World’s Biggest Trade Organization ICC Launches Blockchain Initiative for Its 45M Members

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by Teuta Franjkovic · 4 min read
World’s Biggest Trade Organization ICC Launches Blockchain Initiative for Its 45M Members
Photo: Unsplash

International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) has decided to integrate blockchain technology in its system. The ICC signed the contract with Perlin Net Group in a conference held in Singapore.

ICC formed a partnership with tokenized blockchain startup Perlin, which has yet to launch its blockchain network. This world’s biggest business organization is in that way, making blockchain technology available to its 45 million members, including Amazon, Coca Cola, Fedex, McDonald’s and PayPal.

The ICC will introduce its members to the Alliance, helping attract users to the Perlin platform. Newly created alliance, called the ICC Blockchain/DLT Alliance, will let companies in the alliance explore Perlin’s blockchain platform that could be used to improve the supply chain and simplify cross-border trade finance.

Perlin looks interesting at a technical level while the ICC is the umbrella body for Chambers of Commerce in 130 countries that represent 45 million businesses globally. Both the ICC and local Chambers of Commerce play crucial roles in trade.

For example, when goods arrive for customs clearance, a Certificate of Origin is required, and local Chambers of Commerce issue these certificates. The ICC runs a major dispute arbitration service, is involved in standards setting for trade and is part of a Global Alliance for Trade Facilitation.

With the latest announcement, there’s future potential for the ICC to act as a trusted intermediary for the blockchain platform for a small fee. There’s a proof of concept in progress for a traceability app applied to textiles for fabric producer Asia Pacific Rayon (APR).

Dorjee Sun, CEO of Perlin said that the Perlin team has always recognized that meaningful blockchain and distributed ledger tech adoption can only be achieved by building tools that are practical, scalable, cost-effective and add substantial value for businesses of all sizes. She said:

“As the real-world pilots we’re already deploying show, the technology we’ve built meets each of these essential criteria head on. We will further disrupt the status quo by aggressively leveraging our established networks in India, Indonesia and other emerging economies to support greater user adoption for DX Exchange.”

ICC’s current secretary general, John Denton said:

“If goods are able to move across borders without the need to be accompanied by troops, there is a higher probability of peace and prosperity.”

With global borders hardening once again, this time behind border walls, broken union, and looming trade wars, Denton signed this agreement in order to explore how the technology, made popular by Bitcoin for its ability to move value without banks, could help the ICC continue its mission to facilitate the free flow of goods.

Denton added:

“We can trace back the ICC interventions that made a big impact on the global economy in the 20th century. We think this might be one which we can look back on in 100 years and say the ICC shifted blockchain in a way that enabled the private sector to function more effectively in a sustainable way and actually create more opportunities for people.”

Unlike some early blockchain consortia, the ICC Blockchain/DLT Alliance already had projects under way when it was announced. According to the agreement, the ICC and Perlin will share the results of their first blockchain proof of concept, a collaboration with the fabric giant Asia Pacific Rayon (APR), in May at the Copenhagen Fashion Summit.

While clearly, the ICC alliance is a huge business win, it’s worth examining other Perlin associations. Perlin has a relationship with DX.Exchange which tokenizes stocks like Apple and Tesla enabling fractional ownership. It sounds innovative, but below is some basic due diligence.

On paper, several technical aspects of Perlin look interesting. It’s not a blockchain it’s a directed acyclic graph (DAG) as is Hedera Hashgraph. It also uses the Avalanche consensus protocol. This is the same technology which respected academic Emin Gün Sirer is using to build a new coin.

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