A novel solution to the $US 600 billion problem of counterfeit fashion has been invented, using cryptocurrency-inspired technology to help authenticate shoes.
Fastcodedesign reports that fashion software authentication company Chronicled and 3D printing company Origin teamed up to create smart tags for sneaker company Greats.
The 3D printed tags contain both a unique ID code and an NFC chip, like those in passports, which can be scanned with a smartphone. The chips can’t be removed without tags being destroyed, and each chip can be traced to a blockchain – a database that links each transaction to the one that came before it – meaning that every transaction related to the pair of shoes can be retrieved.
“The Greats x Beastmode 2.0 Royale Chukkah was the first consumer item to come with a Bitcoin-like smart tag, but Chronicled wants to bring its smart tags to more than just sneakers,” reports Fastcodedesign.
Blockchain distributed database technology was invented for use with the Bitcoin cryptocurrency, but financial technology companies and banks are currently interested in its use in other types of electronic transactions.