Cardano and New Balance Will Team up to Stop Counterfeit Kicks

IOHK CEO Charles Hoskinson announced a partnership with sneaker manufacturer New Balance at the Cardano Summit in Bulgaria on Saturday. The stated goal? To use IOHK’s Cardano blockchain to ensure that New Balance shoes are authentic.

In the video below, Hoskinson offers a tidbit about the planned partnership.

“For a little while we’ve been working with a shoe company. Do you guys know New Balance? We’re working on an authentication product with the Cardano blockchain.”

New Balance will be announcing more news on Oct. 14, Hoskinson said. He pointed to the New Balance partnership as an interesting example of possible mass adoption. He also expects to see more additions to the platform over the next year.

“In terms of new features and functionality I think there are two that we really have to make sure get into the Cardano 2020 roadmap,” he said.

Hoskinson also noted Cardano may soon have Ethereum interoperability.

“IOHK is collaborating with New Balance on an authentication pilot project. This is a consumer-level verification solution which will allow purchasers to confirm the authenticity of footwear on the distributed ledger,” IOHK’s Tim Harrison explained in a statement.

New Balance image via Linda Xu / Unsplash