This week’s headlines from Japan included Bitbank adding smartphone compatibility for identity verification, Fobi Japan announcing leverage trading, Coincheck announcing order limits, Rakuten Wallet announcing margin trading, and product trading company Marubeni testing blockchain for tracing steel pipes. Check out some of this week’s crypto and blockchain headlines, originally reported by Cointelegraph Japan. BitBank launches smartphone ID verification Japan-based crypto exchange, BitBank, recently added smartphone compatibility for its Know Your Customer, or KYC, practices. Using their smartphone cameras, customers can now snap pictures themselves and related required paperwork for verification. At present, BitBank is only compatible with Apple’s iOS, although …
China Everbright Bank (CEB), a major commercial bank in China and one of the world’s largest public companies, is debuting a blockchain-based supply chain finance solution by Ant Financial. Ant Financial, the financial arm of Chinese e-commerce giant, Alibaba, has partnered with CEB to collaboratively implement Duo Chain — a network services platform designed to handle supply chain-related financial transactions. Ant Financial started working on the Duo Chain in 2019 CEB and Ant Financial initially formed their partnership during the second half of 2019. CEB is the first Chinese bank to deploy Ant Financial’s Duo Chain, as reported by local …
Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba announced its import e-commerce platform Koala has updated its products to include a full-link traceability blockchain system on March 16, according to a Sina Finance report from March 17. Blockchain increases logistic transparency The report revealed that the integration of Ant Financial’s blockchain in the Koala platform allows online buyers to find out the purchasing goods detailed logistic information through scanning a QR code with Alipay. The updated Koala application is designed to provide consumers with a traceable icon after completing the purchase on the order page. A blockchain QR code and an anti-counterfeit fingerprint sign …
UCLA Health and LedgerDomain, a blockchain development platform, announced a new study revealing that blockchain technology would save the United States pharmaceutical industry over $180 million each year. The study was launched as part of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Drug Supply Chain Security Act Pilot Project Program. The program is part of a broader effort to develop an electronic, interoperable system to track prescription drugs throughout the U.S. According to the Drug Supply Chain Security Act enacted in 2013, by 2023, pharmacists in the U.S. will be required to verify prescription drugs before they are dispensed. This is …
Sita, an air transport communications and information tech company, and ULD Care, a trade association, are exploring the possibility of using blockchain technology to save $400M a year in the air cargo industry, according to the March 12 announcement. Blockchain platform brings down cost and improves efficiency Blockchain technology allows air cargo companies to digitally track and record the change of custody for airline cargo containers, or Unit Load Devices (ULDs), as they journey between destinations. These companies aim to bring down industry costs, improve efficiency, drive fewer losses, and prevent damage to cargo. The proposed blockchain platform will also …
Canadian authorities have approved funding of two blockchain firms, Peer Ledger and Mavennet, to create a platform that enables steel traceability, reported Ledger Insights on March 9. The Innovation, Science, and Financial Development Canada (ISED), a government initiative in charge of promoting the research and development of Canadian small and medium-sized enterprises, adopted the measure, granting both companies CAD $150,000. Strengthening digital traceability on the steel supply chain Peer Ledger (Halifax-based) and Mavennet (Toronto-based) will be working on a proof-of-concept (PoC) prototype for digital traceability of the entire steel supply chain process by using blockchain technology and artificial intelligence. According …
Multinational telecommunications company Vodafone is exploring blockchain’s capabilities to improve its supply chain. By integrating blockchain into its internal processes, Vodafone aims to advance its supply chain by promoting and verifying a number of suppliers through a digital identity platform dubbed Trust Your Supplier, the company announced on March 6. To implement diversity criteria The announcement further explained that the company is implementing criteria for diversity “to influence procurement decisions alongside other standard criteria, such as safety, value, delivery and technology when we invite suppliers to tender for business.” Trust Your Supplier was jointly developed by tech giant IBM and …
The Chain Integration Pilot (CHIP) of the Auburn University RFID Lab in Alabama has published a proof-of-concept whitepaper that seeks to demonstrate the efficiency savings blockchain technology can unlock across the contemporary supply chain. The proof-of-concept was designed to ingest, encode, distribute, and store serialized data from multiple points throughout the supply chain on Hyperledger Fabric. The pilot collected live data from brands Nike, PVH Corp., and Herman Kay, and major United States retailers Kohl’s and Macy’s. CHIP was launched in 2018 and claims to be the first supply chain project to integrate the information pulled from RFID tags onto …
The Ecuadorian dairy producer El Ordeño has announced its integration with a blockchain-based system as part of a pilot program called IBM Food Trust, as announced in a press release. According to the IBM News Room, the company wants to use blockchain to monitor its TRU dairy products, incorporating a new packaging model that includes QR codes. By scanning the label with a mobile device, consumers will be able to track the entire journey of the specific dairy product in question, from the farm to the table. Moreover, it provides additional information about the producer, quality centers, cold chains and …
Major uranium producer Uranium One and distributed ledger technology (DLT) startup Insolar have teamed up to explore blockchain’s capabilities in uranium and energy trading. The partnership will focus on the improvement of the production and distribution of uranium, as multi-party deals in the industry are still conducted “using paper and pencil with non-standard contracts that cross borders and require tedious legal review.” Both Uranium One and Insolar believe that the integration of blockchain into uranium producers’ internal processes could make uranium supply chains more transparent. Uranium One expects that blockchain will enhance security, compliance and reliability in the sector. Insolar …
A UK tech company recently announced a blockchain ecosystem for farmers in Haiti, bringing clarity to the supply chain while bolstering sales. Agriledger, a blockchain outfit based in the UK, was responsible for building this new ecosystem. Their goal was ensuring that farmers receive adequate pay for their crops, a Feb. 28 post from Spring Wise stated. “The solution being delivered to Haiti in the fresh fruit value chain is the blueprint for a number of target markets locally and globally,” a representative from Agriledger told Cointelegraph. “The approach is to create trade and financial opportunities for farmers but then …
25 leading pharmaceutical manufacturers, distributors, logistic partners, and other representatives of the pharma supply chain have published a report arguing in favor of adopting blockchain technology to track and trace prescription drugs after completing a pilot program with the US Food and Drug Administration. During early 2019, the FDA began accepting proposals for projects seeking to assist the office meet the 2023 requirements of the Drug Supply Chain and Security Act (DSCSA) - which requires the pharmaceutical industry to track “legal changes in ownership of pharmaceuticals in the supply chain.” In June 2019, the MediLedger Project was approved by the …