Bitcoin Daily: Ant Financial, Bayer Team On Agriculture Blockchain; StrongSalt Gets $3M For Encryption

Alipay’s Ant Financial announced that it has partnered with Bayer Crop Science to develop blockchain solutions in the food and crops industry. The companies will work together to bring the technology’s transparency and traceability to food safety and agricultural supply chains.

In addition, Ant Financial has extended its partnership with Hyperledger, working together on the interoperability, standards, and blockchain applications. German firm Bayer will now take on the technology.

“We are excited to join hands with Bayer Crop Science to explore the application of blockchain technology in agriculture,” Geoff Jiang, the VP and GM of the firm’s Intelligent Technology Group, said, according to Ledger Insights. “Agriculture is the foundation of human civilization. Together with Bayer, our exploration of blockchain in agriculture will improve the transparency and responsiveness of its supply chain, and bring more value to consumers, farmers and the society.”

“By working side by side, we strive to assist the agriculture industry on its transformation in the new era, enhance the application of advanced agricultural technologies, increase agriculture production efficiency, improve farmer’s income, and protect food safety,” added Weidong Huang, the head of Bayer Crop Science’s Greater China division.

And data privacy startup StrongSalt raised $3 million from Valley Capital Partners to bring standardized encryption techniques to the blockchain.

StrongSalt is planning to release its API product later this year.

“StrongSalt is chain-agnostic, as we can work with almost any blockchain,” StrongSalt CEO Ed Yu told CoinDesk. “We use blockchain mainly for three reasons: availability of data, reliability of data and shareability of data.”

As part of the deal, Valley Capital’s Steve O’Hara will be joining the StrongSalt board.

“As the regulatory environment ramps up enforcement and forces business to conform to tightening laws, businesses won’t have an easy out if the technology isn’t viable or cost-effective,” O’Hara said in a statement.