blockchain technology

Coca-Cola Bottlers Acquires SAP’s Blockchain Technology to Streamline Soda Supply Chain Processes

The supply chain is one of the systems where blockchain technology has the greatest potential to make a difference.

Part of the reason is that the supply chain system is a multi-party network of manufacturing, shipping, logistics, and retail businesses coordinating with each other to take a product from manufacturer to all the way through the supply chain to the end-user or consumer.

Sadly, the multi-party network of the supply chain appears to bring about opportunities to commit fraud and some cases of inefficiencies. Blockchain promises to function as a protocol, which can provide a layer of interoperability across such disparate systems.

Since blockchain is normally tamper-resistant and immutable, it can help to minimize the occurrence of fraud and increase transparency across each point within the supply chain.

According to Business Insider, Coca-Cola bottlers has joined the list of major corporations that identify the benefits of blockchain.

Let’s look at how the company uses blockchain today,

Collaborative Technologies

Coke One North America (CONA) is a firm, which manages the North America IT operations of Coca-Cola’s bottlers. While it operates the digital platform that handles the cola supply chain, the Coca-Cola company owns the recipes and does the budgeting and marketing. Integrate this with numerous private bottlers across the United States that frequently trade with one another result in a complex supply chain.

CONA has acquired SAP’s blockchain technology to streamline the supply chain processes between the 70 franchised bottling companies. With SAP’s blockchain, CONA has increased efficiency and transparency in its complex production line.

Secure and Clear Records

CONA senior manager – Andrei Semenov – told Business Insider that there are a number of cross-companies and multiparty transactions, which are inefficient. These transactions go through intermediaries and are very slow. He mentioned that as a company, they could have improved this and saved money.

With SAP’s solution, inventory information is immutably stored in a single platform. This, therefore, facilitates clear stock records and rapid and reliable filling of orders. The platform helps to minimize reconciliation time as CONA expects to see the typical 50 days operations reduced to under a week.

CONA manufactures and ships almost 160,000 orders daily from Coca-Cola, thus making it difficult for the firm to get visibility into their supply chains. CONA expects its blockchain program to increase efficiencies for its bottlers and minimize costs.

Pilot Study

A pilot project was initially trialed with two bottler franchises, C.C. Clark and Coca-Cola United. After the pilot’s success, now the solution is being rolled out to the entire 70 franchises. The supply chain operations value at $21 billion in annual revenue. This thus implies that even a small increase in efficiency could save the firms millions.

SAP Cloud Platform Blockchain

Torsten Zube – the Head of the SAP Innovation Center Network – mentioned that what they have accomplished with blockchain in Coca-Cola bottlers’ case use is developing a document flow in the supply chain. SAP – a software company – is reputed for providing one of the best Enterprise Resource Planning solutions in the industry. It has also made it’s big-name known as a blockchain provider.

Takeaway

Blockchain’s contributions are practical solutions with several firms finding ways to immediately adopt the technology.

Coca-Cola bottlers is now applying blockchain technology to make production processes safer by using the distributed ledger to redefine the soda supply chain.

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Fortune Business Insights: Blockchain-as-a-Service Market to Skyrocket to $24 Billion by 2027

Fortune Business Insights has revealed that the blockchain-as-a-service (BaaS) sector will escalate to $24.94 billion by 2027 from $1.9 billion recorded in 2019, representing a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 39.5%. According to the press release shared with Blockchain.News, this uptrend will be fueled by small and medium enterprises (SMEs) as they are viewing blockchain technology as an optimal solution for the numerous challenges they face, like access to bank loans, trade financing, and cash flow difficulties.

BaaS cuts out middlemen

SMEs are continuously looking forward to stamping their authority across the globe, but this necessitates considerable financial resources. BaaS is playing an instrumental role in simplifying access to different trade financing sources. Additionally, its decentralized nature is eradicating middlemen, making it favored by SMEs.

The World Economic Forum (WEF) believes that blockchain technology can be pivotal in bridging the trade financing gap globally. Recently, the WEF asserted that blockchain should be viewed as the vaccine for future disruptions like the one triggered by the coronavirus pandemic in the seafood industry, hence showing its confidence in this technological innovation.

SMEs are reaping the benefits in BaaS in supply chain processes as transparency, immutability, and traceability become inevitable.

The report also noted that the North American BaaS market stood at $1.01 billion in 2019 based on the significant number of blockchain development projects taking place in the United States. A market rise is expected in this region because BaaS solutions are continuously being integrated with public utilities services.

On the other hand, the BaaS sector in Asia-Pacific will be boosted by incredible blockchain investment by China, Japan, and South Korea governments.

Adoption of BaaS solutions by Huawei and Microsoft

Microsoft and Huawei have been setting the ball rolling in implementing BaaS alternatives. For instance, Huawei executed a blockchain service powered by Linux Foundation’s Hyperledge Fabric 1.0 to assist companies in incorporating smart contracts in supply chains in April 2018.

Conversely, Microsoft’s Azure blockchain service was adopted in May 2019 to assist customers design cloud-based blockchain networks.

BaaS is being viewed as the icing on the cake in many industries across the globe. For instance, leading fast-food chain, KFC recently opted for blockchain-enabled media buying and digital advertisements for its Middle Eastern customers.

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Allied Market Research: Blockchain Identity Management Will be a $11.46 Billion Market by 2026

Allied Market Research, a US-based research and advisory company, has reported that the worldwide blockchain identity management sector will escalate to $11.46 billion by 2026 from the $107 million recorded in 2018. According to the release shared with Blockchain.News, this will represent a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 79.2% because as blockchain are able to offer an immutable, interoperable, and unified infrastructure needed in the storage of digital identities.

Urge for transparent transactions

The report notes that retail industries have a growing appetite for reliability, authenticity, quality, and product safety, as this propels the realization of the set objectives. Identity management is crucial in the present internet drive economy, and blockchain-based solutions are proving to be a game-changer because of transparent and tamper-proof transactions.

As a result, the urge for transparency is stipulated to be the key factor driving the market growth in the blockchain identity management industry. Furthermore, the rapidly changing international trade and retail sector is speculated to offer a stepping stone to notable players in this sector.

Large enterprises are expected to rule the roost in this sector during the forecast period. Still, small & medium enterprises (SMEs) will have the fastest CAGR of 85.7% throughout the estimated time.

Identity theft is a problem that is rising at an alarming rate across the globe. Blockchain identity management solutions are expected to be embraced by retail businesses, healthcare organizations, and banks, among others, in curbing this menace.

Proliferation of E-Commerce

An increase in the demand for secure solutions, as well as escalation of E-Commerce, are anticipated to fuel growth in the blockchain identity management industry. The report also attests that the rise in government-based blockchain initiatives will be instrumental in its development.

Furthermore, elevated transaction and scalability speed is speculated to be another significant boost in upcoming years. Nevertheless, the lack of awareness pertaining to blockchain technology is anticipated to impede market growth during the estimated period.

On the other hand, recent research showed that the blockchain-as-a-service (BaaS) market is anticipated to skyrocket to $24 billion by 2027.

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China's Tencent Forms Alliance to Boost Blockchain Development in the Country

China remains a pacesetter in the technological landscape. The Chinese government as well as Chinese companies are all in tandem with the fight to push for a whole new world of technological dominance.

This developmental posture is also true of Tencent, one of China’s technologically focused firms that announced it has formed an industrial alliance that will help promote the development of blockchain technology. The alliance is set to recruit 100 members before the end of the year to create room for wider representation.

Tencent’s role in the tech space

Tencent Holdings Ltd is a Chinese multinational company founded in 1998. Since the company’s inception, it has extensively applied technology and artificial intelligence in churning out products ranging from game systems to the social messaging app, WeChat.

The company has carved out a niche for itself in the tech world and is now a forerunner in the drive for an all-encompassing involvement in tech development. Known for its investment in emerging technologies, Tencent pledged 500 billion yuan ($70 Billion) to the development of blockchain technology back in April 2020. This is in consonance with the firm’s efforts to accelerate the development of blockchain technology.

Expectations of the new alliance

The new alliance formed as reported consists of three committees spanning tech thought leaders across industries. These committees include the standard committee, which will liaise with government agencies and industry stakeholders in developing a standardization framework for blockchain technology.

The technical committee tasked with industry think tank experts, corporate technology executives, universities and other resources to discuss the planning and construction of blockchain technology platforms.

The last group dubbed “The Business Ecology Committee” will connect industry media, investment institutions, and other key industries such as finance, government affairs, people’s livelihood, and entertainment.

These groups within this alliance are expected to chart a course for the development of blockchain technology applicable in industrial settings.

A mimic of the Ethereum Enterprise Alliance?

The Tencent’s model of blockchain alliance bears similarities to the Ethereum Enterprise Alliance launched in April 2020. As blockchain enthusiasts, the need to see blockchain technology thrives supersede the classification by the relevance of any alliance formed. All hands must be on deck to ensure that blockchain technology and its derivatives have the dominance they seek.

Hacking 101: Security of Bitcoin Wallets, From a Hacker's Point of View

The safety of crypto wallets was recently questioned, after an incident where a Bitcoin address was successfully hacked. John Cantrell, better known as a Bitcoin and Lightning Network developer, successfully completed a challenge issued by Alistair Milne and obtained the private keys to the latter’s e-wallet.

The challenge went viral on social media, with people reiterating that his success was proof that Bitcoins were not secure. John Cantrell explained on his social platform that it was beside the point.

Rather, the moral of the story was that one should never publicly expose one’s own keys. Additionally, he stated that the only reason why the hack was successful was because eight of the 12-word mnemonic seed were uncovered.

The challenge

On May 29, CIO of the Altana Digital Currency Fund Alistair Milne tweeted about a challenge decreeing that over the course of 30 days, he planned on releasing a mnemonic to his Bitcoin wallet, which was comprised of a 12-word mnemonic seed. The prize was the unlocking of 1 Bitcoin inside the wallet once it was successfully hacked.

In order to successfully complete the challenge, roughly 1.1 trillion possible mnemonics would have to be generated and sorted out. As Cantrell explained, “It would take the same system that brute forced the last 4 words of his mnemonic 837 quintillion millennium to brute force all possible 12-word mnemonics […] if you know as few as 5 words.”

Cantrell turned to cloud computing in order to solve the digital equation, running several dozen Graphics Cards at a time. Finally, after 1 trillion checks, Microsoft’s cloud computing services found a solution.

According to Cantrell, Bitcoin wallets are very secure, and the only way one’s digital assets can be at risk is when seed words to one’s account are revealed publicly.

Is the Bitcoin network secure?

As it seems, the only effective way to hack the Bitcoin Network without the above elements remains a 51% attack. This refers to a situation where an entity gains control of more than 51% of the total computing (hashing) power within a blockchain network. The protocol of a blockchain system validates the record that is backed by more than 50% of the hash power—meaning the attackers could then direct the blockchain to reverse transaction confirmations on the Bitcoin they spend, allowing them to double-spend their own Bitcoin supply.

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos is Worth More Than Bitcoin’s Market Cap

It was recently announced that Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos’ wealth has surpassed that of Bitcoin’s market cap. This means that Bezos is worth over $171.6 Billion—exceeding his pre-divorce financial record.

Jeff Bezos: Explained

Jeff Bezos is the founder and CEO of Amazon, the online e-commerce platform that is known to sell everything from toys to tech.

Considered one of the Big Four technology companies, Amazon CEO Bezos’ capital surpasses that of Bitcoin’s Market Cap. Currently, the market worth of Bitcoin is approximately 117.81 billion US dollars, though this number fluctuates.

The Big Four technology companies known worldwide include Google, Apple, Microsoft, and Amazon.

Though many are curious to know more about the Amazon founder’s success, the company will not disclose any personal and sensitive information relating to Bezos’ wealth.

How Amazon Care is Crucial during COVID-19

Amazon Care was originally built to tailor to the needs of its Seattle-based employees. The latter found their pay to be at risk, due to COVID-19 complications. Therefore, the e-commerce company decided to create an app that employees can use if they had health concerns or worries during the pandemic.

Amazon Care, which can be accessed virtually, is convenient for employees and for anyone who wishes to download the application.

In light of the recent pandemic, Amazon Care is more useful and safe than a physical trip to the clinic. Patients can contact health e-commerce remotely: from home, from work, and pretty much from anywhere in the world.

Covid-19 has revolutionized the way the world conventionally conducts business and having access to healthcare online may be one of them.

Amazon Care

Jeff Bezos’ wealth contrasts with that of most businesses. The Seattle-based e-commerce offers a variety of services. What is interesting is that it even provides Amazon Care, which is basically telemedicine. In light of COVID-19, remote healthcare is very useful. Amazon Care also enables patients to register for prescription drug deliveries.

Blockchain Technology and COVID-19 Pandemic

With the coronavirus hitting countries from everywhere in the world, blockchain technology is also a useful method in ensuring that anyone who wishes to have a health consultation may do so virtually. This is a safer alternative, as the spread of COVID-19 is worse in certain parts of the world.

Blockchain technology remains a game-changer and ironically, the pandemic may be what the technology industry needs to popularize the adoption of blockchain globally.

Chinese Police Seize $14M in Crypto from Scammers Posing as Huobi Officials

The Chinese police arrested a crypto scammer gang in Wenzhou that reportedly swindled $14.3M in cryptocurrencies.

The gang, which was made up of Chinese graduate classmates, operated by reaching out to victims through Telegram group chats, one of which was called “Huobi Global Moving Brick Arbitrage HT Chinese Group Community.” By posing as the global investment group and with the help of devised marketing schemes, the fraudsters advocated the use of “smart contract” blockchain technology in order to invest their “clients'” money.

They claimed that the blockchain smart contract could generate Huobi Tokens (HT) – the official coin of the cryptocurrency exchange Huobi. The criminals told victims that this investment would enable the latter to earn an 8% return via arbitrage.

The fraudsters convinced individuals to transfer Ethereum coins to a designated web address, after which the client would be compensated with 60 HT. They posed as investors and they told interested participants that all they needed to do was send their crypto coins to a fake Huobi wallet address, after which the victims would receive the promised HT tokens in return. Instead, it was reported that individuals falling for the scam only received a fake HT link in return. One victim came forward and filed a complaint to the local police. He told them:

“Simply put, you send one unit of Ether to a designated account, and they send you 60 HT. If you sell it, the profit you gain is around 8%.”

After investigating the criminal case for more than a month, Chinese police officers finally managed to locate the scammers. During their raid, officers arrested 10 suspects residing in a luxury villa and a commercial house in the Cangshan District of Fuzhou City. The police also seized real estate property, two luxury cars — a Ferrari and a McLaren — estimated to respectively be of $430,000 USD and $570,000 USD in value.

Bitcoin and Ethereum win sentiment scores

With cryptocurrencies on the rise, hackers and fraudsters have been quick to use this to their advantage. Ethereum, Litecoin, Bitcoins, and Zcash appear to be popular choices used in fraudulent activities. Though cryptocurrencies are relatively safe and secure, the guaranteed transparency of them can sometimes be problematic.

A random sample population surveying whether people generally had a positive or negative outlook on cryptocurrencies found that Bitcoin and Ethereum generated the most positive outlooks, while Binance coin received the highest sentiment rate. Eleven cryptocurrencies were used in the experiment.

South Korea to Introduce Blockchain-Powered COVID-19 “Vaccine Passports”

In order to revive cross-border travel and keep infection risks under control, the South Korean government seeks to issue blockchain-enabled COVID-19 “vaccine passports” to immunized citizens.

Rolling out a blockchain-based application

The South Korean administration plans to issue a digital certification system powered by blockchain technology to verify an individual’s coronavirus vaccination status using a smartphone application from this month.

According to Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun:

“The introduction of a vaccine passport or ‘Green Pass’ will only allow those who have been vaccinated to experience the recovery to their daily lives.”

He added that the vaccine passport will be instrumental in enabling people to experience a sense of return to normalcy.

Deterring identity theft

Chung acknowledged that the system’s security will be boosted by blockchain technology. As a result, identity theft will be eradicated and transparency enhanced.

South Korea has expanded its vaccine rollout, with persons aged 75 and older getting the first priority. The vaccine is jointly developed by BioNTech and Pfizer.

In October last year, South Korean hospitals showed their intention to set the ball rolling in ushering in a new healthcare era using industry 4.0 technology like blockchain, artificial intelligence (AI), and big data.

Blockchain technology was to be deployed in upgrading the quality of medical records, hence boosting the realization of data-centric hospitals. Data was to be collected using biosensors and digital neural networks for smart medical centers.

Furthermore, the Singaporean administration teamed up with local startup Accredify to establish a blockchain-powered digital health passport to boost medical records management. This development was to enable healthcare data to be kept in a digital wallet.

The blockchain-enabled application was piloted in May 2020 using COVID-19 data during the height of the global pandemic. At the time, COVID-19 discharge memos were authenticated more than 1.5 million times.

Panama Looks to Legalize Bitcoin and Ethereum in Line with El Salvador

Another country in Central America, Panama, is joining the ranks to legalise blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies and its flagship asset- Bitcoin (BTC). According to the update from Panamanian Congressman Gabriel Silva, a crypto law has been presented to the national assembly to position the country at the forefront of technology innovation.

Going on to explain why the move to legalise cryptocurrencies is a good option for Panama, the 32-year-old congressman listed the enhancement of job creation, the support for innovation, government transparency, the emergence of new businesses or ventures, decentralisation, and the expansion of what the country’s financial services industry currently offers.

“Today, we present the Crypto Law. We seek to make Panama a country compatible with the blockchain, crypto assets, and the internet. This has the potential to create thousands of jobs, attract investment and make the government transparent,” the lawmaker said based on the translation of his tweet.

“Panama should not be left behind. Let’s go from the profitable world to the futuristic pro Mundi. To a more inclusive economy. A country at the forefront of innovation and technology.”

The attempt by Panama will follow a similar trend by El Salvador, which battled months of negotiations amongst lawmakers and the international financial bodies, including the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). While El Salvador has enacted the Bitcoin-as-a-Legal tender law today, the journey was not as smooth for the country.

The journey to possibly legalise Bitcoin will see Panama battle resistance from the World Bank in the technical implementation of its proposed dive into the digital currency world, just as the monetary watchdog denied El Salvador. Monetary ties may also be cut off by these financial organisations, emphasising the energy requirement that Bitcoin or most blockchain protocols demand.

While the proposed Panama crypto law has no defined timeline, the lawmaker noted that inputs are welcome to improve the proposal’s provisions.

Alfa Romeo Unveils Tonale SUV with NFT Tracking Capabilities

Stellantis-backed Italian automobile brand, Alfa Romeo is launching a new Sports Utility Vehicle in 2023, the Tonale and it will incorporate Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) and blockchain technology in its data capturing procedures.

As reported by CNBC, the captured NFT data from the Tonale SUV will record and store data all through the vehicle’s life cycle.

Amongst the data that will be captured are the maintenance data, all of which are collected when the car is serviced at Alfa Romeo accredited dealers only. Each of the Tonale SUVs is certified right from when they are purchased and the NFT register of their maintenance data helps estimate a very good residual value.

“Digitalization is a key enabler of our metamorphosis. Tonale is the first car ever to keep a blockchain, non-fungible token. NFTs are based on the same distributed information logic that protects your Bitcoin,” Francesco Calcara, head of Alfa marketing and communication, said during a media briefing. “It records all data on the blockchain.”

While the Alfa Romeo Tonale SUV will be the first to utilize an NFT and blockchain to issue data certificates, other auto brands have been utilizing or embracing blockchain technologies in more ways than one in the past. Indian automotive company Tata Motors has been integrating blockchain-focused solutions since 2019, whereas Swedish automotive brand, Volvo once invested in Circulor, a London-based blockchain company majoring in industrial supply chains.

Away from the active embrace of blockchain technology as a resource tool to enhance key aspects of their operations, outfits like Tesla have chosen to leverage the tokenization capabilities of blockchain, and once accepted Bitcoin as a payment method for its products in the United States. While Tesla has halted its Bitcoin payments program, it still has sizable holdings in BTC as an asset on its balance sheet.

Italian automaker Lamborghini floated its NFT collection last week, setting a new milestone that is arguably uncommon in the automotive industry.

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