Blockchain for the cannabis industry: Greg Ward talks about CannaTrack and the power of BSV

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Gregory Ward from SmartLedger has recently appeared on quite a few podcasts to talk about the utility of blockchain technology and the various tools SmartLedger is building to utilize Bitcoin SV (BSV). Earlier this month, he spoke to the Design This podcast about how this revolutionary technology can transform that industry.

Introducing CannaTrack

CannaTrack is a blockchain-powered tool to enhance data integrity and create greater transparency in the cannabis industry.

Ward explains that it interacts with the blockchain in several different ways. Each stakeholder in the supply chain of the cannabis industry gets a private-public key pair. For example, a farmer can submit a sample of a crop he has grown by registering on the CannaTrack platform and use his private-public key pair to make sure a lab analysis of his produce is associated with his farm on the blockchain, producing a certificate of analysis (COA). Likewise, the lab would use its key pair to publish data onto the blockchain. This leaves an immutable, auditable trail associated with the specific lot.

The journey to creating CannaTrack

The host asks Ward to explain the journey of creating CannaTrack, noting that blockchains are all good in theory, but getting products to actually work on them can be challenging.

“Blockchain provides an immutable ledger that doesn’t rely on a trusted third party,” Ward explains. He notes that when a public blockchain is scalable, anyone can participate and upload data to it. Once the data is written to the blockchain, it’s immutably there and distributed to various nodes worldwide. This technology allows Ward and his team to supercharge every industry with true data integrity and accountability. This means more honesty, transparency, and a better customer experience.

Some of the problems in the cannabis industry that CannaTrack can help address are the manipulation of lab data to make a sample seem more potent than it is or the reusing of lab results from one batch repeatedly. Ward and his team saw that a universal source of truth could solve some of these issues.

Staying on the topic of technology and its transformative power, Ward emphasizes that this is not ‘cryptocurrency,’ which is little more than an unregulated global casino. It’s the blockchain technology that really matters and can make industries such as the cannabis sector better, more efficient, and more trusted. Other benefits include privacy and a safer industry for everyone.

Where does Ward see the best applications for CannaTrack?

Ward mentions that SmartLedger already has a lot of strategic partnerships. One of those is with the largest hemp grower in the state of Virginia, and there are other partnerships, such as the one with Sativa Testing Laboratories LLC.

Ward highlights the extremely high standards Sativa Testing Laboratories holds itself to, and he wants that to become the baseline for the industry. Other potential partners have reached out from farms and various labs in other states.

What are the biggest challenges? Ward says that people are still awakening to the power of blockchain. Many still associate the term with speculative markets for coins, NFTs, and other high-risk gambling. Ward hopes to see the focus shift to the blockchain rather than the speculative price of tokens. He urges people to focus on the potential use cases and to use scalable blockchains like BSV.

In the cannabis industry specifically, Ward says there’s a need for honest producers to be recognized and rewarded. They can get that recognition by using products like CannaTrack to show the world their results.

Why is proof-of-work a superior consensus mechanism?

Ward replies that this discussion only exists because BTC is using an inefficient manner of producing blocks. Due to development decisions, the original protocol Satoshi designed was stifled by BTC Core developers. A tremendous amount of energy is spent to create seven transactions per second on BTC. However, in the original Satoshi design, there’s not supposed to be a block size limit, so proof-of-work (PoW) can be extremely efficient.

Those working in the industry know PoW is the most secure consensus mechanism. However, because they don’t know about Satoshi’s original design, and perhaps due to self-interest, they consider mechanisms like proof-of-stake (PoS) to be the future. For those who don’t know, with PoS, whoever has the most tokens dominates the network.

What about hackers stealing funds? Ward notes that they mostly get into exchanges due to poor code. The original Bitcoin blockchain was “literally unhackable,” he says, saying that it’s the most secure way of maintaining data we’ve ever had.

What blockchain applications are contributing to the space?

Ward points out that the immutable source of truth can apply in so many unique and interesting ways. He talks about his own background in music before explaining that music and other works of art could be published on the blockchain. Ward recently demonstrated one such tool on the CoinGeek weekly live stream.

Unlike other blockchains, on BSV, the art can be uploaded to the blockchain directly. This can allow artists to prove it is theirs, solving copyright disputes. Likewise, the art can be monetized, payments can be split fairly between creators, and so on.

Speaking of the potential collaboration between independent artists and the cannabis industry, the host notes that cannabis and music have been together since the beginning. “They’re meant for each other. It just makes sense,” he says.

Harnessing the power of the BSV blockchain, artists could be rewarded for their contribution to music and other art forms used by the industry, such as songs at conferences and events. Real-time disbursement of funds and rights management is a huge deal that will revolutionize the art of all kinds.

Where should people go for more information on this?

Ward urges people to go to Smartledger.solutions to learn more about the company and CannaTrack. He encourages anyone in the industry to reach out to the SmartLedger team to see what’s possible.

Watch: CoinGeek Weekly Livestream with Kurt Wuckert Jr. FT. SmartLedger