Nike, the United States footwear and clothing behemoth, has recently joined the ranks of mainstream corporations that are considering entering the field of cryptocurrencies, currently spearheaded by the likes of Facebook, Samsung and Starbucks. A document filed with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) surfaced online last week, revealing Nike’s intention to launch “cryptokicks” — which appears to be more than just a new line of sneakers. What are “Cryptokicks”? The news about Nike’s “cryptokicks” trademark was originally broken by Josh Gerben, a trademark attorney in the U.S. who first described the application via Twitter on April 24. The …

The CEO of retail giant Overstock.com, Patrick Byrne, noted the potential profitability of the firm’s retail arm in its Q4 2018 earnings conference call on March 18. Byrne’s statements indicate that Overstock may not be divesting from its retail wing as soon as was previously indicated. Last year, Byrne reportedly told The Wall Street Journal that Overstock would sell off its retail wing sometime in early 2019. During the section of the conference call devoted to retail, Byrne said that “this is going to be a year of explosive growth,” and that the retail wing would “spit out cash.” The …

Morgan Creek Digital founder Anthony Pompliano has suggested that major United States retailer Kroger should deploy the Lightning Network in its stores, following the brand’s decision to stop accepting Visa at some locations. According to Pompliano’s tweet from Mar. 3, the negotiations have already started. On Friday, Mar. 1, Kroger officially announced that its Smith's Food & Drug stores will not accept Visa cards starting Apr. 3 due to the high fees that company imposes on major retailers. "Visa has been misusing its position and charging retailers excessive fees for a long time," Kroger's chief financial officer Mike Schlotman said, …

Global retail giant Auchan is expanding TE-FOOD’s blockchain solution to improve the transparency of products’ history, U.S.-based news agency Cision PRWeb reports today, Dec. 4. The French retail group, which is reportedly the 13th largest food retailer globally with operations in 17 countries, has extended TE-FOOD’s FoodChain solution to five more countries. FoodChain is the international traceability information ledger by TE-FOOD, first applied by Auchan in its Vietnam branch. After a 18-month test of TE-FOOD’s blockchain tool in Vietnam, Auchan has now decided to deploy the products’ traceability solution in France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, and Senegal. The blockchain-powered retail monitoring …

The market value of blockchain in global retail is forecast to see a 29-fold increase in value over the next five years, according to an analysis of factors behind the growth, published on PRWeb Nov. 28. The analysis on emerging blockchain applications driving the predicted increase – from $80 million today to over $2.3 billion by 2023 – was conducted by fintech executive Monica Eaton-Cardone. The figure of $2.3 billion by 2023 – at a compound annual growth rate of 96.4 percent – has been taken from a market research report from MarketsandMarkets, first published in June. Eaton-Cardone is the …

Patrick Byrne, founder and CEO of U.S. retail giant Overstock, is planning to sell the retail arm of his company to focus on blockchain by early next year, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reports Nov. 23. Byrne, known in the blockchain industry for his commitment to the technology, did not disclose the details of the agreement, nor did he name potential buyers; he did however tell the WSJ that he expects to have the deal closed by February 2019. The WSJ reports that Byrne has been planning to sell his e-commerce business since 2017 to fully devote himself to blockchain …

Be honest: shopping with cryptocurrency isn’t always the easiest experience. Even if price volatility is on your side, spending funds can be nightmarish. Crypto is gaining in popularity but many merchants still don’t accept it – meaning you are stuck with those age-old, boring options of paying by card or cash. A “technology enabler” startup known as Cyclebit is aiming to simplify things by enabling stores to serve as “cryptocurrency gateways” – enticing crypto enthusiasts to come and spend their coins with them and inject some new funds into the economy. The idea has already started to gain traction – …

Tokyo-headquartered tech conglomerate Hitachi and telecoms giant KDDI are trialing a retail coupon settlement system that combines blockchain with biometrics, Cointelegraph Japan reports today, July 26. This week, staff from the two firms are participating in an experimental demonstration at a KDDI store in Tokyo's Shinjuku district, as well as a local donut shop. The trial integrates Hitachi’s Hyperledger Fabric-powered platform with biometric verification technology and KDDI’s existing retail coupon system. Users will first register their biometric data and coupon credits at a KDDI store, and then proceed to settle their coupon transactions at the local donut shop, using only …