Bitcoin Daily: Memo Recommends US Senate Vote Via Blockchain; Mastercard, Alipay Join Australian Supply Consortium Tracked With Blockchain

U.S. Senate staffers put forward the idea of blockchain voting in a “continuity of Senate” memo at the end of April, CoinDesk reported.

The staffers wrote, per the report, that “the Senate may consider blockchain” in the event that all of its members have to put in their votes remotely.

The memo, which is just under 30 pages long, comes just days prior to the legislative body’s scheduled return from coronavirus recess. It is said to not be a proposal to modify the rules of the Senate or be from the committee that looks over them.

Researchers have criticized blockchain and voting platforms based on the internet as not secure and as having a tendency for technical flaws. But the staffers wrote, per the outlet, “Although some have raised concerns about the use of online systems for voting, those concerns are more specific to secret ballot elections than they are to public Senate votes.”

In other news, Mastercard, Alipay, and VeChain are some of the large players supporting the APAC Provenance Council, Cointelegraph reported.

The group will offer methods for monitoring and authenticating wine, food and produce through the blockchain and has its sights on the exports to China from Australia in particular.

The Australian government’s National Blockchain Roadmap noted supply chain tracking as an important use case. The country’s portion in the worth of exports to China arrived at 38 percent last year, which is said to be higher than any other nation. Trade financing will come by Alipay Australia for items going to China and Mastercard beyond China.

VeChain CEO Sunny Lu said, per the report, “The implementation of blockchain technology certainly contributes to buffering the immediate economic impacts of the pandemic for enterprises and will help improve productivity by unleashing more resources and growth opportunities.”

The group encompasses standard agencies and food industry organizations, among others, besides finance and blockchain firms.