent segments – shards.
- Sidechains. Separate blockchains that handle specific categories of transactions and are controlled by the main blockchain.
- Off-chains. The approach allows specific transactions to occur off the main blockchain, which results in the optimized workload of the latter one.
- Consensus algorithm optimizations. The alternatives to the resource-intensive proof-of-work (PoW) algorithms – proof-of-stake (PoS), proof-of-history (PoH), proof-of-authority, and delegated proof-of-stake (DPoS) mechanisms.
Choosing the most efficient blockchain-based scalability solution mainly depends on your project’s specifications, business objectives, and needs. At IdeaSoft, our professional team of developers will always take these aspects into count when creating a blockchain app for your business.
#5 Greater Cost-Efficiency
Developing blockchain applications can also provide significant improvements from the cost-efficiency perspective. These are shaped by a wide range of factors, including:
- Reduced number of involved parties (no intermediaries required)
- Higher speed of transaction processing
- Lower operational costs, transaction fees, and associated charges
- Enhanced data security and management (lower risks of data breaches and leaks, yet better resistance to emerging security challenges)
Engaging a specialized blockchain development team will ensure a seamless transition to blockchain technology, helping your business to maximize the ROI through properly allocated costs and resources.
Blockchain App Development. Real-World Examples
Today, blockchain technology has been widely applied across different industries, such as finance, healthcare, gaming, smart city, IoT, and so on. So, let’s now review the key industries that blockchain disrupts to get some inspiration for your future blockchain app projects.
Banking & Finance
With hundreds of dApps appearing every month, the finance and banking industry has gained the most advantages of blockchain integration. The unique features of blockchain can enhance nearly all the key services provided by banks, including payments, clearance, fraud detection, and cyberattacks. This technology has already proven its value in transfer automation, enhanced reporting, data security, real-time and multi-party tracking and management, and many other scopes.
- Blockchain App Implementations in Finance & Banking: Western Union, JP Morgan Chase, Credit Suiss
Insurance (InsurTech)
Upon the blockchain integration, insurance companies achieve greater operational efficiency, cost optimizations, improved claim processing, and enhanced client experiences. Moreover, some more opportunities are actively tested within the industry, such as fraud detection, reinsurance, on-demand insurance, microinsurance and others.
Healthcare
The healthcare industry covers a variety of systems for data storage and processing, which usually lack efficiency due to poor connectivity. Blockchain technology can transform healthcare by creating a unified storage and management environment that is secure, reliable, and fully automated. So, medical institutions can seamlessly access, manage and share sensitive data with other network participants without compromising the security of sensitive data such as patient records, internal documentation, and other important data.
- Blockchain App Implementations in Healthcare: Hashed Health, Solve.Care, Gem Health
Internet of Things (IoT)
The IoT industry can benefit from blockchain app development mainly through process automation, data integrity, and enhanced systems security. As a result, businesses can build a robust and efficient network with a great number of devices in the IoT landscape.
- Blockchain App Implementations in IoT: GridPlus, Blockdaemon
Gaming
Applying blockchain in gaming can solve a great number of challenges and problems, such as legacy and asset ownership, fraud prevention, enhanced gameplay, and so much more. At the same time, blockchain’s transparency, security, and interoperability enable the creation of a reliable and trustworthy gaming environment that will benefit both the business and the players.
- Blockchain App Implementations in Gaming: Decentraland, Axie Infinity
To maximize the potential of a custom blockchain application, you don’t necessarily have to be an expertised blockchain specialist. By outsourcing a professional crew from a reputable IT company, businesses can access the best developers with a proven experience in the technologies they need. At IdeaSoft, we offer innovative blockchain development services to help our clients get the ideal custom solution for their business.
Blockchain Application Development Process
So, you have a clear understanding of the solution you need for your business and are now ready to launch a blockchain project. Let’s take a look at how to develop a blockchain application with a detailed analysis of each stage.
Stage 1: Planning & Research
Detailed planning and deep research of a blockchain-based app project are crucial for understanding the concept of your project and its relevance to today’s market. At this stage, you should analyze the following points:
- Problem-solution: What problem will be resolved with the blockchain application development solution?
- Case studies: What are the successful case studies and products within your target niche?
- Competitor research: Who are your competitors? What are the strong and weak points of their blockchain apps? How they
- Audience research: Who is your target audience? What are their pains and needs? What will they expect from your product?
- Functionality: What features and unique solutions will be packed into your blockchain app?
- Product value: What’s your PMF (product-market-fit)?
- Other project-related aspects: What’s your project budget? What are your expectations and business objectives?
These questions will give you a better understanding of your product, its unique value, and the numerous opportunities it can deliver to your customers. At the same time, this information will help you to identify the blockchain expertise you need and form more accurate requirements for your development team.
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At IdeaSoft, we also offer professional and highly experienced BAs, project managers, data analysts, and other specialists for hire, helping our clients to plan their blockchain app projects to the slightest detail.
Stage 2: Choosing a Reliable Development Team
To ensure your project’s success, you’ll surely want to involve the best blockchain expertise that fully aligns with your business needs and budgeting. Here are some great points for choosing a trusted and expertised dev team for your blockchain app development:
- Analyze the company’s experience and expertise to choose the right vendor with the most relevant tech stack.
- Assess the team’s technical proficiency in the most essential areas (blockchain programming languages, smart contract development, decentralized application (dApp) architecture, cryptography, security best practices, etc)
- Research the team’s reputation by reading client testimonials and reviews on platforms like Clutch or Upwork to ensure their expertise in the required niche.
- Assess the communication approach: your vendors should be transparent and responsive to your inquiries, provide regular project updates, and be willing to address your concerns promptly.
- Discuss the project management details to ensure the team provides realistic timelines, milestones, and clear deliverables throughout the development lifecycle.
At IdeaSoft, we professionally integrate innovative blockchain technologies to come up with the best solution for your business. Our
Deep expertise and experience in blockchain app development have helped us to launch a wide range of successful blockchain products in fintech, insurance, healthcare, and many other industries.
Stage 3: Blockchain App Development
The development stage lies at the core of your custom blockchain project. Now, your dedicated development team should integrate the most relevant and effective blockchain platform and develop smart contracts that define the logic and rules of your blockchain application.
Developers will handle the back-end and front-end infrastructure for your app, making sure it operates smoothly on both the client and server sides. Additionally, this stage involves integrations of external systems, APIs, or third-party services, which help to maximize the functionality of your finalized solution.
Stage 4: Product Testing & Deployment
Once the product is developed, the QA specialists have to conduct thorough testing of the app, including unit testing, integration testing, and end-to-end testing. Technical experts also double-check whether smart contracts function as intended and whether all the UI/UX elements work smoothly. This stage also involves creating detailed documentation for developers, users, and any stakeholders, covering the basics of app usage, smart contract interactions, and issues responses.
Stage 5: Maintenance & Support
In the final stage of the blockchain app delivery, your development team sets up the monitoring tools to track the app’s performance, user interactions, and other relevant metrics. This data will also help to make data-driven decisions for future updates and the project’s scale.
At the same time, a professional development company, like IdeaSoft, also provides ongoing support for the blockchain apps we deliver. So, if any post-launch issues arise or you plan to update the project’s functionality – we’re always here to help!
What’s the Best Tech Stack for Your Blockchain Application?
The selected technologies for your blockchain application should be always your top priority, as it directly impacts the app’s functionality, performance, security, and scalability. Choosing the right platforms, frameworks, and APIs can significantly increase the value of your solution, making it more competitive in the blockchain app market.
To help you with the choice, IdeaSoft’s top experts have outlined the most effective platforms, frameworks, and APIs that can enhance your app development.
- Cloud Services: Web3 storage, Chainstack, Web3 Google Cloud, Amazon Web Services
- Database Solutions: The Graph, BigchainDB, IPFS
- Oracles: Chainlink, Band, UMA
- Programming languages: React, Angular, JavaScript, Go
- Smart Contract Development: Rust, Vyper, Solidity
- Security Auditing and Testing: MythX, OpenZeppelin, Truffle
- APIs and Libraries: Infura, Web3.py, Web3.js, Ether.js
To get the most out of the tech stack, we suggest considering your project’s requirements, the platforms you intend to target, and the level of support and community engagement for each technology stack component. Such a well-suited combination of technologies will help you create a robust, secure, and highly efficient blockchain application for your business needs.
Blockchain App Development Cost & Timeline
Based on our experience with the recent blockchain app projects, we must admit that the cost of developing a blockchain-based application is fully individual and will always vary significantly on several factors, including:
- The complexity of the app’s architecture
- Size and expertise of your development team
- Technical aspects (blockchain platforms integration and smart contract development, features and functionalities of the application)
- UI/UX design of your blockchain app
- App development timeline
As for the delivery time, the average timeline for a blockchain-based MVP with a simple functionality will range between 4-6 weeks to several months. At the same time, the basic blockchain applications can take around 2-6 months for development, testing, and deployment.
For instance, for one of our recent projects – Asymetrix, IdeaSoft’s blockchain team has fulfilled all stages, starting with ideation and branding to a successful DAO launch on Snapshot within 6 months.
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Our team can always guide you through accurate estimations on your project budgeting and delivery timelines!
Challenges You May Face While Developing
While building custom blockchain applications, businesses need to address various issues related to technical and implementation fields. To help your company prepare for the upcoming project, we’ve listed the key challenges in blockchain app development and how they can be easily addressed at IdeaSoft.
- Platform type – The development team has to analyze deeply the project’s requirements and goals to evaluate the most effective blockchain development platform for your business. The critical factors include consensus mechanisms, development tools, scalability, and community support.
- Smart contracts – Engage experienced blockchain developers with a decent experience in smart contract development. Conduct thorough testing and audits to identify vulnerabilities and ensure smart contract reliability.
- Integration – Your dedicated team has to leverage accurate and up-to-date libraries and APIs to simplify payment processing and ensure seamless user experiences.
- Public/Private network – Evaluate your app’s data sensitivity and user requirements to decide the privacy level of your application, which will directly impact its decentralization.
- Adoption rate and functionality – Conduct in-depth market research to understand the key trends and user needs. Create a user-centric design, offer unique value propositions, and continuously iterate based on user feedback.
- Scalability – Consider layer-2 scaling solutions, sidechains, or rollups technology to improve scalability. Test your app’s performance under different load conditions and submit necessary optimizations.
Addressing these challenges is sure to help you build a robust, functional, and highly competitive blockchain application tailored to your business requirements and goals.
Develop Blockchain Apps with Ideasoft
With hundreds of successful projects in IT development, our team has also proven expertise in blockchain development scope. In particular, we’ve recently delivered powerful blockchain solutions in the following projects:
- Asymetrix – an innovative decentralized and non-custodial platform. This protocol enables users to stake their stETH assets with a distinctive method of generating yields.
- Versara – the world’s first trade finance platform powered by crypto credit enhancement. It consolidates invoice receivables into structured asset pools, allowing customers to store, send, and receive their digital assets, invest in various markets, and make high profits.
Regardless of the project’s size and complexity, our talented team of blockchain developers is always here to help you create a solid, secure, and functional solution for your business. For each of our clients, we’ll provide a custom, step-by-step development strategy that is fully tailored to their business goals, priorities, and needs – and that’s what makes us a trusted EU-based blockchain development company!
Summary
Blockchain is a popular technology with excellent potential for business development and growth. Greater transparency, faster transactions, improved security, and data integrity in blockchain allows the creation of innovative applications across different industries, including finance, healthcare, gaming, logistics, and many more.
Nevertheless, only a few companies have realized blockchain benefits and have a clear strategy on how to develop blockchain applications. With the right development expertise, innovative tech stack, and effective project management, it’s more than possible to build a robust blockchain solution according to the latest market trends, consumer needs, and the goals of your business.
At IdeaSoft, we have successfully delivered over 250+ IT development projects for companies of different scale and industry focus. Our talented experts in blockchain development, UI/UX design, project management, and business administration will help you to build a blockchain application based on your idea and product requirements.
Contact us today to get an expert quote on how to create an effective blockchain app solution for your business!
