Australia has been hard at work trying to make itself the blockchain capital of the southern hemisphere, with its new national blockchain roadmap bringing it one step closer to reaching its goal. Karen Andrews – Minister for Industry, Science and Technology – has announced the roadmap to help increase government funding for Australian blockchain projects with an additional $100,000 AUD to kick start the movement. Australia has been trialing blockchain technology in various departments of its government already, and this new roadmap will only increase its prevalence.
Elections on Blockchain
Blockchain-based voting systems are quickly becoming popular, with more nations announcing the launch of such with every passing month. Australia has created its own blockchain voting system and is trialing the system using the HST token. Horizon State will allow votes to be cast 100% anonymously and securely. Once a vote has been cast it will become immutable, meaning the vote can never be changed. This is a huge step forward for blockchain-based voting systems and HST is quickly becoming the platform of choice for governments around the world.
Huobi Struggling in Australia
Huobi had tried to make a name for itself in the land down under, but it began to struggle amongst the other 246 registered crypto exchanges. In a bid to differentiate itself, Huobi Australia tried to launch a fiat on ramp, but the lengthy regulation process took its toll on the company. Eventually, Huobi Australia closed its doors for good, transferring clients to Huobi Global so they can continue to trade crypto markets.
NTI Tracking Beef with Blockchain
The Australian Beef industry is one of the largest in the world, and in a bid to secure it, the Australian National Transport Insurance (NTI) has created its own blockchain to secure the supply chain. The industry is worth a staggering $12.7 billion AUD annually, and meats masquerading as Australian meat is damaging the brand reputation. The new blockchain will allow butchers around the world to verify the source and quality of meat that claims to be from Australia.
This move from Australia to create a blockchain roadmap is the first of its kind in the world and will have lasting impacts upon the global blockchain industry. If the roadmap helps new companies set up and get going, Australia will quickly become an industry leader for blockchain technology – causing many companies to flock to the country.
Next on the country’s list of challenges is to create a robust regulatory framework that protects both investors and makes life easy for companies to set up – one step at a time though, right?
