Introduction to ShipChain — a leader in blockchain in supply chain management. Explained. Hilbi Follow Feb 16 · 3 min read

Here I will give some explanations and links about ShipChain and what this company has been up to after their ICO 2 years ago. The token is currently only available on two exchanges -HitBTC and IDEX- and the price is 98% down from the ICO price with barely any volume on the exchanges. However, they still exist, used their funds to develop the company, run dozens of pilots with companies, they generate revenue, and now a company that is valued at $1.4 billion is using their technology which definitely gives it increased credibility.

Some people prefer a simple video of what ShipChain is all about over a lot of text, so here you go:

An example of ShipChain’s use case and relevance

Imagine a parcel shipped from China to Europe. Nowadays, you will get tracking of specific milestones in a journey that will involve multiple different parties, each with their own systems who barely communicate together, and prone to blame each other’s when something went wrong. So, it’s difficult to have accountability within the supply chain.

With the Shipchain Track and Trace platform and associated IoT devices (GPS, temperature sensors… Check out this partner for example: Hanhaa) or even the Shipchain Mobile App for truckers, your parcel’s journey will be recorded in real-time on a decentralized ledger that cannot be altered and this is where trust is coming in and why accountability gets a boost because it will be easier to see where and what went wrong if something happens.

The billion-dollar-company that is using ShipChain’s technology

The 1.4 billion-dollar company is KeepTruckin: KeepTruckin ELD devices are installed in over 250,000 trucks with over 1,000,000 drivers using the platform. These devices log data of the truck, like GPS in real-time. All this data of a million trucks can now be integrated with ShipChain and then it will be posted on the blockchain in real-time.

Tokenomics, why the token has intrinsic value

The following quote is from the whitepaper from 2017:

Transactions on the blockchain for freight shipments will be paid in tokens and settled in tokens. The ShipChain Web platform connecting to the blockchain will allow users to pay either directly in tokens they hold, or purchase tokens from ShipChain for booking freight (allowing, for example, USD, EUR or cryptocurrency payment). Tokens valued at up to 20% of each freight transaction will be given to the driver/carrier as “gamified” incentives for safe and timely deliveries, as well as environment focused such as reduced idle time. From there, drivers will either be able to sell their tokens on exchanges, or redeem those tokens via partnerships ShipChain will form for various rewards, such as gift cards, fuel discounts, and more.

Another huge factor is that companies are able to pay for freight shipments in fiat currencies, but this means that ShipChain will have to buy up tokens from exchanges with that money: hence increased demand for the token on the exchanges. (this has already been confirmed by the CEO).

Furthermore, it’s possible to stake your tokens, because it’s Proof-of-Stake. Annual rewards with a one-year lockup period are ~20%. Look here for more info: http://network.shipchain.io/faq

Finishing thoughts

If you are interested in getting to know more about ShipChain, you can join the community-owned telegram channel and ask your questions: https://t.me/shipchainunofficial

Or take a look at the subreddit: /r/ShipChain

Some more links with relevant info on ShipChain:

https://shipchain.io https://whitepaper.io/document/359/shipchain-whitepaper https://shipchain-testnet-gamma.network.shipchain.io https://medium.com/@shipmateFRnl/shipchain-scam-or-revolution-faq-f10fe2452e7a https://www.crunchbase.com/event/world-economic-forum-center-for-the-fourth-industrial-revolution-blockchain-in-supply-chain (CEO of ShipChain is a permanent member of the World Economic Forum as a “supply chain expert”

Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with ShipChain or whatsoever. I am just an enthusiast for this project as a hobby and I do own some tokens.