The company is asking suppliers to make the switch now, but it won't be so polite in the future. It expects suppliers to have the blockchain systems in place by "this time next year," or roughly by the end of summer 2019. Walmart sees this as a way to speed up recalls and potentially save people from getting sick, and it's not about to take chances.

This isn't the first time companies have used blockchain on a large scale. The allure has been clear for shipping: it's an easy way to notify everyone in the supply chain when a product reaches a given point in its journey. This is, however, a rare instance of a major company mandating the use of the technology. Provided the system works as promised, it could give blockchain a major boost in credibility among companies that are still skeptical about using the same tech underpinning cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin.