IBM, Bitcoin ATMs, physical commodities claim top spots for July 2019 blockchain stories

Aug. 5, 2019 | by Bradley Cooper

While the summer heat continues to scorch the Northern Hemisphere, Blockchain Tech News readers cooled off with stories on how the blockchain will transform the worlds of food safety and physical commodities.

The top story for July 2019 examined how blockchain technology can provide a safer supply chain for food. Paul Chang, global blockchain lead for distribution and industrial market at IBM Corp. shared how the technology can provide real time metrics of product movements throughout the supply chain.

Another story in the same vein spoke with Frank Xiong, group VP of blockchain product development at Oracle about how blockchain can prevent outbreaks in retailers and restaurants.

Two of the top read stories were part of a series examining physical commodities, and how blockchain is poised to truly transform that market by providing consistent and reliable data.

You can read more about the top five most read stories of July 2019 for Blockchain Tech News below. They are posted in reverse order.

5. Oracle blockchain expert shares how blockchain can deliver safer food

A quick look through Blockchain Tech News sister's sites QSR Web, Fast Casual and Pizza Marketplace will reveal a slew of stories about restaurants getting food safety wrong. Whether it's outbreaks leading to sick customers or mishandled safety methods, these events erode trust in many restaurant brands.

In addition, both retailers and restaurants suffer from counterfeit food and drinks that can lead to illness.  

Blockchain technology can help provide a much needed solution to these issues by enabling accurate food tracking from farm to plate and restoring consumer confidence.

Blockchain Tech News spoke with Frank Xiong, group vice president of blockchain product development at Oracle to get his take on how blockchain can address food safety issues.

4. Blockchain is an ideal fit for physical commodities

As we move beyond blockchain hype to a more considered appreciation of the technology's strengths, we will achieve two things. First, we will find fewer promising companies and talented people trying to make square pegs round, or round holes square. Second, we will make far more progress. We are now seeing the difference blockchain can make in post-trade processing for commodities — it's blockchain grown-up, and it was the world of physical commodities — starting with crude oil cargos – that realized the digital hype.

3. Examining the basics of Bitcoin ATMs

Business is booming for Bitcoin ATMs. The standalone machines, which allow almost anyone to buy bitcoin with cash, are proliferating at a rate of nearly six new installations a day.

A year ago, there were 3,200 Bitcoin ATMs in the world. Now there are nearly 5,000. Three quarters of those are in North America — 3,179 in the U.S. and 685 in Canada, according to Coin ATM Radar, a website that tracks the industry.  

How do Bitcoin ATMs work? What makes them so wildly popular? And why does the Mayor of Vancouver want to get rid of them?

2. How blockchain will transform physical commodities

We are entering a new era for blockchain. The initial hype and exaggerations are beginning to fade and, as they do, we are able to take a clearer, more sober-minded view. Where can blockchain really deliver on its revolutionary promise, and where is it a forced fit?

With its initial application in cryptocurrency, blockchain felt like a kick away from the physical, analogue world towards a more digital future. Yet now, as we start to see mature, commercial blockchain implementations, we find ourselves very much back in the physical world, notably physically delivered commodities trading.

Why is that? What is it about physical commodities trading that has made it fertile ground for grown-up blockchain?

1. IBM shares how blockchain technology improves food supply chain transparency and efficiency

Blockchain technology, best known as the infrastructure for virtual currencies such bitcoin, has proven its ability to improve efficiencies and transparency of supply chains, notably the food supply chain. 

Paul Chang, global blockchain lead for distribution and industrial market at IBM Corp., gave a detailed summary of how his company's blockchain technology has improved the food supply chain during the recent National Restaurant Show at Chicago's McCormick Place.