Automotive giant Toyota is delving deeper into blockchain use cases through its involvement with a Web3 hackathon for decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) developers. On Feb. 1, multi-chain smart contract and decentralized application (dApp) network Astar announced its inaugural Web3 hackathon. The news of note, however, was that it's being supported by the Toyota Motor Corporation. Founder of the Astar Network, Sota Watanabe, commented on the significance of Toyota’s involvement in the initiative: “During the event, we aim to develop the first PoC (Proof of Concept) DAO tool for Toyota’s employees. If a good tool is produced, Toyota employees will interact …

Toyota Systems, the IT arm of Toyota Motor Corporation, is collaborating with Japanese cryptocurrency exchange DeCurret to develop a branded Toyota digital currency, according to an official announcement on Oct. 26. The large-scale pilot will involve 2,500 employees at Toyota Systems. The platform will feature digital currency payments for benefits. According to the announcement, participating employees will be able to exchange the digital currency for benefits points or gifts from a catalog. Toyota Systems noted that the digital currency cannot be exchanged for Japanese yen. The new pilot uses DeCurret’s proprietary blockchain-based platform for issuing and managing digital currencies. The …

Toyota Motor Corporation, along with Toyota Financial Services Corporation, unveiled its Toyota Blockchain Lab, March 16, comprising six Toyota Group companies. The lab is exploring what the future of the automotive industry may look like. Established in April 2019, the Blockchain Lab has been quietly examining the potential of blockchain technologies for the past 11 months, and now seeks to accelerate initiatives towards business implementation and expand strategic partnerships outside the group. Toyota aims to become a “mobility company” The stated aim of Toyota’s almost year-long foray into blockchain technology is to shift the group’s focus towards becoming a more …

The University of Tokyo, Japanese car manufacturer Toyota Motor Corporation and Japanese online renewable energy retailer Trende Inc. plan to jointly conduct tests for a blockchain-powered electricity system. The news was revealed in an official Toyota press release on May 23. The pilot, scheduled for June 17, will reportedly test a peer-to-peer electricity system that allows homes, enterprises and electronic vehicles that are connected to the power grid to trade electricity using blockchain. The initiative will reportedly be focused on Toyota's Higashifuji Technical Center and the surrounding area. As the press release outlines, with distributed power supplies — including solar …

Japanese car manufacturer Toyota has partnered with blockchain advertising analytics firm Lucidity to cut down on fraud when buying digital ads, according to a press release published Oct. 16. Formerly known as KR8OS, Lucidity was founded in 2017 in Los Angeles and offers an Ethereum blockchain solution to track supply chain payments, so advertisers can monitor how their funds are allocated. Through the new partnership with Lucidity, Toyota and global ads agency Saatchi & Saatchi are reportedly looking to attain transparency in Toyota’s digital ad campaign buys and eliminate wasted spending. The size of the automotive digital advertising market was …