Austrian gin makers to use blockchain to guarantee bottles' rarity

The Stin, an Austrian-based gin distiller, is set to use ICON (ICX), South Korea’s largest public blockchain project, to transparently track its supply chain.

An Austrian blockchain firm, block42, will be combining near-field communication (NFC) technology with the ICON blockchain to maximize the security of the tracking system.

NFC chips and devices function as electronic identity documents and keycards and are currently used in contactless payment systems and mobile payments services that replace credit cards.

For The Stin's supply chain, block42 will be fitting 999 bottles of the distiller’s limited-edition gin with crypto-enabled NFC chips. These enable consumers to scan the bottles in order to check their authenticity and track the total number of bottles still available in the limited edition series. 

In an official statement, ICON’s founder Min Kim said that he was strongly supportive of the use of the ICON blockchain for scarcity tracking. Kin said that the technology can offer a key way to preserve “the high value of limited editions and other rare goods” through more reliable tracking systems. 

Configuring the ICON network to interact with NFC and other technologies can help maintain public trust in the continued scarcity and corresponding value of luxury assets, according to the company.

As previously reported, developers and enterprises have long recognized the blockchain as a powerful piece of infrastructure that can support the reliable documentation and circulation of luxury goods as well as authenticate their ethical provenance.

Moreover, a project to use non fungible tokens to represent diamonds has recently launched on the OpenSea marketplace for collectible digital goods.

Beyond the world of luxury goods, blockchain is frequently being combined with technologies such as the Internet of Things for supply chain automation and management, and has been popular as a tool to ensure food safety and traceability with retail giants such as Walmart.