This story was delivered to BI Intelligence IoT Briefing subscribers. To learn more and subscribe, please click here.

Robert Bosch Venture Capital (RBVC), the venture arm of the German industrial giant Bosch, recently announced that it purchased a "significant number" of MIOTA tokens, according to Venture Beat. MIOTA is a cryptocurrency based on the IOTA distributed ledger platform operated by the German IOTA Foundation.

The IOTA platform is unique among blockchain-like distributed ledger solutions in that it is focused on IoT use cases and allows connected devices to securely transfer data and money for only a very small fee. The cryptocurrency has already enabled more than $10 billion in transactions and is currently being used for micropayment-based electric vehicle charging stations. As part of the purchase, Hongquan Jiang, a partner at RBVC, will join the IOTA Foundation's advisory board.

IOTA and other distributed ledger solutions could help manage large enterprise IoT deployments because of their ability to automate back-end functions. Jiang said that, while IOTA is still in its early stages, RBVC sees it being able to help IoT projects scale up while reducing transaction costs. A use case for the IOTA platform could involve, for instance, a machine that identifies when it needs a replacement part, and then automatically orders that part and pays for it directly through the platform. This is a significant innovation because most other IoT predictive maintenance applications typically only alert a human worker when a replacement part needs to be ordered. Using the IOTA platform instead could save companies time and money by limiting the involvement of a human technician.

Distributed ledgers can also help secure IoT implementations by providing a tamper-proof ledger for data produced by connected devices. Forty-three percent of executives at companies deploying an IoT solution said security was a top barrier to implementation of their IoT projects, according to a 2016 BI Intelligence survey. Blockchain-like distributed ledgers are designed to ensure that once data is added to the ledger, it cannot be changed or tampered with. Additionally, any member of the ledger's network can view any of the data within it, providing additional security through transparency.

IOTA is only one of several blockchain-based systems companies with IoT projects are exploring for security purposes. For instance, South Korea's Science Ministry and the Korea Electric Power Corporation are jointly trialing a blockchain-based platform that would enable customers to sell unused energy back to the grid, while Cargill, an agricultural conglomerate, is exploring the nascent technology to track food conditions as it moves through the supply chain.

Meanwhile, Jiang told VentureBeat that IOTA is among a number of distributed ledger technologies the industrial giant is exploring for IoT security purposes, though Bosch's choice to invest in its cryptocurrency now indicates it believes IOTA will become more valuable in the coming years. As more and more companies deploy IoT projects or expand their existing projects, we believe these firms, and their IoT providers, will increasingly explore IOTA and other distributed ledger solutions, and likely eventually implement them in their IoT projects for security purposes.

Peter Newman, research analyst for BI Intelligence, Business Insider's premium research service, has compiled a detailed report on the blockchain in the IoT that:

Explains how firms are already exploring ways to make use of blockchain in all sorts of IoT projects.

Provides an overview of disruption in critical sectors including the supply chain and asset management.

Analyzes how blockchain is poised to see rapid expansion as a tool used in IoT solutions that reduce costs, increase efficiency, and remove reliance on cloud-based platforms.

Interested in getting the full report? Here are two ways to access it: