IN many peoples' minds, cryptocurrencies and their underlying technology, blockchain, are one and the same. This has meant that the precipitous rise and (seeming) fall of cryptocurrency over the past months has led to many outside the fintech world dismissing blockchain, despite the potential of the technology and the multitude of business opportunities that it enables.

In fact, the Infocomm Media Development Authority has recently launched a Blockchain Challenge to promote awareness and development of the technology, and how it can be applied to Singapore's Smart Nation project.

Remaining at least somewhat laissez faire with regard to regulation certainly has its benefits though, as Singapore makes itself a more welcoming destination for a wide variety of blockchain projects; exploring and developing the technology upon which cryptocurrencies are based. After all, blockchain technology was designed to track assets - both monetary and otherwise - and that need is perhaps more acute than ever in our increasingly digital world. Here are some of the more fascinating business propositions that could be made possible by blockchain: