VeChain’s Blockchain Used to Aggregate and Track Coronavirus Data in the US

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March 20, 2020 – Real Items and Coronavirusapi.com are working together to track medical data from the 50 individual US state websites.

Confirmed cases by state

After Coronavirusapi.com pulls their hourly update from the individual state websites, Real Items stores the data in IPFS, a decentralized storage site used by researchers, blockchains, and other peer-to-peer content sites. Once the data has been stored in IPFS, the associated hash is stored on an NFT (Non-fungible token) in the VeChain blockchain to provide an immutable timestamp of the information collected. This prevents the possible distortion of data through improper collection techniques or intentional misrepresentation.

Data being stored in IPFS

Collecting data during a pandemic is crucial, and one that agencies including the CDC have struggled with. On the CDC website, they acknowledge that their “numbers are not representative of all testing being done nationwide” and that in the event of a discrepancy, “data reported by states should be considered the most up to date.” With this in mind, aggregation sites like Coronavirusapi.com are performing a valuable service that is closely monitored by concerned citizens, researchers, medical organizations, and media outlets.

Real Items CEO David Menard believes that using NFTs and distributed storage can create a “Digital Smithsonian” – a type of trustable public record that didn’t rely on a single source to collect and publish their findings. Humans are susceptible to error and bias, making this type of automated collection more valuable to current and future researchers.

VeChain’s Response

After the story was first published on Coindesk, community analytics website VeChainStats was quick to offer their support in tracking the storage process. In addition to providing a third-party verification, VeChainStats will visualize the regular uploads so that the public can observe the creation of NFTs on the VeChain mainnet.

A few hours later, VeChain’s COO Kevin Feng announced on Twitter that they would be supporting this project by sponsoring the blockchain transaction fees. With each upload requiring a gas fee of around .17 cents, this could make the project more sustainable over a lengthy period of time. VeChain’s blockchain has several built in features including Multi-Party Payment (fee deferral), which allows Real Items to assign transaction costs to a third party. This simplifies the

https://twitter.com/kfeng027/status/1240823520927428608?s=20

Recapping the Process

  1. Data is reported on Official State websites
  2. Coronavirusapi.com uses web crawlers to pull data every hour
  3. Real Items uploads data to IPFS
  4. IPFS hashes are minted into NFTs on VeChain’s public blockchain
  5. NFT minting fees are paid by VeChain
  6. VeChainStats visualizes the NFT minting process for the public

While this process can sound quite complex, the tools created by Real Items and Coronavirusapi.com allow the workflow to be automated and smooth. This all results in up-to-date and verified data that can bring value to researchers, organizations, and people wishing to be more informed.

For more information, follow Real Items on Twitter, or visit Coronavirusapi.com.

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PlatformXChain – A blockchain enabled Toy and E-collectible trading platform

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A new VeChain-powered toy provenance platform is set to be unleashed next month at the Thailand Toy Expo. PlatformXChain (PXC), a Singapore-based startup, has already partnered with a growing group of toy producers including CenturyFugu (Singapore), Marmit Co. (Japan), Mandarake Co. (Japan) and Machination Studios (Singapore) to track their collectibles on the blockchain. The platform uses PXC’s own white-labelled version of VeChain’s ToolChain, tailoring it to fit the specific needs of toy manufacturers and consumers.

Toolchain from VeChain is used by both major enterprises and small businesses alike. The standard version makes it easy for people with little technical experience to onboard products, while the developer version is more customizable, allowing companies or industries to tailor it for their specific needs. To brand their platform for the toy industry, PXC designed their own custom UX and IoT tags, making it ideal for quickly on-boarding new toy artists. With years of experience in the toy industry, PXC are well-suited to bridging the gap between blockchain and toy manufacturers, fans, and collectors.

“The platform serves as a marketplace for Creators and Brand owners to list their original toys & collectibles products, secure them with encrypted smart chips, enabling consumers to verify before purchase and trade PXC- authenticated products with an immutable ledger of ownership tracked on the VeChainThor public blockchain. PXC envisages to become the leading platform in Asia for protection of intellectual property rights and value of original products for both buyers and sellers.”

Press Release

Source: Instagram

The packaging for these toys feature PXC’s branded NFC sticker tags, allowing users to quickly scan them using the VeChain Pro app. This is one of the first examples we’ve seen of a startup rebranding the ToolChain package as their own as they build on the VeChain platform.

These hand-crafted toys Desugoji toys shown above have received international recognition in the past, which makes them a big target for counterfeiters. Prices on eBay can costs thousands of dollars, especially in Asian markets like Japan and Singapore. PXC believes that their platform will be able to add value by fighting counterfeiters, while giving artists a method of connecting with consumers to pass on the story behind the collectible. This includes photos, videos, and of course product provenance information written on the VeChain public blockchain.

Instagram user Akametenshi posted a photo of the PXC NFC tag up close:

For more information, check out their website PlatformXChain.com.

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Sarah Regensburger brings sustainable designer fashion to VeChain

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VeChain added another client in late February as they onboarded fashion designer Sarah Regensburger’s line of sustainable clothing. The German designer was showing off her creations at Paris Fashion Week, showcasing the NFC chip technology embedded in her upscale products.

https://twitter.com/mikefrancesc0/status/1233360709863514112?s=20

Sarah, based in East London, has a distinct style for multi-cultural and avant garde designs that bring together tribal and natural aesthetics. The story behind the products is quite unique, as she sources organic materials made in Europe, while also excluding all animal-based materials, including leather, wool, silk, or fur. These plant-based designs are available online and are made to order, including the premium Mother of Dragon Jacket shown below.

These unique items make ToolChain (VeChain’s blockchain as a service platform) a fitting technology, as the amount of care and effort that went into the craftsmanship behind the products is often difficult to convey to customers. Sarah’s vision is to make her products completely tag-free while relying on NFC chips to tell the story behind each item, including sizing and care information, certificates, photos and videos of the design and construction process, and data related to the sourcing of the organic materials. This adds value while creating a bond with potential customers, giving more character to the fashion products, even after paper tags have been removed and discarded.

In a conversation on the Vetcast podcast, Sarah revealed her plans to continue exploring the depths of this technology. She was impressed by the reaction of other designers at Paris Fashion Week, and is now looking to implement the IoT technology into her future work. She plans to grow her brand through B2B collaborations and online sales while using VeChain to promote her vision of a sustainable, animal-free fashion production process. Listen to the full podcast down below.

You can learn more by visiting her website at sarahregensburger.co.uk or following her on Instagram.

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Community Interview: Darron & Aaron Smith

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On February 20th, social media lit up with some renders of a modern future city powered by VeChain. The original post, from video game concept artist Darron Smith, talked about how the twin brothers decided to make the city as a gesture of gratitude towards the VeChain community. The high-resolution images are sized to be used as wallpapers.

Remarkably, while the images on social media are just renders, the city is a series of actual 3D models, complete with lighting, sidewalks, and VeChain-themed vehicles. The models are powered by Unreal Engine and can be explored or “flown through” to make animated videos. Creating all this was not as simple as it might seem, with the two Smith’s claiming they spent weeks designing and building the models by hand.

The Smart City is the latest 3D Environment art project created by my brother and I. This project was was a great way to give back to the Vechain community and ecosystem. I believe cryptocurrency is the future and we wanted to create a conceptual smart city that featured the ecosystem we truly believe in. The tools used to create the Smart City are Luxology Modo, Marmoset Toolbag, Substance Painter, and Unreal Engine 4.

In the creation of this project, I was responsible for creating the the emissive signs, buildings, and post production. I had a lot of fun working on this project and I appreciate all who have taken the time to view our work.

Source: darronsmithart.com

The brothers teased that after all the fun they had, there might be more updates in store. Listen to the full-length interview on the second half of VetCast #16:

You can find the full-sized images on their websites: Darronsmithart.com and Aaronsmithart.com

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Weekly Roundup – February 28

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One of those weeks where covering the VeChain ecosystem was like a box of chocolates…

Major Update: PoA 2.0 – SURFACE

Two of the brightest minds at VeChain – Chief Scientist Peter Zhou (PhD University of Southampton) and Senior Researcher Ren Zhijie (postdoc and PhD at TU Delft) put together a 21 page preprint on their new consensus algorithm, named SURFACE. If you aren’t a very technical person, don’t bother reading it, you won’t get very far. In layman’s terms, the main updates are to increase:

  • role determination and rules (to prevent attacks),
  • throughput (traffic that can pass through),
  • latency (speed of response),
  • finality (speed of block confirmation).

This combination of speed, scalability and security makes up the Holy Trinity of what a blockchain needs to perform efficiently. VeChain’s continued attention to this is necessary to keep pace with the rapid speed of R&D in the blockchain world. The full preprint is posted here: Link

DNV GL and VeChain’s Low-Carbon Ecosystem 2.0 (China) Webpage Released

With the launch of a new website, the initiative focuses around environmental protection and public welfare, two popular issues that blockchain has been tipped to solve in China. They aim to unite users, merchants, enterprises, and government organizations for charitable and sustainable initiatives. Right now, the goal seems to be focused on adding more enterprises willing to support the ecosystem. Read more about the award-winning initiatives here.

Real Items Marketplace Released

Authenticity-as-a-Service platform Real Items released a marketplace for blockchain verified items. This marketplace is meant to “demo” the capabilities of NFTs in products as they look to add more clients.

The products, including this VeChain101 shirt, all feature a 2FA QR code directly on the product. By entering the pin into the landing page, buyers can claim their items and connect with the brands behind the goods.

DNV GL speaks at the GSFI Conference in Seattle

The Global Food Safety Initiative event was a chance for DNV GL’s CEO of Business Assurance Luca Crisciotti to speak about My Story being used to track food products on the blockchain. In addition to wine makers Ricci Curbastro, Ruffino and Torrevento, two new logos were present. They were Buondioli, Italian olive oil producer, and La Fiammante, Italian tomato and canned vegetable producer. My Story is a blockchain solution to add transparency to supply chains.

https://twitter.com/DNVGL_Assurance/status/1233336657304313861?s=20

Chinese Media Blockbeats Features VeChain

The article, entitled What’s Next For Blockchain In The Post-Internet Age? was an in-depth look at how VeChain was challenging decentralization narratives in the industry to build a hybrid model that actually fits into business scenarios. It was picked up by major news portals including Tencent, Sina Weibo News, and many others.

You can view a translated version here: Link

Fashion Designer Sarah Regensburger adds VeChain to Collection

ToolChain showed its appeal to independent designers by popping up at Paris Fashion Week. Check the video in the Twitter post for more.

https://twitter.com/mikefrancesc0/status/1233360709863514112?s=20

Browser Plugins Galore

After the Totient revealed Comet would no longer be updated, an active group of community members decided to “crowdfund” development of a Google Chrome Wallet plugin, allowing users to interact with dApps from the comfort of their usual web browser.

Their efforts were successful, as they reached their target and announced a Ukrainian development team was preparing to undertake the task of creating the plugin, similar to Metamask for Ethereum.

A few days later, ecosystem project Safe Haven announced that they were purchasing the original plugin, Comet, with the intention of making it open-source and furthering development. This gives the community two potential browser plugins, as well as the return of the NFT marketplace Cometverse.

Blockbabies Registration Set to Open on March 5th

“Decentralized infant chaos” is descending on VeChain, thanks to the Blockbabies early bird registration announcement. The game will have NFT babies face-off in a “Baby Battle Arena” with a concept that is as both eye-catching as it is original.

Exchange Updates

OceanEx Telegram AMA

OceanEx’s CEO Nan Xiaoning responded to the dipping OCE token price by reassuring the community that the team was working hard to increase the token price. Nan took on hard hitting topics including issues with trading bots and token price, which can be read about here.

We would like to explore more practical OCE use cases for all OCE holders. For example, we are connecting with a crypto game company, to list our OCE as utility token in the online game. With OCE you could play a lot of fun games. Another idea is to create our OceanEx merch online store. Our supporters will have a chance to buy our tailored merch by using OCE. We are also looking for more third-party companies to form the cooperation to add more value and applications for our platform token. There is a lot more to be explored in the OCE use cases.

Cream Partners with Bitrue

Long a favorite of the XRP community, Bitrue reached a deal with Cream to offer benefits to VeChain ecosystem projects. This includes staking benefits for holders, as well as a way to list more VIP180 projects.

SNKr Announces IEO with Bitmart

Streetwear Ecosystem SNKr announced on March 4th they would hold their initial token sale on Bitmart. This Shanghai based project is partnered with streetwear event INNERSECT and has a BaaS platform and consumer app, known as Mine.

Return of Transactions

The mainnet lit up on Thursday and Friday with a wave of new transactions. The ToolChain contract, suspected as being linked to the Yunnan Tea partnership (source: Reddit) blew through yearly highs and set some optimism back in the ecosystem.

Vexplorer.io

Users watching the explosion on real-time blockchain visualizer vechainuniverse.com were treated to a wave of fireworks and sounds, capping off a busy week in the world of VeChain. Special nod to reddit user Thesandiegonite for vechainuniverse.com.

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First-of-its-kind marketplace added to Real Items

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Over the past weekend (February 22), Real Items launched their NFT-backed marketplace, to sell verified items directly to consumers. The marketplace featured a number of retail items, including a popular mug with a QR code linked to its transaction on the VeChain mainnet.

The marketplace is not the main business model for Real Items. Instead, it is meant to serve as a demo of what other businesses could provide customers as part of Real Items growing Software-as-a-Service offering: Real Items built the infrastructure to put a company’s goods on the (VeChain) blockchain, as well as provides end users with landing pages and media to educate shoppers about the goods they are buying. After purchasing, buyers can input a single use 2FA pin to claim the item, giving them additional functionality down the road, and providing sellers more insights on their marketshare. When the item is claimed, a second transaction occurs, transferring ownership to the customer.

The Real items application suite leverages VeChain’s built in fee delegation to sponsor initial transactions so users aren’t required to be familiar with blockchain or VET.  Their solution removes the need for brands to dive into every nuance of blockchain technology so they can integrate in a matter of minutes opposed to months.  Their cloud platform uses VeChain’s MPP (Multi-party payment) saving shop owners and customers from the complexities of blockchain transactions.

Real Items is currently building an enterprise sales team to push this model into more mainstream areas. However, one area they are committed to working with is helping out with charities and sustainable organizations. Higher traceability and customer confidence makes shoppers more likely to support these initiatives, and Real Items can do a lot in this regard.

An example of Real Items supporting charitable initiatives

Real Items makes it easy for sellers to get involved. Using the Real Items Shopify app, sellers can instantly link their webstore products and print out labels with 2FA-QR codes or send the NFTs direct to a customer’s real items account after a purchase.  This eliminates the need for consumers to have a wallet.  Their assumption is that most users will treat their digital certificates (NFTs) like Bitcoin on Coinbase, making personal custody the last option they choose.

Also in the marketplace was an original VeChain101 design. The design is a nod to VeChain’s ties to Shanghai, where the blockchain began, and their original use case verifying supply chains. It features a container ship on the the historic Huangpu River, with The Oriental Pearl TV Tower, the Shanghai Tower, and the Shanghai World Financial Center forming the backdrop.

For more information, check out their website at realitems.io.

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