California’s Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) has digitized 42 million car titles using blockchain technology,
The agency asserts that the new system will help detect fraud and smooth out the title transfer process.
The project, in collaboration with tech company Oxhead Alpha on Avalanche blockchain, will allow California’s more than 39 million residents to claim their vehicle titles through a mobile app, the first such move in the United States.Digitizing car titles will reduce the need for in-person DMV visits and the blockchain technology will also function as a deterrent against lien fraud.Blockchain technology can help detect lien fraud by creating a transparent and unalterable record of property ownership, making it difficult for fraudulent activity to go unnoticed.”So the first step was creating the 42 million titles associated as a token on the Avalanche blockchain, that’s what the State of California DMV has already done and now what they’re doing is they’re creating a wallet where you download on your phone,” said John Wu, president of Ava Labs.California residents will be able to access their digital car titles starting early next year as the DMV builds out the app and infrastructure for consumer access.
Blockchain is a system in which a record of transactions (most notably those made in a cryptocurrency) is maintained across computers linked in a peer-to-peer network. It’s supposed to make the title transfer a breeze and help Californians avoid those tedious trips to the DMV.
Users will soon be able to claim their digital titles via the DMV’s application, track and manage them without getting to the office, according to an Avalanche blog post. The time to transfer vehicle titles drops to a few minutes using blockchain rails in the backend from two weeks via the traditional process, a DMV spokesperson said in an email.Efforts to deploy blockchain tech have mostly focused on financial services with big banks and asset managers putting traditional assets such as bonds, credit and funds on distributed ledgers pursuing speedier transactions, greater transparency and increased efficiency. This is also known as tokenization of real-world assets (RWA).DMV’s implementation serves as an example that blockchain rails could also bring similar benefits for bureaucratic processes and managing large databases in the public service sector.
However, given the recent spate of Microsoft outages and other hacking reports, I am a bit nervous about digitizing without serious hard copy backups. Given how expensive cars have become and how critical having one is to people’s lives and livelihoods, extreme caution should be used before proceeding.
The unintended consequences of this move could be devastating if there are significant issues with the system.
It is also disturbing to note this move is also part of Governor Gavin Newsom’s plans to even have more control over our lives….under the banner of protections.
The move comes as part of California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s plans to capitalize on and encourage the development of cryptocurrency and web3 companies, while creating a layout for regulatory and consumer protections. Newsom in May 2022 issued an executive order directing his agencies to explore ways to use blockchain technology to improve public services and address gaps in programs.Dee Dee Myers, senior advisor to Newsom and director of the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development, told CNBC in 2022 that the “opportunities are almost endless.” Myers explained that California could use the technology to remove middlemen from real estate deals or car sales, protect peoples’ identities, and provide benefits through government services.
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