In addition to surging in price on crypto exchanges last month, Ethereum mainnet recently reclaimed dominance over its Layer-2 chains in daily transaction volume, according to data from L2Beat.

Bloomberg crypto analyst Jamie Coutts recently said,

“Public blockchains hold immense potential for empowering global citizens.”

The most popular apps on Ethereum are for decentralized finance and trading cryptocurrencies. But that’s not all Ethereum’s hash-powered smart contract platform can do.

Ethereum Powered Supply Chain Management

Ethereum expert Paul Brody, the author of “Ethereum for Business,” says blockchain can help optimize and de-risk supply chains. The peer-to-peer network’s programmable, hashed tokens can provide an efficient solution for supply chain management.

Here’s how he says Ethereum can play a role:

“For most consumer products the value proposition around traceability is in the prevention of fraud and the verification of sources. For many other markets traceability provides additional authenticity and an ability for consumers to trace the history of a product.”

For example, the peer-to-peer blockchain can efficiently and reliably keep track of order batches for the pharmaceutical industry:

“The case for traceability gets firmer as you delve into products like pharmaceuticals, for which counterfeiting are potentially life-and-death issues. In these cases, the ability to trace bad batches of ingredients down through the supply chain quickly is invaluable.”

Using blockchain, industrial supply chains can improve data quality and efficiency. Ethereum can even support a zero-carbon future with tokenized carbon-reduction caps and trade programs.

Making a Zero Carbon Future a Reality

Switching over from the energy-intensive proof-of-work consensus model to proof-of-stake isn’t the only way Ethereum can lower the global carbon footprint. For example, Brody says:

“Regulators are working globally to start tracking and managing carbon footprints. The starting points are often cap-and-trade rules that require enterprises to manage their total carbon output with the aim that they adopt more efficient processes.”

Here’s how he says Ethereum can help:

“Every token for either emissions or offsets can be traced back to an original emitter. This ensures definitions are standardised and that only firms with inspected and verified processes can issue either emissions or offset tokens.”

Ethereum isn’t the only blockchain smart contract platform with a future in the supply chain.

In 2021, a Georgian artisan winemaker implemented a supply chain traceability and anti-counterfeiting solution using Cardano. Meanwhile, Ethereum competitor Solana’s low fees and high throughput would make it another ideal solution for supply chain management.