Container shipping could see the first widespread use of a cryptocurrency this week.
Hong Kong-based blockchain developer ETH Smart Contract Tech will tomorrow start handing out its bespoke TEU tokens to shippers, forwarders and 3PLs under its 300cubits project.
The company will release some 20m TEU tokens, “custom-designed as digital shipping booking deposits, using smart contract blockchain technology, to solve the no-show and rolling problems plaguing the container shipping industry”, to container line customers for free – but on a first-come-first basis.
Interested shippers and forwarders need to demonstrate their eligibility for 300cubits, and are currently restricted to those that bought slots in 2016.
After passing the eligibility test, container line customers will allocated TEU tokens based on how much they have spent with the lines, which cumulatively saw sales of $150bn in 2016.
“For example, if the eligible participant has paid $50m as freight payment directly to container lines during 2016, the eligible participant would be entitled to at least 0.03% [$50m as a % of $150bn, the revenue of the entire container shipping industry] of the TEU tokens to be distributed to the customers of container liners – about 6,667,”according to its prospectus.
300cubits said the total supply of TEU tokens will be fixed at 100m....MORE
