'Blockchain Coffee' Sparks Debate in Crypto Community

The disruptive nature of blockchain technology has sparked innovation across a spectrum of industries, promising to decentralize cumbersome, inefficient systems.

The "Blockchain revolution," however, has also created a market environment in which solutionism runs rampant - as evidenced by a new "Blockchain" project that has captured the attention of the crypto community.

Fairchain Farming's "Blockchain Coffee," which promises coffee connoisseurs fully blockchain-traceable coffee, has created significant discord within the cryptocurrency Twittersphere.

The fair trade-focused Amsterdam-based startup aims to move "Beyond certification," using a blockchain-based approach to supply chain architecture that allows consumers to track their coffee from harvest to sale.

Cynical crypto community members are quick to point out that while the goal of tracking the provenance of coffee beans is admirable, the Fairchain farming approach suffers from a critical weakness - the provenance of beans supplied by Fairchain Farming is entirely dependent on a third party inputting data correctly.

There are a number of blockchain projects aiming to bridge the gap between the blockchain and the real world, such as ChainLink, as well as blockchain platforms such as Ambrosus, which focuses on incorporating advanced tracking devices into the supply chain.

Fairchain Farming's "Blockchain Coffee" doesn't offer any such innovative solutions and appears to simply shoehorn blockchain technology into a system that is arguably more efficiently managed with a centralized framework.

The high profitability of blockchain ventures has created a market environment in which businesses that simply present a forward-facing affiliation with blockchain technology - regardless of technical implementation - experience significant growth in value.

An example highlighted by Bloomberg in 2017 saw On-line Plc increase in value 394% after rebranding to On-line Blockchain Plc, reminiscent of the highly profitable name changes that occurred in the early 2000's dot-com bubble.

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