Beginning with the bike that was raced by this year’s Tour de France champion, Tadej Pogačar, Colnago will integrate blockchain technology into its products going forward, leading the way as the first manufacturer in the bike industry to link its physical products to a virtual, distributed ledger to ensure the validity and proof of ownership of new Colnago frames.
“Whether it was disc brakes, the use of carbon fiber, or aerodynamic designs, Colnago has always been a company that brings innovations to market before other cycling brands,” said Nicola Rosin, Colnago CEO.
Manolo Bertocchi, Colnago Head of Marketing, added, “we have been looking at the security provided by blockchain technology to give our customers the confidence to know that the frame they are buying is authentic and to demonstrate the chain of ownership forever. We will also announce other functions based on blockchain with the new year.”
Colnago’s partner for this innovative program is Italian tech company MyLime who has developed a strong base of partners in the luxury market. MyLime will connect Colnago frames to the Automotive Blockchain where records of any frame’s manufacture, transport and sale will be recorded. Because the data stored on the blockchain is distributed, it cannot be faked or changed once registered, providing ultimate proof of ownership.
The Colnago V3Rs that will be raced by Pogačar at the UCI Road World Championship on September 26 will feature a special ‘Ice & Fire’ livery that the 23-year-old Slovenian designed, and will be auctioned off at the moment of the launch of the new Colnago website and app in 2022.
Tadej Pogačar said, “it’s the first time I have designed a bike and working with Colnago engineers and designers has been very exciting. The idea is that my head is cold like ice while racing, but my legs are always on fire and Colnago has delivered Frozen colors to represent this dichotomy.”
Colnago will move to add blockchain transactions to team and production bikes in 2022 and information around manufacture, sales and ownership will be stored on MyLime’s blockchain-based platform where it can be accessed by anyone. Additionally, Colnago will make a Non-Fungible Token (NFT) version of each bike available to the owner.
Colnago’s technical partner MyLime has developed and created an RFID tag that is inextricably linked to the bike frame and grants access to the information in the bike’s digital passport through a smartphone app that is linked to the blockchain.
When the frame is sold to a new owner, the transfer of ownership can be managed with MyLime’s certified process. The transparency offered by MyLime’s blockchain solution will lend absolute traceability and will ensure the bicycle’s value over time.
Furthermore, Colnago and MyLime have evaluated the various blockchain technologies that respect sustainability paradigms and have chosen one, among those that are available and reliable, that best limits the use of intensive computing resources for block validation.
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