The world is grappling with a monstrous problem in the form of counterfeiting. Every year, manufacturers lose billions to cartels that sneak counterfeit products into the market.

Global estimates put counterfeit costs at approximately $2 trillion. The problem of fake products is even worse when you consider that it affects basic commodities like food products and medicine. However, the most affected industry is luxury goods and auto parts.

Anti-counterfeit measures have not been able to completely tackle this problem and that is why there’s a lot of interest in blockchain solutions. And now the world has VeChain.

What’s VeChain?

VeChain (VEN) is a blockchain cryptocurrency that operates on the BaaS (Blochchain-as-a-Service) framework. VeChain’s main objective is to decentralize and transform how global business supply and management chains are monitored. VeChain aim to achieve this through the provision of a faster, transparent and trust-free platform.

VeChain will rebrand to VeChain THOR on the 26th February, 2018. After the rebranding process, VeChain moves from focusing on supply chains to providing Enterprise dApps solutions similar to what Ethereum provides. However, VeChain will support two types of tokens.

VeChain Tokens (VET)

Thor Power (THOR)

VET will provide smart payment options that companies will use to transact with the blockchain.

THOR will function as the gas for powering smart contracts and dApps on the VeChain Thor blockchain.

How does VeChain work?

VeChain utilizes tamper-proof distributed ledger technology (DLT) to monitor and verify the authenticity and quality of products along the supply chain to ensure that the final consumer gets genuine value for whatever they buy. To put it into perspective, VeChain works with the manufacturers and suppliers to prevent counterfeited goods from being sneaked into the market at the expense of the general public.

The cryptocurrency ledger captures and records every detail of the product and securely transfers the information to all parties along the supply chain.

Every item on the VeChain database gets a unique VeChain Identity (VID). The special IoT tags the company assigns each product QR Codes, Near Field Communication (NFC) chips or unique Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags.

Once a product is fitted with all of these tags, anyone can use remote technology to track the movement of that product. Any tampering or interference is detected and recorded, alerting relevant authorities.

The final consumer also gets a unique code that helps track the goods during the shipping process. Consumers at a point of sale are also able to use special scanners to determine whether the goods they are about to receive are authentic or not.

VeChain’s Token VEN (VET)

VEN is a non-mineable coin. The best way to obtain VEN is to buy it at exchanges. Nevertheless, you can use VEN to pay for online goods and services.

Coin distribution was as follows during the VEN crowdsale:

41%- crowdsale profits given to the VeChain Foundation

23%- enterprise investors

12%- system operations and technological development

10%- business implementations

9%- private investors

5%- VeChain development team

The VEN token is also useful as a store of value and functions as “Gas” that is crucial in fueling the smart contracts developed for various parties on the network, helping in the execution of the said contracts.

Nodes on the VeChain platform also get rewarded VEN when they successfully verify and execute smart contracts. This helps to secure the VeChain network.

VEN market and price

VEN token market summary as of 17th February 2018

Market cap– $2,650,648,281

Maximum supply- 873378637 VEN

Circulating supply-466086354 VEN

Trading volume-$ 76085300

Price – $ 7.61

Where can you buy VEN?

As we mentioned earlier, VEN is not one of the coins you can get by mining. This means that buying is the easiest option for anyone wishing to get it. However, holders of VEN tokens have the opportunity to earn THOR when they help to maintain and keep the VeChain Thor network safe.

On the VeChain Platform there are four types of nodes, which are decided according to the amount of the VET tokens one has.

Strength nodes – a minimum of 10,000 VET

Thunder nodes – a minimum of 50,000 VET

Mjolnir Masternode – a minimum of 150,000 VET

Thrudheim Masternode – a minimum of 250,000 VET

There is also a reward system for both the nodes and VET holders. Get more on the VeChain website.

Please note that you can’t buy VEN using fiat currency from any of the exchanges at the moment. However, you can still use your credit card to buy Bitcoin or Ethereum before proceeding to buy VEN from exchanges like Binance.

You can buy BTC from a reputable website such as Coinbase. To do so, you will be required to sign up for an account and deposit funds in USD. After you purchase BTC or ETH, go to a cryptocurrency exchange website deposit your BTC or ETH and proceed to purchase VEN.

Buying BTC from these sites will be more or else the same. What’s important is that you identify a reliable exchange and have a secure wallet to store the purchased BTC or ETH.

Websites where you can buy VEN

Binance

Binance is a reputable exchange that provides a platform for you to buy VEN among many other cryptocurrencies. The website is easy to use and is a great way for beginners to get crypto coins. On Binance, you can trade BTC/VEN at a relatively cheaper fee of 1%. All deposits to your Binance account are free.

HitBTC

HitBTC is also one of the many cryptocurrency exchange websites with a significant popularity. You can get VEN on HitBTC by choosing the BTC/VEN pairing. You will be charged a 1% processing fee on instant buying. Like on Binance, HitBTC doesn’t charge you any fee for making deposits.

Gate.io

Gate.io is one of the most secure websites for crypto trading. The website offers a range of cryptocurrency trading options. Among them is the option to buy VEN using BTC or ETH. To complete a trade, you will need to sign up for an account and pay a fee of 0.2% for all trades. Signup for GATE.IO here!

Summary

VeChain (soon to rebrand to VeChain Thor) is an attractive project whose use in bringing solutions to real word challenges is already underway. We can also state that the value of VEN (VET after the rebrand) will likely surge. It is an opportunity to invest in a working product. However, all cryptocurrency investments require utmost diligence because they are risky.