Now that vaccine technology is the go there’s a bit of the former next big thing about the blockchain

But beyond Bitcoin beatups there’s real-world  work on what distributed ledgers can do.  The feds have $3m for each of two pilots to reduce “the regulatory compliance burden”. Businesses and “publicly funded research organisations” are eligible.

One is to create “supply chain integrity” for a critical minerals ethical certification scheme. The other is to, “to address the challenges of complying with excise tax regulations” for spirits producers. Now there’s a way for the Tasmanian Libs to appeal to the whisky distiller vote in the state election campaign.