Blockchain can help consumers ensure that a product moving through various points of the supply chain is the real deal and not a counterfeit.

Building “a trust-free and distributed business ecosystem to enable transparent information flow, efficient collaboration, and high-speed value transferring” is the business model of blockchain-as-a-service (BaaS) company VeChain. The company has confirmed its plan to eventually evolve by rebranding itself into VeChain Thor as reported in Coin Central.

VeChain says it has been fusing blockchain technology and their internally-developed smart chip system for about 2 years now. The smart chip was implemented in various IoT projects like “NFC chips, RFID trackers, or GR codes.” They can be useful in product quality control for retail companies to avoid losing business to the counterfeiters.

For example, a common enterprise losing business to counterfeiters is French manufacturer Louis Vuitton. A single purse, just like most luxury items, gets released to the market involving a series of middle men or intermediaries, especially in online transactions where a single item can change hands multiple times. Multiply this transaction a hundred times over and it’s easy to lose track of the genuine Louis Vuitton purse.

Trust is behind VeChain’s use of blockchain technology to connect buyers to legitimate sellers. If a smart chip is included in each genuine Louis Vuitton item, once one of these shipments is sold, the transaction is reflected in the blockchain based data from the smart chip.

With the blockchain recording transactions in real-time, Louis Vuitton is notified of a sale and the party purchasing the goods can see in the blockchain that the item bought is genuine.

VeChain’s plan to rebrand was brought about by its entry into the Enterprise DApp solutions, a platform that Ethereum is known for. In adopting Enterprise DApp solutions, the company will then offer 2 tokens under its brand – VeChain Tokens (VET) and Thor Power (THOR).

Enterprises interested in participating in the rejuvenated BaaS company have to purchase VET. No date of an initial coin offering (ICO) has been announced yet. But the more VET an enterprise possesses, the higher the priority they attain in the VeChain Thor blockchain.

VET is also seen as a currency used to help boost the perceived market value of THOR. An enterprise cannot buy or earn THOR without investing in VET first. THOR tokens are necessary on self-executing (smart) contracts.

The rebranding is scheduled for Feb. 26.

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