Mark Vanderaar and his daughter Katie run a small honey-making business in Ohio, Beerbelly Bees. Earlier this year they sold several bottles on the online marketplace OpenBazaar using the technology that underlies bitcoin: the blockchain.

The sale of the Vanderaars' honey was among the first e-commerce transactions to take advantage of the blockchain—which in the most basic terms is a publicly viewable, online ledger that records a sale or trade of goods or services. It's seen as quicker, cheaper and safer, and that means items ranging from gold bars to concert tickets to even homes could all start moving through the blockchain, disrupting not just eBay Inc. but the banking, insurance and e-commerce industries.