Precious metals streaming company Wheaton Precious Metals (WPM) will use blockchain technology to facilitate its metal accounting processes, mining.com reported on June 12. WPM has reportedly hired software company Blockhead Technologies to deploy its blockchain-based platform STAMP to streamline metal accounting processes. Specifically, the platform purportedly enables its users to track and source certification into mining value chains. By using the platform, WPM aims to boost data management processes and conduct data analysis. WPM is one of the world's largest precious metals streaming companies. In the fourth quarter of 2018, WPM reportedly generated nearly $110 million in operating cash flow, …

Swiss forwarding and logistics services company Panalpina has started blockchain pilot projects aimed at optimizing of supply chains, according to a press release on June 11. After joining the Blockchain in Transport Alliance (BiTA) in May, Panalpina — one of the world’s largest transport and logistics companies, with consolidated profit of $76.3 million in 2018 — has launched two blockchain pilots in the air and ocean freight field with selected customers. One of the projects will investigate blockchain applications in high-tech industrial goods, and the other will deal with office supplies. Panalpina thus aims to digitize trade documents, store them …

United States-based retail giant Target is creating an open source blockchain project for supply chain tracking, according to an official blog post from the company’s VP of architecture on April 22. According to the post, Target ran a pilot test using blockchain technology to certify its paper products along the supply chain in 2018. The blockchain used in the test period was reportedly made open source on GitHub recently as “ConsenSource” — at least as far back as two months ago, judging by the repository’s update history. According to the GitHub documentation, ConsenSource is built on blockchain platform Hyperledger Sawtooth, …

United States-based blockchain identity startup BanQu announced that it closed an extension of its series A funding round led by multinational drinks and brewing company Anheuser-Busch InBev’s investment arm. The development was announced in a post on June 6. Per the announcement, the undisclosed amount of funds have been raised by ZX Venture to allow BanQu to continue the development of its supply chain transparency and traceability, and continue its geographic expansion. Crunchbase estimates the annual revenue of the funding company — which owns the Budweiser, Corona, Leffe and Becks beer brands — to be $22.1 billion. The startup in …

Russia’s third-largest food retail firm, Dixy, has implemented blockchain technology in its corporate finance system, according to a press release shared with Cointelegraph on June 5. The Moscow-based retailer has deployed blockchain in cooperation between suppliers and factoring firms, which represent third parties that purchase businesses’ invoices at a discount in order to help those businesses to raise funds. Specifically, following a successful pilot test, Dixy is now moving the interactions between suppliers and factoring companies to an Ethereum (ETH) blockchain-powered open trade finance platform called Factorin. The Factorin platform provides suppliers with a factoring management tool that can be …

French retail giant Carrefour has seen an increase in sales after the implementation of a blockchain-based tracking system, Reuters reported on June 3. Carrefour’s blockchain tracking system enables customers to track the supply chain of 20 items, including meat, milk, and fruit from farms to stores, thus avoiding products with genetically modified organisms, antibiotics, and pesticides. This year, the company reportedly plans to add 100 more products, including non-food lines, to the system. Emmanuel Delerm, Carrefour’s blockchain project manager, told Reuters that “the pomelo sold faster than the year before due to blockchain. We had a positive impact on the …

Big Four audit firm Ernst & Young (EY) is providing its proprietary blockchain solution for a major new platform that helps consumers across Asia determine the quality, provenance and authenticity of imported European wines. The news was revealed in an official EY press release on May 23. The e-commerce platform, dubbed Tattoo, has been developed for Blockchain Wine Pte. Ltd. using EY’s OpsChain blockchain solution, which launched in fall 2018. As reported, the solution is EY’s flagship blockchain product, enabling secure and private transactions to take place on the Ethereum (ETH) public network by using zero-knowledge proof (ZKP) technology. According …

Swiss luxury watch and clock manufacturer Vacheron Constantin will start using blockchain technology to track its timepieces, lifestyle magazine Robb Report reported on May 24. Founded in 1755, Vacheron Constantin is recognized as the world’s oldest watch manufacturer. The company plans to issue a paper and digital certificate to each of its vintage watches, and will use blockchain tech to integrate additional information into the certificate, including a complete history of the product and manufacturer. Vacheron Constantin reportedly said that blockchain will help fight counterfeiters and guarantee authenticity of its watches, as well as protect potential customers from purchasing fakes. …

An upcoming supply cut could help bitcoin (BTC) prices rise further in the coming months, crypto fund manager Brian Kelly told CNBC on May 21. Speaking to the Fast Money program, he explained that “the halvening,” next due to take place in 2020, will see mining rewards cut in half. With many miners now hoarding BTC, Kelly predicted that prices will rise as increased demand — tied to increasing industrial adoption and retail uses — competes with diminished supplies. Describing the four-year cycle that leads up to “the halvening,” Kelly added: “You generally have a rally a year into it, …

Major global fiber producer Lenzing will implement blockchain tech to bring more transparency to its fiber supply chain, the firm announced on May 17. Headquartered in Lenzing, Austria, the fiber manufacturer partnered with Hong Kong-based blockchain firm TextileGenesis to incorporate the technology in its fiber business TENCEL. According to the press release, Lenzing expects to launch its supply chain traceability platform in 2020, while in the near future, the company will test the technology along with all the involved chain participants. Lenzing decided to deploy distributed ledger technology (DLT) following client requests for more information about the ingredients and suppliers …

A senior executive from American delivery services company FedEx is unconvinced about the benefits of blockchain technology in its present form, Memphis-based local news outlet Commercial Appeal reported on May 20. In a new interview, the firm’s dedicated blockchain strategist, Dale Chrystie, said FedEx remains pragmatic about blockchain despite its previous efforts to integrate it. As it stands, conventional processes covering the shipping database aspect of its operations are superior, at least in part due to the nascent stage of blockchain. “To kind of burst the bubble, it’s not our only database, it’s not our best database, it’s not currently …

International electrical engineering company ABB has rolled out a blockchain pilot to explore how the technology could promote the role of solar energy in peer-to-peer (p2p) energy trading, technology-focused media outlet PV Tech reported on May 16. To implement the project, ABB collaborated with Italian energy aggregator Evolvere to deploy a blockchain it jointly developed with blockchain-based platform Prosume. The pilot will purportedly enable transparent and secure p2p energy transactions, as well research blockchain’s role in the smart grids market. ABB told PV Tech that the project’s objective is to make blockchain-ready inverters so energy market participants can reduce both …