De Beers welcomes Signet as first jeweller to join blockchain pilot programme – Professional Jeweller

By Stacey Hailes      May 24, 2018

The world’s largest retailer of diamond jewellery, Signet, has been announced as the first jeweller to join the pilot programme for the De Beers Group-led blockchain, Tracr.

Signet, the owner of UK jewellery retailers H Samuel and Ernest Jones, joins a growing list of industry leaders trialling the platform during its pilot phase and enabling Tracr to complete the first digital link all the way from diamond production through to retail.

A Signet project team will work alongside the Tracr team to ensure the platform meets the needs of the jewellery manufacture and retail sectors, with the partnership initially focusing on the tracking of diamond jewellery and expanding the pilot’s scope to cater for smaller-sized goods.

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How blockchain can win war on fake medicine – The Australian

By Mark Toohey      February 20, 2018

Blockchain technology is centred on improving trust and can fix the grim realities of corrupted supply chains in the pharmaceutical industry.

Discovery of the fact that some cancer patients in US hospitals have been given fake chemotherapy was a profound moment for me during my battle with cancer. I know I am alive only because I received genuine chemo. It has already given me seven extra years of life (and hopefully many more).

Luckily at the time, I was in the fortunate position of understanding the power of blockchain technology and I knew that this offshoot of bitcoin’s technical design could provide a solution to this life-threatening fake-medicine industry.

Fake chemo is just one of many outrages. Interpol estimates about one million people — who buy drugs in good faith hoping for a cure — die each year from fake medicine.

More at: How blockchain can win war on fake medicine – The Australian

Blockchain Integration Proof of Concept for Legal Market – Database Trends and Applications

January 31, 2018

NetDocuments, a cloud platform for legal IT, says it has completed a proof of concept for the integration of NetDocuments’ cloud platform with blockchain technology, enabling firms to validate document existence, details, status, and metadata via a verified and distributed digital ledger.

Incorporating blockchain technology into NetDocuments’ governance platform enables sensitive and transactional documents to be verified by posting to an open-source digital ledger, validating document details such as canonization, approval, status, filing and other relevant document information. Verified documents will retain a blockchain ID, ensuring accuracy through a distributed digital trust network. The technology integration includes blockchain certification of content stored in NetDocuments as well as certification of contents in local device storage.

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Gold Market Mulling Blockchain for $200 Billion of Supply – Bloomberg

By Eddie Van Der Walt and Ranjeetha Pakiam      January 23, 2018

• Tech may prevent spread of conflict minerals, money laundering
• Bullion joins commodities from oil to tomatoes in ledger push

Gold is going digital.

Blockchain technology may help keep track of the roughly $200 billion of the precious metal dug from remote mines, traded by middlemen and melted down by recyclers that’s sold each year to buyers scattered around the world.

The London Bullion Market Association, which oversees the world’s biggest spot gold market, will seek proposals including the use of blockchain for tracing the origins of metal, partly to help prevent money laundering, terrorism funding and conflict minerals, according to Sakhila Mirza, an executive board director.

“Blockchain cannot be ignored,” Mirza, also general counsel of the LBMA, said in an interview Monday. “Let’s understand how it can help us today, and address the risks that impact the precious metals market.”

More at: Gold Market Mulling Blockchain for $200 Billion of Supply – Bloomberg

Even The Tuna Conservationists Want A Piece Of This Blockchain Action – Gizmodo Australia

By Ryan F. Mandelbaum      January 23, 2018

It seems like everyone is getting into blockchain these days. After all, companies claim to like “transparency”, “security”, and anything to do with the roller coaster ride that is Bitcoin. But consider this: Tuna.

Me rn (Image: AP)

There are now several blockchain-based projects that aim to stop illegal tuna fishing, according to a post on The Conversation by Candice Visser and Quentin Hanich from the University of Wollongong in Australia. The idea is that blockchain-verification would assure consumers and others that the fish were ethically sourced. Or maybe it’s just PR, who knows.

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Chinese Company Wants Consumers to Track Chickens from Their Smartphone – Extra Crispy

By Tim Nelson    December 19, 2017

Despite the concept’s popularity, we usually just have to take the farm’s word for it when it comes to assessing farm-to-table practices. But if a new venture in China combining free-range chicken farming and facial recognition software is any indication, diners could soon enjoy unprecedented insight into the life cycles of our meals.

Launched by Chinese insurance tech company ZhongAn, “GoGo Chicken” will use blockchain technology (the same anti-data tampering tech that makes cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin so valuable) to power facial-recognition software that connects consumers with their pre-ordered chicken via smartphone app. GPS tracking will also show off just how far the free-range birds travel, and other tracking systems will monitor their diet over the course of their four to six-month lifespan (compared to just 45 days for factory-raised poultry).

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CBH Group, AgriDigital Complete Grain Industry Blockchain Pilot – BlockTribune

By David Pimentel    November 22, 2017

Australian grain exporter CBH Group and Sydney-based startup AgriDigital have successfully completed a blockchain pilot in Australia’s grain industry.

CBH’s partnership with AgriDigital was first announced in August of this year. Both companies worked together to determine whether blockchain technology was appropriate to monitor niche products, such as organic grains, or the whole grain crop. In addition to settling origin and quality assurance issues, the companies was also investigating how the technology can manage title matching and payment transfer.

More at: CBH Group, AgriDigital Complete Grain Industry Blockchain Pilot – BlockTribune