Cardano Plans to Partner with New Balance to Fight Counterfeiting

Cardano has launched a partnership with the New Balance shoe brand in order to combat counterfeiting. By authenticating the company's premium line of sneakers, Cardano can produce blockchain-based data — consumers and retailers can trust it. This solution will add value to the product and solve the problems of fakes.

Charles HOSKINSON, CEO of IOHK, a development company of Cardano, commented on the initiative:

“It provides a lot of things to New Balance that they’re really struggling with. Last year New Balance confiscated around 25 million pairs of fake shoes. Authentication is a very expensive proposition for a bunch of brands. What we can bring to the table is not only a very better way for them to accommodate this but also potentially create a marketplace.”

By analogy with VeChain, which has signed several corporate partnerships to authenticate goods by tracking data throughout the supply chain, Cardano could challenge counterfeiting. This market, according to the International Trademark Association (INTA), reached approximately $1.13 trillion in 2018. According to the association’s forecasts, in 2022 the total estimated cost of counterfeit and pirated products, including digital piracy, will reach a huge volume of $1.90–2.81 trillion.

New Balance is expected to officially announce a partnership with Cardano later this month.