Automobile blockchain: Various companies around the world began jumping on the blockchain bonanza last year when cryptocurrency spread like a wildfire in the media and grew in popularity.
Everyone tried to see how this new technology could benefit their current systems or even ride the blockchain ‘buzzword’ for a while. Long Island Iced Tea Inc, an iced tea company and tea distributor, jumped on board and changed their name[1] to Long Blockchain Inc to gain some stock momentum as NASDAQ was threatening to de-list them.
Another area that began looking into the distributed ledger is the automobile industry.
Automobile Blockchain
Many major car companies around the world have started some sort of venture into blockchain technology. Let’s take a look at three top automobile manufacturers and what they’re up to in the blockchain space.
Toyota
In May 2017, the Toyota Research Institute announced[2] that it would be exploring blockchain technology to develop a new mobility ecosystem. The company is working with MIT Media Lab to explore how blockchain could securely share autonomous car data and information for insurance rates.
Ford
According to a patent[3] awarded earlier this year, Ford is looking into cryptocurrency to let its passengers of self-driving cars pay to pass each other. Ford is also a founding member of Mobility Open Blockchain Initiative (MOBI).
The patent[4], named ‘Vehicle-to-vehicle cooperation to marshal traffic,’ explains:
“The CMMP system operates with individual token-based transactions, where the merchant vehicles and the consumers’ vehicles agree to trade units of cryptocurrency (sometimes referred to as ‘CMMP tokens’). The CMMP tokens are used to validate and authorize a transaction in which, at consumer vehicles’ request, the merchant vehicles either occupy slower lanes
