Blockchain and data security: Walmart and Wells Fargo tell you the right way to open it

Currently, more and more large enterprises, banks and financial institutions are beginning to use blockchain technology to verify data. This has also led to many unique blockchain deployment solutions, including the Commonwealth Bank of Australia's cotton transportation solution and Walmart's food distribution record tracking.

Walmart and China's Pork Problem

Due to the irreversibility of the blockchain network, retail giants such as Walmart are experimenting with using the technology to store freight data and information distribution.

At the end of October, IBM announced a partnership with Walmart and China’s top educational institution Tsinghua University to track food shipments in China based on IBM’s enterprise-grade blockchain technology.

Walmart’s R&D team reached a consensus in June this year to join IBM’s blockchain system development team in the wake of the rotten meat scandals in Hong Kong and China.

While Hong Kong citizens were outraged by the rotten meat issue, dealers at all levels remained silent. Once these problematic pork entered the market, they would have seriously endangered public health, but they easily passed the scrutiny of the government and relevant agencies at each level.

The South China Morning Post has confirmed that as many as 319 pigs were found to have salbutamol and clenbuterol in their bodies in southeastern China in August this year.

When the incident was exposed, 27 retailers had already purchased at least 40 of the pigs, but the general public was still kept in the dark.

Hong Kong health official Ko Wing-man publicly acknowledged mistakes made by the government during the review process.

In order to avoid scandals caused by data authentication errors and information manipulation, Walmart and Tsinghua University chose to use blockchain technology to monitor the transportation and distribution of pork.

The first blockchain transport example

Similarly, Australia’s Commonwealth Bank (CBA) and the U.S.’s Wells Fargo have established a strategic partnership using blockchain technology to ship cotton from Texas to Qingdao, China.

On October 24, Commonwealth Bank of Australia announced the completion of the world's first interbank open account transaction, shipping Brighann Cotton products from Texas to Qingdao.

The two banks have adopted Skuchain’s Brackets technology, a blockchain system the team developed for collaborative commerce and enterprise operations.

Skuchain said its blockchain system can provide real-time, reliable transactions and asset transfer methods, which is attractive to companies such as Borray that want to understand the status of product transportation.

The Skuchain team said:

Brackets enables real-time and reliable monitoring of transaction status, bringing extremely high transparency to participants and helping them build a trusted and stable supply chain ecosystem.

As more and more companies use blockchain technology for operations and settlements outside the financial sector, it won’t be long before other industries will gradually realize and acknowledge the potential of this technology.