​The blockchain will extend to protect more than 60 different brands owned by the conglomerate that also owns the iconic and extremely expensive Louis Vuitton line of bags and luxury leather goods. LVMH has enlisted the help of a full time blockchain team that has been developing the system in secret for over a year now; the team itself is working closely with ethereum design company ConsenSys and Microsoft Azure.

The project, codenamed AURA, was developed off a permission version of the ethereum blockchain called Quorom. This type of blockchain was initially developed for the purpose of data privacy by JPMorgan. LVMH stated that it wanted to remove the role of third party actors in the industry, and is planning to offer a white label form to other conglomerates who wish to use the technology as well.

This is aligned with what LVMH termed “an industry consortium” coming together for a common goal. The IP rights of AURA will be donated to a separate entity and the entity will be run by the competitors who may not want to work too closely with a conglomerate as huge or as influential as LVMH.