- IOTA and ObjectID.io have launched a new educational course focused on using decentralized identity to combat counterfeiting in supply chains.
- The partnership aims to establish a new layer of trust for real-world assets by giving physical products a unique and verifiable digital identity on the IOTA distributed ledger.
The IOTA Foundation, in partnership with the applied technology firm ObjectID.io, has initiated a new program to address the persistent issue of counterfeiting within global supply chains. The collaboration introduces an educational course through the IOTA Academy, designed to explain how decentralized identity systems can create a more secure and transparent framework for tracking and verifying real-world assets. This move addresses a problem that accounts for an estimated $450 billion in economic losses annually.
Counterfeiting is a $450 billion/year problem eroding trust in global supply chains
The solution isn't better databases
It's a new layer of trust built on decentralized identity
To understand this revolution, we've launched a new, essential course in our Academy, focused on… pic.twitter.com/0gBqg67tkg
— TokenLabs.network (@TokenLabsX) July 24, 2025
The core of the issue is the vulnerability of traditional tracking systems, which often rely on centralized databases susceptible to manipulation and fraud. The new approach detailed in the course moves away from this model. Instead, it proposes a system where each product is assigned a unique, tamper-proof digital identity that is recorded on a distributed ledger. This method provides an immutable record of a product’s entire lifecycle.
ObjectID.io Files Patent for a Decentralized Product Identity System
In a related development, ObjectID.io has filed a patent for its system that gives physical products a unique digital identity on the IOTA network. This system is designed so that the identity is inherent to the data itself, detailing a product’s origin, manufacturing process, and chain of custody.
By logging this information on the IOTA ledger, it becomes openly verifiable, making fraudulent replication of products or labels detectable. The system’s architecture avoids storing sensitive data in conventional databases, which enhances security against cyberattacks and simplifies compliance with data protection regulations.
IOTA’s Distributed Ledger Technology Underpins the New Trust Layer
The IOTA network’s underlying technology, a directed acyclic graph known as the Tangle, facilitates the new identity system. It is designed to handle a high volume of transactions in parallel, allowing for scalability as more products and users are added to the network.
This infrastructure is central to creating what the partners refer to as a new layer of trust. The system uses IOTA Identity, a framework compliant with W3C standards, to cryptographically link each physical product to its verified creator, making brand impersonation and forgery more difficult.
