What is Vechain? Blockchain for Enterprise
What is Vechain? VeChain (or VechainThor) is a next generation smart contract blockchain platform focused on enterprise adoption, IoT and mass adoption via Toolchain. The blockchain supports the creation of smart-contracts – self executing contacts that have a guaranteed outcome without third party trust. This allows for the creation of decentralized applications (“Dapps”) that can solve enterprise problems such as:
Using blockchain technology, VeChain makes it simple and secure for product manufacturers to collect, manage and share important product data with vendors and consumers throughout the lifecycle of a product.
Dual Currency Platform: VechainThor platform has two currencies VET and VeThor Token (VTHO).
To achieve its ambitious vision, VeChain has developed a powerful blockchain-enabled enterprise software platform. The Platform enables manufacturers to assign products with unique identities, which then allow manufacturers, supply chain partners, and even consumers to interact with the product through the platform. It uses blockchain technology to ensure the security of the data collected, allocating private keys to all participants within the supply chain.
A product is assigned a unique ID, which is stored simultaneously in the blockchain, and placed on the product with an NFC chip, RFID tag or QR code. At any point during the product’s life, the chip, tag or code can be interacted with, whether it’s a distribution or retail partner ascertaining batch membership, or a consumer learning more about a product’s provenance. The company envisages a broad range of applications, including brand protection, anti-counterfeit, and food safety.
VeChain has existed since 2015 and migrated their previous private and consortium blockchain to their public VeChainThor blockchain in 2018. This move opens up the advanced features found on the blockchain to any developer or 3rd party to develop and write applications on the the platform. There have been several companies that chose to build their business on top of VeChainThor, including Plairand 8Hours Foundation, as well as several independent community developer
The heart of Vechain is 101 Authority nodes that process transactions and govern the network via a voting mechanism. Authority nodes are owned by large enterprises and trusted individuals to ensure decentralized trust.
Vechain can be stored safely on the VechainThor Wallet which is available on smartphones (iOS and Android). The mobile wallet securely encrypts provide keys to provide maximum security for Vechain holders.
The project started in 2015 with the establishment of their company in Shanghai. Founded by CEO Sunny Lu(ex-CIO of Louis Vuitton China), the company has been developing enterprise focused solutions based on its private blockchain. As the trend towards better decentralization occurred in the blockchain industry, VeChain migrated to a consortium blockchain before finally establishing the VeChain Foundation and started their final migration to a PoA-based public blockchain platform.
The Foundation’s vision is to create greater market transparency and provide consumers with access to more detailed information about the products they buy, sell and interact with. By having a full 360-degree view of the supply chain, with all components securely recorded and stored in a tamper-proof distributed ledger, retailers and manufacturers can be certain of the quality and authenticity of their products, guaranteeing consumers that what they are buying is really what they think it is.
Now, VeChain boasts partnerships and live use cases with many notable partners, including DNV GL, PwC, Deloitte, Walmart China, BMW, BYD Auto, H&M, LVMH, ENN, AWS, PICC, ASI Group, etc.
