VeChain: A Rebranded Project to Watch in 2018


 
 
 
 Reddit has been abuzz following the controversial r/cryptocurrency 1-month ban on any posts related to VeChain, the enterprise blockchain platform for luxury products, due to large-scale shilling of the project on the platform. Many in the VeChain community have attempted to dispute the ban, but the r/cryptocurrency moderators have not budged. While everyone patiently awaits the official reinstatement of VeChain back into the largest crypto Reddit ecosystem (600K subscribers), we decided to share why VeChain makes our ‘project to watch’ list following its recent rebranding event. VeChain leverages blockchain technologies to solve the problem of counterfeits and product traceability across supply chains and logistics namely in luxury goods, wines, agriculture, automobile, transportation, pharmaceuticals, logistics and audit services. Driven by a number of strong partnerships, including PWC and BMW, VeChain aims to help businesses and customers with enhanced transparency through asset digitization and blockchain-powered cloud services (coupled with IoT devices). Even the more popular crypto sites, like The Merkle, struggle to understand exactly what’s under the hood at VeChain, but their recent rebranding event provides some insights into what’s to come. We do know that VeChain will become VeChain THOR (to convey lightning speed and… godliness) where the existing VEN tokens will be converted to VET tokens, and a new token called ‘THOR’ will be minted. VeChain THOR will ultimately extend the VET use cases by allowing it to be used in smart contracts, similar to Ethereum. THOR will only be minted via VEN masternode rewards, and cannot be purchased separately. Finally, to assure future developments align with the core team’s vision, VeChain will adopt a proof-of-authority consensus model. Interested in VeChain? Here’s a quick rundown of the project: Platform & Development VeChain’s initial focus has been luxury goods, and they have built out a number of applications that solve clear problems in this high stakes industry. To illustrate these applications, here are few of the major use cases of VeChain for luxury goods and supply chain logistics, sourced directly from their website: Cold-Chain Logistics: VeChain’s cold-chain logistics solution uses proprietary IoT devices to track key metrics throughout the entire journey. VeChain embeds data management and sharing in every process, making cold-chain logistics transparent, regulated, secure and reliable. Automobile: VeChain creates a digital passport of a vehicle recording all data including repair history, insurance, registration and even driver behavior throughout its lifecycle. VeChain puts data into the hands of owners, making data management comprehensive, accessible and transparent. This encompasses the most recent partnership with BMW. Medical and Healthcare: VeChain’s blockchain solution can track end-to-end medical devices production process. Besides, with the patient’s authorization, VeChain can help patients to securely share their biometric data with their doctors to enable real-time monitoring. Luxury and Fashion: VeChain embeds smartchips within luxury goods, brands can monitor the sales channels in real-time to prevent illegal overstock trading. Meanwhile, consumers can verify the authenticity of the luxury products. Liquor: VeChain created a tracking & authentication platform for wine bottles, data of the wine at every step of the production process was stored on the blockchain. It also allows logistic providers and distributors to store relevant data before it reaches its destination. Consumers can scan a QR Code or NFC Chip which provides authentic and valuable information to the entire timeline starting from the source, storage, and logistics process at the fingertips. This should be of interest to Bill Koch, no? Agriculture: VeChain provides the solution of blockchain-enabled cloud services for the certification of environmentally friendly and organic agriculture products. Throughout the production process, IoT sensors and mobile devices feedback climate and soil conditions which are then updated into the cloud for real-time monitoring, this data is encrypted and immutable and at the same time, can be easily accessed by relevant parties with proper authorization and private keys. Logistics: Leveraging on blockchain technology, various parties in the logistics cycles can access information on a transparent and immutable yet very secure platform with a private key. In addition, logistics service providers can now manage goods at the granularity of single units for the very first time. Granular supply chain management is an incredible accomplishment, and we’re definitely looking for third party confirmation. VeChain is working to expand the applications of their enterprise-facing blockchain technologies, and we believe the rebranding event is a clear step in that direction. As it exists today, business customers are able to work on top of industry-specific APIs. According to VeChain, they have reduced the process to a one-click system, leveraging third parties for products like blockchain audit services. VeChain’s (non)white paper As mentioned, VeChain boasts a number of strong partnerships and clients, even partnering with the Tobacco administration within the Chinese government. VeChain will be providing proof of origin and anti-counterfeit technology to track Chinese produced tobacco products throughout the entire supply chain. This partnership came into place as China announced a crackdown on smuggled counterfeit cigarettes. It is clear that for continued value creation, VeChain must consistently add to their list of clients and partners with high-quality brands and businesses. This is an area we will be monitoring closely as an indicator of token value. VeChain.org Following their rebranding event, VeChain has only detailed two additional milestones in their roadmap: 2018 Q4: VeChain Crosschain and Sidechain Technologies 2019: VeChainThor Ecosystem Expansion We are most interested in the Thor expansion and would like to see a separate white paper detailing this ecosystem and growth plan. Team VeChain.org VeChain’s team looks to be functioning at the highest level you can ask for in a cryptocurrency project, and their ability to court enterprise-level partnerships is apparent. Given their link with the Chinese government, we anticipate the governance structure to be similar to other China-based projects, like NEO, moving forward. Token VeChain (VEN) currently has a market cap of ~$2 billion with a circulating supply of 475,174,786 VEN and a total supply of 873,378,637 VEN. These, of course, will be updated to VET shortly, and we will wait for more information on the value standard of THOR. CoinMarketCap Final Take VeChain is clearly positioning itself as an enterprise blockchain solution, beyond the initial focus on luxury goods and rare commodities. Given its devoted community, recent rebranding event, and strong token performance, we anticipate VeChain to make significant strides in 2018 and beyond. Disclaimer: The author(s) of this article may have a position in one or more of the securities mentioned above. This article is for informational purposes only and should not be taken as investment advice. Always conduct your own due diligence before making investments.