An international supermarket conglomerate operating in 17 countries worldwide recently announced that it will implement TE-FOOD's blockchain-based food traceability solution in five countries: France, Italy, Spain, Portugal and Senegal. More than 6,000 companies, including other leading global food retailers, have implemented TE-FOOD's solution. In related news, a major online retailer's crypto fund announced plans to purchase $2.5 million of equity stake (roughly 10 percent) in GrainChain, a startup that is developing a blockchain platform to aid farmers and purchasers in the grain industry by providing a more transparent vision of a grain supplier's source and eliminating the need for middlemen. Roughly 500 farmers are currently piloting the network, and the company expects to go live sometime in the first quarter of next year.
SwissPost, Switzerland's national postal service, and Swisscom, the state-owned telecom provider, have announced plans to team up and develop a private blockchain platform designed to meet the high security levels required by banks and to assist in securing applications such as maintaining temperature measurement data during the transport of pharmaceuticals. In Barcelona, Spain, last week, Sirin Labs unveiled the final design of its blockchain phone, the Finney. The Finney will start shipping in late December and seeks to make decentralized applications and cryptocurrency platforms easier to use through functions like automated conversion between various cryptocurrencies.
Earlier this week, one of the top five hospitals in the U.S. announced plans to collaborate with Korean blockchain startup MediBloc to develop a secure solution for health information exchange that supports data sharing. Ultimately, MediBloc aims to develop a tool that would convert data held by hospitals, research bodies, and insurance and pharmaceutical companies into a universal format. Eight medical institutions across Asia and 14 tech companies are presently signed up to test MediBloc's system.
In patent technology news, a U.S.-based global tech giant recently won a patent connected to a chip that reduces by 15 percent the amount of power needed for cryptocurrency mining operations. The patented chip would be smaller than those currently used by cryptocurrency miners and would promote energy-efficient, high-performance mining. Meanwhile, a U.S.-based multinational vehicle manufacturer and distributor published a patent application this week that discusses the use of a distributed ledger to store data and facilitate information sharing between vehicles.
According to a recent report, various Ohio venture funds will invest more than $300 million over the next three years in early-stage startups that focus on using blockchain technology for business or government. And Hyperledger recently launched a cryptographic library, Ursa, as a new tool for developers in the open source space. Ursa aims to avoid duplication of development efforts among blockchain developers by serving as a single repository of cryptographic implementations.
For more information, please check out the following links:
- Supermarket Giant Auchan Implements Blockchain Based Food Traceability in Five Countries
- Swiss Post and Swisscom launch a 100% Swiss infrastructure for blockchain applications
- Swiss Post, Swisscom Developing New Blockchain Platform on Hyperledger
- Sirin Labs' $999 Blockchain Phone Will Start Shipping in December
- A Top-5 US Hospital Is Exploring Blockchain for Patient Data
- Intel Wins Patent for Energy-Efficient Bitcoin Mining
- GM Patent Touts Blockchain As Data Solution for Self-Driving Cars
- Plotting Blockchain-Based Future, Overstock Plans E-Comm Exit
- Overstock's Medici Invests $2.5 Million in Grain Tech Firm's Blockchain Pivot
- Ohio: Seven Funds Plan $300 Million Investment for Blockchain Startups Through 2021
- The Buckeye State Goes All In On Bitcoin
- Hyperledger Launches Cryptography Toolbox for Blockchain Developers
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