Blockfreight, designed as the first end-to-end blockchain solution for the global cargo shipping industry, has announced its technology and has launched an initial token sale.

The initial token offer of up to $1.9 million of Blockfreight Tokens [BFT:XCP] is available at a discount to its $1.00 (USD) retail value, according to Julian Smith, the company’s co-founder, and CEO.

A Global Shipping Evolution

The global shipping industry is responsible for the movement of more than $4 trillion of cargo each year. Blockfreight marks one of the most significant developments since the invention of the shipping container 60 years ago that lowered costs to a major degree. The shipping container created specified dimensions and handling requirements for containers, ending the practice of shipping and loading in individual bulk packaging.

Blockfreight will improve market access and build financial strength in global trade through increased income and shared costs for the global supply chain.

An Australian-based blockchain research company produced the blockchain and is developing on an end-to-end blockchain solution for the primary pain points in the current system that requires manual matching of bill of lading with letters of credit and other settlement mechanisms.

Blockfreight’s three key elements are:

Smart contracts to permanently and securely define the bill of lading, payment terms and other elements to a completed cargo shipment, built on the Ethereum blockchain.

A tradeable token built as a counterparty asset, secured by the bitcoin blockchain. The tradeable token pays for the transaction fees and eliminates spam on the decentralized system.

Storage of the bill of lading and other documents too big to fit into a bitcoin block, using the Inter Planetary File System protocol.

An Active Token

The first element, the Blockfreight token on Counterparty [BFT:XCP], is an active blockchain. It has launched an innovative token crowd sale based on sales volume instead of time. Where most token sales add bonus coins based on the day of purchase, regardless of how many are sold, the Blockfreight tokens, which will have a retail value of $1 USD, will sell for a fixed number of tokens at each price regardless of how many days it takes.

Following a private presale of 1 million tokens, the initial crowd sale will offer 4 million [BFT:XCP] tokens at 2 cents (USD) until sold. After that, another 10 million BFT:XCP tokens will be offered at 3 cents, then 15 million tokens at 4 cents, and lastly 20 million tokens at 5 cents, making a total of 50 million tokens for $1.99 million. The tokens will be redeemable for $1 on the Blockfreight system when it becomes operational in early 2017. Testing will begin in late 2016.

Also read: How block chain & digital currency could revamp the U.S. postal service

Improving Supply Chain Access

Blockfreight is building an open source, immutable and distributed end-to-end blockchain solution for secure “bill of lading” access by all entities in the global supply chain. These include banks, insurance providers, freight forwarders, shipping carriers, port operators and regulators.

Blockfreight blockchain technology allows business transactions to be validated before they are posted onto the blockchain. The decentralized network makes it impractical to defraud other participants in the supply chain, allowing market participants to reduce costs and end-to-end processing and delivery.

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