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How Blockchain Can Benefit the Wine Industry
Most wine consumers automatically associate the term “blockchain” with Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, all based on blockchain technology. However, in the world of wine, the blockchain plays a considerably more crucial role: it helps to confirm the origin and provenance of great wine.
Consider the blockchain as an immutable ledger that can never be altered by a counterfeiter, hacker, or forger. As a result, after a bottle of wine has been verified as legitimate and provenance verified, these details can then be put on the blockchain. When a buyer or seller wants to verify the authenticity of a bottle of wine, they have to look up the information on the blockchain. Theoretically, any wine industry participants — such as auction houses, private collectors, retailers, or hospitality venues — who must be sure of the quality and authenticity of the bottle of wine they are selling would be very interested in blockchain technology.
Following several recent counterfeiting incidents, the necessity for blockchain technology in the wine sector has been an essential topic of discussion among buyers and sellers of fine wine. It is estimated that up to 20% of all fine wine on the secondary market is not legitimate.
