In an interesting turn of events, Alipay and its parent company Ant Financial have teamed up with the Chinese government to use a blockchain in order to track rice and verify its authenticity. Wuchang rice is considered to be the best rice in China and it commands a high price when compared to other forms of rice. For this reason, people will often use similar or lesser quality rice and try to pass it off as Wuchang rice.
The local government in Wuchang has reached out to Alipay, pushing them to create a blockchain that will allow consumers to be able to track the rice on their plates back to the farm it was grown on. This will also provide a means to verify its authenticity.
Is China Flip-Flopping About Blockchain?
What makes this interesting is that the Chinese government has been cracking down on crypto and blockchain companies operating in the country. Last week China officially banned commercial crypto activity in the country, and several big names began clearing out crypto related accounts. WeChat closed down around eight crypto accounts, one of which belonged to Huobi – a popular crypto exchange. More recently, Baidu waged war on the crypto world by closing several crypto forums and adjusting its algorithms to rank crypto related sites lower.
This new blockchain project between the local Wuchang government and Alipay could be seen as the government picking and choosing when to abide by its own rules. It will no doubt cause some level of controversy within the country should it come to fruition.
Blockchain to Prevent Counterfeit Products
Wuchang rice won’t be the first product to be put on a blockchain to verify its authenticity. Richemont is working on creating a blockchain solution to verify the authenticity of its diamonds. This will allow owners of Richemont diamonds to be able to retrieve information about the diamond in question at will. It will also ensure that diamonds don’t go missing in the mining and transportation process.
Weird Items on Blockchains
Rice might seem like an odd item to have on a blockchain, but trust us – it could be one of the most normal items compared to what else is out there. One company has decided to put its thanksgiving turkeys on a blockchain, allowing users to trace the turkey back to the farm it was raised on. Not to be one to miss out on a new thing, Kanye West has created a blockchain to verify the authenticity of his Yeezy sneakers. To go with these weird blockchains, there are also a handful of weird cryptocurrencies to go alongside them – could we see Wuchang coin next?
The proposed blockchain solution for Wuchang rice will not only stop counterfeiters from ruining the rice’s reputation, but it also promises to cut the delivery time from three to seven days down to a mere two days. This new blockchain will ensure Wuchang rice remains fresh and authentic in your delicious home cooked meals – something that you really can’t put a price on.
