From supply chain tracking across Walmart’s global operations to boosting wireless networks at local businesses, companies are adopting blockchain technology for applications that have nothing to do with bitcoin.
While cryptocurrency dominates headlines as the technology’s most popular and infamous application, Arkansas’ largest companies as well as local startups are using blockchain for practical purposes like tracking shipments, processing payments and managing data.
Blockchain acts as a digital ledger that records and validates transactions across multiple computers. Unlike traditional databases, which are controlled by a single entity, blockchain creates a permanent, transparent record that anyone can access.
“It’s like the wheel. It’s like fire. It’s one of those things where it’s probably man’s greatest invention,” said Rishi Mittal, founder and CEO of Fayetteville-based Mycelium Networks, a blockchain startup that helps boost cell service across northwest Arkansas.
Other experts like Max Avery, president of Stand with Crypto Arkansas and chief business development officer at an investment firm specializing in digital assets, echo that sentiment, comparing blockchain to the invention of the internet.
Business Applications
The technology is already present. Walmart uses blockchain for supply chain and logistics tracking, specifically for combating food waste and contamination.
“Implementing innovative blockchain solutions helps us get detailed insights into every single event and take informed actions,” a blog post from Walmart Global Tech stated. “This enhanced visibility enables us to manage suppliers better, conduct more efficient quality checks, and drastically reduce time and costs at various levels of the supply chain.”
Tyson Foods of Springdale has long partnered with software company Trustwell to use its FoodLogiQ blockchain platform for supply chain management. The company’s venture capital arm even provided investor funding for the platform.
And both J.B. Hunt of Lowell and ArcBest of Fort Smith are members of the Blockchain in Transport Alliance, a global transportation and commerce initiative composed of companies that leverage blockchain technology.
Grass Roots Farmers’ Cooperative of Clinton was the first meat producer in the U.S. to use blockchain technology to track the distribution of products from farm to plate.
And as of last year, the federal government has begun distributing macroeconomic data on public blockchains.
For financial institutions, the tech can help prevent fraud, eliminate time-consuming searches of paper and digital records, and dramatically reduce the costs of international payments.
“If that was all tracked on some kind of ledger, it would make it where you could have all that stuff done almost instantaneously and be able to proceed faster,” Avery said. “It makes a better client user experience. It makes it less likely to have errors. And if there is something that’s weird, if someone’s trying to commit fraud or do something shady, there’s an audit trail of what happened and where and why, and you can track that down.”
Avery said if done correctly, consumers shouldn’t even realize anything is done on a blockchain. They’ll just know their experience was easier and faster.
Providing a Boost
That ease of use is a priority shared by Mittal.
Mycelium, a five-employee startup, uses blockchain technology to help boost cellphone coverage, deploying small wireless nodes in restaurants, shops and venues across northwest Arkansas.
For $20 per month, businesses receive equipment that improves signal strength inside their establishments — solving the common problem of poor coverage in older buildings or crowded venues.
Last year, the company’s technology helped the Walmart Arkansas Music Pavilion in Rogers go from 120 coverage complaints per show to zero, according to Mittal.
For customers, the technology is invisible. Phones automatically connect to Mycelium’s nodes, and users notice only a connection to Wi-Fi.
“When you go to the AMP, you don’t want to hop on to Wi-Fi just to be able to use it. And the AMP, or any of those venues, don’t want you to have to do that either,” Mittal said. “They just want it to work.”
So behind the scenes, blockchain is enabling Mycelium to operate a business model that wouldn’t otherwise be possible.
The company’s Ultra product allows cellphone carriers like AT&T and T-Mobile to use Mycelium’s physical equipment to keep customers connected. On the back end, Mycelium uses blockchain to track how many times its equipment is used, charging the cell carriers for that use.
Blockchain also enables Mycelium to receive automatic micro-payments from providers — sometimes as small as one five-thousandth of a cent — without negotiating contracts or hiring lawyers.
Before, if a transaction was less than a cent, it wouldn’t really matter, Mittal said. Traditional payment systems can’t handle transactions that small. But blockchain can.
Mittal said this “permissionless” approach allows small companies to do business with giants like AT&T through neutral blockchain protocols.
The company operates multiple nodes across the region, partnering with the Walmart AMP, Walton Arts Center, JJ’s Grill, Arvest Ballpark and Rodeo of the Ozarks, among several other businesses.
Efforts in State Stall
Despite the technology gaining national attention and oversight, efforts to increase use across Arkansas have actually declined.
The University of Arkansas disbanded its Blockchain Center of Excellence three years ago. UA Little Rock’s entrepreneur in residence, Marla Johnson, told Arkansas Business most of her blockchain-focused projects ceased during the pandemic.
And the Arkansas Blockchain Council, an industry group that promoted the technology, is basically defunct, with little to no movement since 2023.
Mittal said a lot of the backtracking on blockchain was due to the infamous collapse of FTX, a global cryptocurrency exchange, that led to billions in losses for customers.
“Blockchain became such a buzzword,” Mittal said. “It happened over two or three months. Everybody just removed it from all of their stuff, but it’s extremely important technology.”
Avery said the challenge for businesses considering blockchain isn’t whether solutions exist, because they do, but rather determining which problems the technology can solve in a way that makes economic sense.
“There are solutions that are out there for pretty much every problem that exists,” Avery said.
He also said companies need to be at least looking into the technology, even if it’s not a current priority.
“They need to start getting their mind around what that might look like, and so that way, when the time inevitably comes, they’ll be able to move a little bit faster,” Avery said. “If you are a company that’s not looking into blockchain technology, and you have a close competitor that is looking to make big, sweeping, streamlined efforts, that could cause a lot of market disruption for people failing to do the technology upgrades.”
Mittal expects blockchain to make incremental improvements across industries rather than revolutionary changes overnight, with Mycelium as just one example of unseen but impactful uses for the technology.
Sign up for Daily E-news
