The Blockathon aimed to explore the potential of blockchain technology to better protect supply chains from infiltration by counterfeit goods.

Eleven teams of the world’s most talented coders worked for 48 hours to co-create the next level of anti-counterfeiting blockchain-based solutions for consumers, enforcement authorities, logistic operators and legitimate companies.

The event took place in Brussels from 22-25 June in the presence of Andrus Ansip, European Commission Vice-President for the Digital Single Market, and was organised by the EU Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) and the European Commission.

The overall winners of the Blockathon were team Cryptomice. All the finalists and winners can be seen on the EU Blockathon website. 

The winning prototypes now have the chance to be further developed and commercialised, contributing to future innovative solutions.

Blockchain technologies, which store blocks of information that are distributed across networks, are seen as a major breakthrough, as they bring about high levels of traceability and security in online economic transactions by providing trust in the eco-system. They are expected to impact digital services and transform business models in a wide range of areas, such as intellectual property, healthcare, insurance, finance, energy, logistics and government services.