Legitimate blockchain use cases share common characteristics. Multiple organizations need shared data without trusting a central authority. Data integrity matters more than performance. Transaction volumes stay within blockchain scaling limits (thousands per second, not millions). Participants value transparency and auditability. The business model justifies higher infrastructure costs. Supply chains tracking product provenance fit perfectly—manufacturers, distributors, retailers, and consumers all benefit from immutable tracking without anyone controlling the data. Tokenized assets work when fractional ownership and programmable compliance create value traditional securities can't deliver.

Implementation requires honest technical assessment. Private blockchains like Hyperledger Fabric suit enterprise consortiums needing permissioned networks. Public blockchains like Ethereum enable trustless interactions but face scaling and cost challenges. Layer 2 solutions reduce transaction costs while maintaining security. Choose based on specific requirements—not hype. Start with small scope proving value before expanding. Build hybrid architectures using blockchain only where decentralization matters and traditional databases for everything else. Most successful deployments use blockchain for less than 20% of their overall system architecture.