[sanswork]

Could you give me a practical example of how you would use one to solve this problem that couldn't be just as easily solved without one?

[davidgerard]

There are none. The only practical example where a blockchain does things a centralised database doesn't is a Bitcoin-style cryptocurrency.

(Even then, proof-of-work mining naturally recentralises, as we see with Bitcoin. Ethereum claims to be planning to move to proof-of-stake, but there's no working implementation or date for this.)