As per economics and business definitions, decentralization is often referred to as the ability to participate in a market and exchange value between peers without the interference of a third-party intermediary who most likely controls and restricts barriers of entry. It is not a new concept but it is a powerful idea as a business model. The core theory behind decentralization is to disperse power from authorities and empower smaller, individual entities having the ability to act as per their self-interest. Decentralization is necessary for the supply chain industry which would prevent it from a number of issues that hinder its efficiency.

Blockchain, a decentralized platform provides efficient and viable solutions to the hurdles that are restricting today’s logistics and supply chain. Blockchain specifically offers to integrate processes occurring within supply networks. These networks align economic incentives so that everyone achieves prosperity, on the basis of their skill, time and contribution. Blockchain as a new vision has the capability to radically transform the supply chain space.

The shipping industry is considered to be the backbone of globalization and International trade, as 90% of the world trade is carried by ships. It is speculated that the future of shipping and trading industry is heavily dependent on the Blockchain technology because it is designed to solve problems like lack of efficiency, transparency, and security across the global networks.

BitNautic, (bitnautic.io), is a decentralized marketplace/ platform for commodities, where end-consumers, importers/exporters, and manufacturers/producers of goods can trade their products with more ease using the Blockchain technology. The goal of the decentralized platform, according to the official website, is “to help everyone, from end-consumers to the ship owners, Shipping companies to the Agents/brokers, small or large courier companies, manufacturers, producers (farmers), the traders, and the investors around the world to facilitate their ventures and ease the trading practices by connecting all the continents to one unique platform.”

The consignment transport processes that are involved in shipping are prone to faults or accidental miscommunications. Hence, the need for fraud protection arises since no single party has the ability to modify, delete or append any record from others without others consent within the network. Blockchain, with its immutable ledgers and no point of shutdown failure due to its ever running decentralized nodes, is highly secure. It is nearly impossible to hack a Blockchain or mutate a transaction; hence with shipping cargo industry, this entails having knowledge of each and every ship or each container in transit. That makes the shipping-cargo business more transparent, robust and scalable.