Hyperloop Transport Technologies co-founder and chairman Bibop Gresta has revealed that plans are in place to utilise blockchain technology as an underlying solution to the “broken” transportation system.

Transportation is broken

“Transportation is broken. The way in which we travel sucks,” Gresta told Coin Rivet at the Paris Blockchain Week Summit.

Hyperloop, which was conceptualised by SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, is looking to launch an intercity transportation method that will take passengers from city to city in relative comfort while traveling at 760 miles per hour.

The company launched the first two miles of a hyperloop in Los Angeles in 2018. Reports claimed that the cost of the project stood at $10 billion, but Gresta refuted those figures by stating that it cost “$150 million”.

Hyperloop to use smart contracts

“What do we need in the future?” Gresta continued. “We need a technology that allows us to get what we need in that particular moment. We have imagined this future. A passenger will be identified by the system and as soon as the system intercepts you, it will create a smart contract. This smart contract will stay in the cloud and will identify your biometry.”

The Hyperloop co-founder went on to reveal that the future of transportation will rely on cloud-based blockchain technology to verify passengers and make traveling more streamlined and efficient.

The HyperloopTT team, along with our Chairman and Co-Founder, Bibop Gresta, have held talks with the Australian government to discuss first steps towards Hyperloop in Australia. And with it, the potential to travel from Sydney to Melbourne in just over an hour. #HyperloopTT pic.twitter.com/ki0Lc3AaO0 — HyperloopTT (@hyperlooptt) March 22, 2019

“80% of the operations we analysed at airports can be done before you arrive there,” he added.

“It’s not complicated. This technology existed in the 90s. We have to think about what the passenger wants. We need to redesign the space of the passenger. The moment you are intercepted by the system, it will be verified through a blockchain that is there in the cloud. It’s not owned by anyone, so all the privacy concerns are gone.”

Gresta explained how smart contracts can do “magical things” that so far have not been utilised in the transportation sector.

“When a passenger has been verified it will generate a smart contract. A smart contract can do amazing things. Magical things. Not only in and out of the station, but the entire journey. A smart contract will be able to give you the best sleep of your life. It can entertain you or teach you new information.”

“This is not the future, it is the present. We are working with the top companies in the world like Sony. In this 12-15 minute journey we can do amazing things.”

Why blockchain is a viable solution

Gresta explained: “Blockchain is not only the underlying technology, it is the vision we have for a better future. It will solve one of the biggest issues we have in transportation right now: the price issue.

“The price of things is silly. It’s childish. We are looking at the price of travel. Let’s take a car for example. We take into consideration the fuel, the energy if it’s an electrical car, insurance, and that’s it. Well, I wish it was that easy, because how much is the cost to the planet? Let’s count it, let’s count the carbon footprint and pollution. Who’s going to dismantle this thing when it’s not usable anymore? Factor in all of these factors and all of a sudden you not only have a different price, but a different economy.”

The future is one step closer. After a three day, 1,500 km journey beginning in Southern Spain, the #Hyperloop passenger capsule has successfully arrived at @hyperlooptt 's test facility in Toulouse. Now the final tests are underway for #HyperloopTT. #transportingthefuture pic.twitter.com/Qp33rjVKPQ — HyperloopTT (@hyperlooptt) January 22, 2019

He continued: “Blockchain for us is not only an opportunity to actually get the read of all the problems, but it can introduce new elements to actually save this planet.”

Tokenisation

When asked about whether Hyperloop would ‘tokenise’ any aspect of the business, Gresta replied: “We already have.”

“70,000 skilled engineers’ hours have gone into Hyperloop. In exchange for this, we give them stock options. In 2013, that was very naughty. Right now, it’s easy. If you think about it, we tokenise it already from the inception of the company.

“The problem we have right now is that after seven years of work, people will love to see these stocks become fluid and create a market because if we can do it, we’re not only making our people rich (which is the less interesting side of it), but we are also demonstrating that the concept of work and the concept of company itself is disrupted.

“Now you don’t need to raise money, you can raise brains. This is the most exciting promise that we are working on. It’s even bigger than the hyperloop.

“Thank god we are killing the banks. We don’t need intermediation anymore. Brains and action can be working together and I don’t have to struggle to survive. I can do my passion and live with it. To succeed, we are seeing in blockchain – and eventually the tokenisation of it – a very nice solution.

“We are not saying right now that we are doing an ICO or STO – we don’t want to go into these details right now. What we want to say is that we, as Hyperlopp, are looking seriously to actually embrace this vision and bring it to fruition.”

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