French luxury goods giant LVMH to launch blockchain provenance platform in May: Report

French multinational luxury goods conglomerate LVMH is going to launch a blockchain for the provenance of high-priced goods, CoinDesk reported.

LVMH, which counts Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior, Sephora, and others among its subsidiaries, is planning to launch AURA, a cryptographic provenance platform, in May.

AURA has been built using Quorum, a permissioned version of the ethereum blockchain developed by JPMorgan. It will be initially launched with Louis Vuitton and Parfums Christian Dior and then extended to its more than 60 luxury brands.

Sources familiar with the matter told CoinDesk that the company formed a full-time blockchain team that has been working with ConsenSys and Microsoft Azure. A source was quoted saying:

“To begin with AURA will provide proof of authenticity of luxury items and trace their origins from raw materials to point of sale and beyond to used-goods markets. The next phase of the platform will explore protection of creative intellectual property, exclusive offers and events for each brands’ customers, as well as anti-ad fraud.”

The sources went on to suggest that LVMH intends to offer AURA to even its competitors. Instead of creating an app for the service, AURA will run behind the brands that choose to use it.

“So if you are a customer of a luxury brand, you are not going to see AURA; you are going to see the Louis Vuitton app or the app of another luxury brand,” a source explained.

The company also reportedly plans to donate all intellectual property (IP) to a separate entity, which will be owned by the participating brands.