Dreyfus, Bohi break the mould in first agriculture blockchain trade

Louis Dreyfus and Shangdong Bohi have completed what is being hailed as the first trade in the agriculture market to make use of blockchain technology, according to a press release published Monday.

The trade was for 60,000 mt of US soybeans. 

Banks ABN Amro, ING, and Societe Generale were part of the deal using the Easy Trading Connect (ETC) system, which “reduced fivefold” the amount of time spent on back office functions.

The trade included the digitisation of documents and automatic data matching, which a Louis Dreyfus statement said “demonstrated significant efficiency improvements for all participants in the chain.”

The soybean deal is the latest in a string of high-profile trades across the commodity space, as the financial industry looks to capitalise on increased interest in blockchain technology.

Blockchain technology, a digitised and decentralised replacement for traditional transaction tracking and settlement, has been touted as having the potential to reduce costs in almost every industry.

It has garnered increased interest due to its role in the trade of cryptocurrencies, which have seen massive speculative buying in the past year.