Vechain Thor: Blockchain’s Supply Chain Darling
What is Vechain Thor?
The problem with most blockchain projects is that the solution comes before the problem. Some think that everything should be put on the blockchain when this clearly is not the case. There are certain applications that would not make sense to be put on a blockchain. On the opposite side of the spectrum, there are industries that are perfect for blockchain to thrive in. These industries include finance, identity and reputation, governance, and supply chain. Vechain Thor is a project that focuses on the latter.
Vechain Thor is a blockchain project that aims to improve on the inefficiencies and opaqueness of the current supply chain process. It allows both companies and customers to track goods every step of the way, from production to transit all the way to the last mile delivery. With this, parties involved are assured where the product is made, how it was handled during shipment and where and when it lands on the consumers’ door. It uses a proprietary smart chip that works in a similar way to NFC and RFID technology. It can expand even further and implement IoT applications which give sense to a product such as determining the temperature condition of its surroundings. Once the product gets scanned, the information will then be added to the Vechain Thor public ledger which can be accessed immediately by the parties involved. This makes sure that the data is not tampered with. This not only helps authenticity but it also opens the possibility of a new level of customer engagement. Imagine sipping a glass of wine where you will see which exact region vineyard in France the grapes came from and how long the entire process took from harvesting to bottling to delivery.
Problems Vechain Thor is Solving
One of the main problems in the supply chain process is its opaqueness. In this globalized world, supply chains can reach from one end of the earth to the other end. This creates a very long supply chain where end consumers are not sure where their products are really coming from. With Vechain Thor’s technology, consumers can verify products details and the authenticity of the products. It provides visibility and also removes having to trust the entities that handle the product to properly record data. Instead, the products just have to be scanned keeping it as frictionless as possible. With this technology, consumers can prove authenticity of products even from flea markets. Once adopted, this could be a potential solution to the massive $1.8 Trillion dollar global counterfeit goods problem. While the use case is obvious for luxury goods, preventing the sale of counterfeit goods in the pharmaceutical industry can mean the difference between life and death.
Vechain Thor Team
Vechain is a singapore based company. While it was only introduced to the public via their public sale in 2017, it has already been operating and building its product since 2015. The core team is composed of industry veterans in the enterprise software and supply chain space giving them the connections needed to build partnerships with global brands. Sunny Lu, the CEO of Vechain, used to work for Louis Vuitton China as their Chief Information Officer. This gave him a first hand experience on the supply chain and counterfeit problem being experienced by a global fashion brand. Kevin Feng, their COO has more than a decade of track record working in the privacy and cybersecurity sector. And Jianliang Gu, their CTO, used to work in global electronic brands such as Alcatel and Blackberry overseeing over 100 patents in the mobile communications industry.
As Vechain is not only a software company but also a hardware company, they have partnered with Jiangsu Printed Electronics. It is a company founded by professor Zhang XiaChang who is considered to be the “Father of Global Flexible Electronics” to help with their development of the hardware.
Other Vechain Products
Toolchain (BaaS)
One of Vechain’s products is its BaaS (Blockchain as a service) platform called Toolchain. It offers different products such as data deposits, product lifecycle management, supply chain process control and process certification. This fully functional platform can be used by enterprise clients as well as startup companies. It is secure, scalable and customizable to your needs..
Vevote
It is an online voting platform powered by the Vechain Thor Blockchain. It is designed with anonymity in mind as well as accuracy. Using Vevote makes manipulation virtually impossible.
Proof of Authority Consensus Mechanism
Vechain Thor runs on a unique consensus algorithm called Proof of Authority. It is different from more traditional consensus mechanisms such as proof of work, proof of stake and BFT. In Proof of Authority, nodes are done on an application basis. It uses significantly less computational power than proof of work since it doesn’t require communication between multiple masternodes. Node owners are putting their tokens and reputation on the line. Those that want to run a node will have to hold a certain amount of VET depending on the type of node. They will also have to undergo KYC first.
Although this may not be as decentralized as other consensus mechanism, it fits the bill perfectly for the supply chain use case. With Proof of Authority, Vechain can scale faster and bring enterprise grade speed.
Vechain Thor Governance
VET Token holders have the power to vote and elect the governing body of the VeChain Foundation, known as the Board of Steering Committee. This committee is incharge of steering Vechain’s direction when it comes to technology, operations, and marketing.
VET & VTHO Dual Token System
Vechain employs a Dual token system with the VET and VTHO token. This separates the main use case of each token and reduces wild fluctuations in price due to sudden surge or demand. VET is the main token and is used for making governance decisions. It is also the token being staked by the node owners. For those that are not running a node, holding VET will generate them VTHO tokens. VTHO is the token that acts as the gas for operations to run on the network. Users of the Vechain platform pay their fees in VTHO. This means that enterprise users and individuals that want to use the Vechain network can opt to hold VET and generate their own VTHO instead of having to buy VTHO every time they need it. 70% of the VTHO tokens used during a transaction are destroyed with the remaining 30% awarded to the validator node. This keeps a balance in the supply of VTHO and also increases its scarcity the more it is being used.
Vechain Thor Notable Partnerships
When it comes to partnerships, very few come close to what Vechain Thor has achieved. Due to the background and connections of the core team, they were able to quickly nab high profile partners such as PwC, BMW and Walmart China. When it comes to supply chain, almost every consumer good company will be able to take advantage of blockchain technology using Vechain’s platform.
PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PwC)
PwC was one of their first big strategic partners. PwC is one of the big four auditing companies worldwide. They provide auditing service to 400+ out of the Fortune 500 companies. As a partner of Vechain, PwC will offer Vechain’s blockchain powered solution to its network of corporate clients giving Vechain an instant foot in the door of these global companies that want to apply blockchain solutions especially for their supply chain operations.
Cointelegraph Consulting
Another partnership is with Cointelegraph Consulting. With millions of readers monthly, Cointelegraph is one of the most visible crypto news outlets. They have recently opened a consulting arm. With the partnership with Vechain, Vechain will be the preferred vendor of choice when they do consulting for both large enterprises as well as startups.
LVMH (Moët Hennessy — Louis Vuitton)
LVMH is a global luxury conglomerate with over 60+ brands in its portfolio. Some of the most globally renowned brands in fashion are in this group such as Louis Vuitton, Dior, and Givenchy. With luxury goods, counterfeit goods are the biggest problems they face. LVMH group has been working with Vechain to address this problem. When Vechain chips are integrated into the product, users can verify the authenticity of a product with just a simple scan. So whether they are buying it Champs-Élysées or in the local flea market, they have the peace of mind knowing that they bought authentic products.
BMW Group
Vechain is part of BMW’s Startup Garage Program. Vechain and BMW are working on a proof of concept to leverage blockchain technology in helping BMW not just track their supply chain but also other applications such as securely storing vehicle data and provisioning to third parties.
It is impossible to fit all of Vechain’s partnerships in one article because of the sheet amount. A more comprehensive list has been compiled here in this link: https://vechaininsider.com/partnerships/a-complete-list-of-vechain-partnerships/
ICO details
Vechain held its token sale from August of 2017 to September of the same year. They raised a total of 20 million USD in the ICO. Afterwards, the token was released as an ERC20 token under VEN. When they launched their mainnet all VEN tokens were converted to their native token under the VET symbol. There are currently 64.4 Billion tokens circulating out of the total supply of 86.7 Billion VET tokens.
Technical Analysis
Vechain has recently broken out of its 5 month downslide and did so with strong volume. It hit the 100-110 sat area of resistance. The next area of support will be on the 83 sat level which it should ideally hold if it reaches there before its next move. The next leg up could see a move to the 150 sat area (a 66% increase from current levels).
Conclusion
Vechain Thor has always been and continues to be one of the most promising blockchain projects in the space. It is providing a solution to a problem that every consumer goods company is tackling. Being a Chinese company and having partnerships with the Chinese government gives it a strong edge as well since China is the manufacturing hub of the world. It has been almost 3 years since Vechain debuted and it is now reaping the harvest of the partnerships it has sowed in the past. The team is also very committed to the project and welfare of the entire ecosystem. With the head start that it has had and its constant innovation and release of products, Vechain will for sure be one of the top blockchain projects in the future.
