With all the hype around Blockchain transforming supply chains, where are we on the roadmap towards making this all a reality? Some say years… and question whether we really need cryptocurrency and token economics in this mix?

However we strongly believe the reality is closer than many think and that digital currency will eventually be widely adopted.

The road to adoption — some patience required

While many organisations have announced plans to implement blockchain solutions for supply chain, most are pilots with very limited scope. It may take many months, or years for the business process improvements of the distributed blockchain ledger to be widely available. Realising full potential will require changes by many shippers, service providers and government agencies; so large enterprises with the leverage required to change behaviour will likely lead the way.

However, the supply chain efficiency benefits are significant. Blockchain will improve business processes for all participants and stakeholders of the supply chain. Benefits most commonly cited include: efficiency gains from eliminating manual effort and paper processing; clear provenance that verifies the true origin of products, and chain-of-custody to ensure goods were handled only by trustworthy partners.

How can we speed up adoption of blockchain for supply chains?

The Sweetbridge governance model is designed to deliver value faster through decentralisation.

We believe this governance structure will force power to become more decentralised as the network grows larger and will produce useful value faster than traditional, shareholder-owned organisations acting independently.

Sweetbridge is an economic platform designed to free up the value that is locked in assets, commerce and the supply chains that comprise nearly two-thirds of the global economy. It consists of a group of independent, non-stock organisations (e.g. stock guarantee company, non-profits, etc.) that govern the Sweetbridge protocols and financial network globally. These entities are similar to credit unions with each entity being controlled by local members, and operated for the mutual benefit of these members, instead of a group of shareholders.

Benefits in using cryptocurrency are too great to ignore

While cryptocurrency has come under rightful scrutiny because of its publicised use in illicit activities, we see the use of digital currency as a transformative tool for supply chain management and commerce as a whole. At Sweetbridge we are using token economics to address these negative issues by operating within existing legal and regulatory frameworks. The benefits from unlocking the liquidity trapped in supply chains outweigh the mitigated risks bad actors pose. Governments will accept virtual currencies that are designed to honour regulatory requirements and delivery of faster, less expensive, and more secure e-money transfers.

New forms of virtual currency will emerge in 2018 to facilitate digital money transfers

Don Tapscott, co-founder of the Blockchain Research Institute and a Sweetbridge advisor, predicts that digital fiat currencies will move forward in 2018 for many countries.

When digital currencies that meet local regulatory requirements become more commonplace, the foundation for unlocking the liquidity value trapped in assets will emerge. Our use of virtual currencies and blockchain will facilitate more efficient value transfers and settlements in commerce in a manner that is easily audited and more easily visible to all parties involved.

Working with the regulators

Regulation is only a stumbling block for those who don’t comply. Therefore Sweetbridge is driving adoption of its protocols and platform by proceeding first in countries where the regulatory environment is open to digital currency innovation, particularly in Europe and Asia.

We cannot predict how long it will take for regulators to accept the new decentralised model for global commerce in every nation, but we will be ready with a proven and secure platform as the inevitable awakening arises.

Despite concerns that regulatory issues are hindering the roadmap for adoption, the Sweetbridge network is set up to fuse the vast promises of blockchain with the real-world economy in ways that could unleash real GDP growth. With our model, SMEs and smaller supply chain entities could realise faster growth and lower costs from greater liquidity and faster payments.

All in all, when it comes to the deployment of blockchain in the supply chain, it is early days. Sweetbridge’s collaborative, decentralised path, starting in regulatory-friendly environments, with success eventually encouraging adoption in other more cautious jurisdictions, will speed up the unlocking of liquidity and make unbundling of commerce a reality.