Blockchain Deals Blow To Luxury Goods Counterfeiting Market

By Sumedha Bose

The luxury goods counterfeiting market has bitten off a solid chunk of the revenue that the luxury goods industry makes. We have written about this at length in our piece: How Can Blockchain Help Prevent Counterfeiting?

The fakes of popular luxury brand products have saturated both the online and offline market, affecting sales majorly. For long, Blockchain has been touted as an effective solution to this problem of counterfeiting, It looks like the big brands have finally sat up and heard us out.

A new blockchain powered platform is thus in the making, courtesy of ConsenSys, which has teamed up with LVMH and Microsoft for this endeavour. This new blockchain-powered platform would enable consumers to verify the authenticity of luxury goods.

A technology like this is desideratum for the growth and survival of the luxury goods industry, which has been facing major losses due to the counterfeit market. For now, this technology will be used by LVMH brands including Louis Vuitton and Christian Dior. More high-end names are expected to come onboard soon.

A news release was published containing the deatils of this new initiative and the consortium is calling themselves Aura. The technology is being designed for the whole industry, and the group says that it is going to:

“serve the entire luxury industry with powerful product tracking and tracing services.”

Every product has some data attached to it that makes it unique. This new platform would see this unique information and store it on a shared ledger. Using the brand’s official app, customers can then obtain a certificate offering details about its origin.

The news release added:

“AURA makes it possible for consumers to access the product history and proof of authenticity of luxury goods — from raw materials to the point of sale, all the way to second-hand markets.”

The technology is based on the Ethereum blockchain and uses Microsoft Azure for operation. The shared ledger will also carry information on ethical and environmental information, instructions for product care and warranty services. Ken Timsit, managing director of ConsenSys Solutions, said:

“AURA is a ground-breaking innovation for the luxury industry. ConsenSys is proud to contribute and to work with LVMH on an initiative that will serve the entire luxury industry, protecting the interests, integrity, and privacy of each brand.”

Sumedha Bose

Sumedha uses words as her crutch to get by in life. She takes a keen interest in debating, dancing and destroying the patriarchy in her free time.

Related Posts