Many people know blockchain as the technology behind Bitcoin. The distributed ledger technology allows users to add blocks of information onto a chain of transactions, creating an immutable history of accepted, time-stamped and encrypted data visible to participants. Blockchain has proved to be a reliable and versatile platform for cryptocurrencies, which have thrived despite some well-known growing pains. Nevertheless, the ups and downs of Bitcoin and its offshoots made some risk-averse finance leaders a bit skeptical of this emerging disruptor.

If CFOs look outside the walls of finance, they'll see blockchain taking off in many directions. There are dozens of potential applications for blockchain in industries ranging from financial services and telecommunications to consumer products, health care and logistics.

For example, a Fortune 100 logistics company is investing heavily in blockchain technology to provide greater visibility and efficiency in its freight business. This logistics company hopes that blockchain's distributed ledger may likely enable it to track freight even when it moves to parts of the supply chain it doesn't own, such as rail lines.

Health care companies are now using blockchain's digital encryption technologies to help make medical records more mobile and improve the traceability of drugs. And blockchain's immutable transaction-recording system could make claims processing and dispute resolution more efficient.

Even groceries are getting into the act. A growing number of grocery store chains are investing in blockchain solutions to track foods from the farm to the grocery aisle to the table. The distributed ledger provides a clear chain of custody as edibles from mangoes to chickens travel across global supply lines with multiple handoffs. Using blockchain, organizations will be able to trace bad food back to its source in seconds and perform a speedy recall-fast enough, perhaps, to avoid incidents like the romaine lettuce e-coli outbreak of earlier this year.