Australia’s Security Matters Files Blockchain-Based Cannabis Supply Chain Patent in the US

• Security Matters has created a proprietary technology that identifies cannabis with a barcode.
• The new technology allows consumers and companies alike to trace flowers back to the seed.

Blockchain technology is easily one of the fastest growing innovations in the tech world today, providing a transparent ledger that is easy to understand and organize information. While this technology has already been added into multiple industries, Australian Securities Exchange-listed firm Security Matters filed a patent application to allow them to manage the supply chain for cannabis. With this new system, cannabis products and plants could be tracked, marked, and managed on the supply chain.

Security Matters, which has a headquarters in Israel and is publicly traded in Australia, has suggested that the patent includes use of their own chemical solution for the purpose of “marking” cannabis plants. This market basically tags cannabis during any stage of cultivation, even before the seed is planted.

Presently, the firm is working to commercialize this chemical-based barcode in an effort to mark nearly every material, including solid, liquid, or gas. Security Matters has stated:

“The marking solution can be applied to the seed or plant via a coating, irrigation, and fertilization method and is used for product authentication, supervision and supply chain management of the plant and plant by-products.”

The barcode, when scanned, will show corresponding data that is stored on the blockchain about the product, which the firm states will offer an end-to-end security and transparency for these products, which is helpful to the agricultural cannabis sectors.

Haggai Alon, the CEO and founder of Security Matters, states that the solution is helpful to two main issues that consumers run up against with the cannabis industry – tracing the origin of cannabis and monitoring its content. Alon added:

“SMX’s technology has the ability to do this and can ensure both needs are met without the requirement for complex genetic modification or negative impact to the cannabis seed, plants, or plant products.”

Presently, only medical use of marijuana has been made legal in Australia. Recreational use is presently not allowed. This is a concern that is coming up around the world, as regulatory and legal uncertainty plagues many countries. The blockchain and cannabis industries are both facing these issues, as well as a struggle to actually gain banking support, as cannabis is federally illegal, and banks still see blockchain and cryptocurrency as a risk.

There has been some progress worth discussing though. After all, in the state of Arizona, a blockchain-based solution for the cannabis industry was added to the fintech options available.