The virtual payments giant MasterCard will be showing the public Provenance, a new blockchain-based system for tracking and monitoring products during the production chain. In particular, the company has mentioned the fashion sector, often affected by counterfeiting.
The demonstration of this technology will take place next week at an event for female clothing designers and stylists. MasterCard has also announced last Friday that it will support some limited edition collections born from collaborations between several designers, artists and the company Fred Segal Sunset with MADE.
The first collection born from this partnership will be used to demonstrate the functioning of the blockchain-based tracking system developed by MasterCard, called Provenance. According to the company, this monitoring solution will allow the consumer to have an overview of the entire process from the production to the shelf.
A blockchain-based solution to combat counterfeiting by MasterCard
Sherri Haymond, executive vice president of MasterCard for Digital Partnership, said:
“Leveraging innovative technology solutions, we are able to tell the stories of the products consumers are buying”.
As Sherri Haymond explained, the goal of this solution is actually to counteract the dark side of the fashion industry: counterfeiting. MasterCard cited the Global Brand Counterfeiting Report, according to which the losses from the global online trade of counterfeit goods were estimated to have exceeded $323 billion in 2017.
Of these, it is estimated that luxury brands have suffered a financial loss of as much as 30.3 billion dollars. MasterCard said it would also use Provenance with other partners (no names have been given), in order to provide a practical, simple and clear tool for product traceability, in order to boost consumer confidence, who will be aware of the authenticity of the product.
This could be just one of the first blockchain-based initiatives developed by MasterCard. Other products based on this technology or linked to cryptocurrencies could also be launched in the future. MasterCard, in fact, has recently shown interest in this sector by looking for several experts who can be hired within the company for future projects.
