Today, blockchain Provenance Company Everledger originated anti-tamper bottle closures powered by blockchain technology. Simply seven months ago, the startup secured $20m in a Series A funding round from Fidelity, Tencent, and others. The smart closures solution is targeted at the wine and spirits industry to deter duplication.

It is expected that counterfeit alcohol costs the global industry approximately $3 billion every year. On the other hand, it also influences the brand value and trust of customers. One estimation is that for every real container of French wine in there is a fraudulent bottle.

Leveraging blockchain, Everledger strives to defend wine and alcohol brands from fraudsters and assure quality control by transparency.

The solution connects blockchain and NFC-powered bottle conclusions. These smart caps and corks provide a digital identity to a jar of wine. Machine-readable NFC tags can be employed to labels, heat-shrink capsules, as well as various other options. It suggests that bottling companies can utilize NFC labels on enduring bottles and without interrupting normal operations.

“Everledger combines over 20 years of experience in RFID/NFC and asset management with the immutability and secure verification of blockchain,” stated Scott Austin, Senior EVP at Everledger in a statement. “Our wine solution is a prime example of how to utilize highly secure NFC in unison with blockchain. It’s providing a robust and scalable solution for brand owners.”

The NFC tags are connected to the blockchain network, which registers the features of a bottle like its origin, characteristics of a wine, variety designation, certifications, and carbon footprint. The solution is particularly advantageous to auction wines that need provenance details to be proven.

Everledger utilizes the ‘rolling code’ technology in NFC tags, which serves as a one-time password. When an NFC tag is scanned, the mobile application guides the user to the wine’s landing page by a onetime URL. Earlier, Vigneti Massa embraced blockchain-based closures from Guala for its 2018 vintage wines.

Meantime, Everledger is operating on various blockchain provenance solutions. It has diamond traceability projects with  Fred Meyer Jewelers in the U.S., ALROSA, and Indian diamond manufacturer Sheetal Group. The company is also adopting blockchain with DNA tagging for luxury products.