DENVER, Dec. 29, 2017 /PRNewswire/ — MassRoots, Inc. (“MassRoots” or the “Company”) (MSRT), one of the leading technology platforms for the regulated cannabis industry, today announced it has formed MassRoots Blockchain Technologies, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of MassRoots, Inc. dedicated to developing blockchain-based solutions for the cannabis industry. More information is available at www.MassRootsBlockchain.com.
“We believe blockchain has the potential to enable the cannabis industry to operate more efficiently and with a greater degree of accountability and transparency,” stated MassRoots Chief Executive Officer Isaac Dietrich. “MassRoots looks forward to being a pioneer in exploring blockchain-based solutions for the multi-billion dollar cannabis industry.”
“The blockchain is an incorruptible digital ledger of economic transactions that can be programmed to record not just financial transactions but virtually everything of value,” according to Dan and Alex Tapscott in the Blockchain Revolution (2016). The most well-known application to blockchain technology has been cryptocurrencies, which have grown to a market valued at more than $600 billion, according to CoinMarketCap.com. The broadening of this technology spans many other applications and creates various opportunities within the regulated cannabis market.
Seed-to-Sale Tracking
Distributed ledger technology provides a greater degree of reliability and accuracy on the metadata associated with products — times, dates, locations, quantities — which have the potential to reduce friction in the cannabis market-place, save businesses valuable resources, and provide greater transparency to government regulators. According to Bloomberg, IBM is also exploring how blockchain can improve seed-to-sale traceability in the cannabis market. MassRoots Blockchain is exploring how this new technology can improve its point-of-sale system, MassRoots Retail, formerly known as Odava.
Smart Contracts
Blockchain enables the development of contracts that automatically execute when certain parameters are met — for example, a dispensary can automatically order more supply of a particular strain when its inventories reach a certain threshold. The smart contract has the potential to add substantial efficiency to the supply chain and resource planning processes within the cannabis industry. MassRoots Blockchain is exploring how to integrate this technology with its platform.
Eliminating Intermediaries
In the sharing economy as it exists today, buyers and sellers have to go through intermediaries to conduct a transaction (such as AirBnB for short-term rentals and Uber for ride-sharing). The blockchain enables peer-to-peer transactions without third parties, meaning that personal and business reputation can be verified and thus more reliable. MassRoots Blockchain is exploring how this can be applied to producers of cannabis and the dispensaries that purchase from them.
Corporate Governance
Blockchain has the potential to make the validation and results of elections fully-transparent and immediately accessible online. MassRoots Blockchain is exploring how distributed-ledger technology can be applied to proxy voting and giving MassRoots’ shareholders a greater degree of transparency and communication.
Identity Management
Social networks such as MassRoots collect a significant amount of metadata on its users. Blockchain has the potential to streamline its collection and organization, while eliminating traditional security risks. This would enable advertisers to better target consumers, reduce the risk of security breaches, and enable the development of solutions that better serve the MassRoots community.
About MassRoots
MassRoots, Inc. is one of the leading technology platforms for the regulated cannabis industry. Powered by more than one million registered users, the Company’s mobile apps empower consumers to make educated cannabis purchasing decisions through community-driven reviews. Its compliance and point-of-sale system, MassRoots Retail, enables cannabis-related businesses to streamline their retail operations and manage compliance reporting to state regulators. With a significant market share of medical cannabis patients in certain markets and more than 25,000 shareholders, the Company believes it is uniquely positioned to best serve the needs of the cannabis industry. For more information, please visit MassRoots.com/Investors and review MassRoots’ filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Forward-looking Statements
This press release contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are identified by the use of the words “could,” “believe,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “estimate,” “expect,” “may,” “continue,” “predict,” “potential,” “project” and similar expressions that are intended to identify forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this press release. You should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. Although we believe that our plans, objectives, expectations and intentions reflected in or suggested by the forward-looking statements are reasonable, we can give no assurance that these plans, objectives, expectations or intentions will be achieved. Forward-looking statements involve significant risks and uncertainties (some of which are beyond our control) and assumptions that could cause actual results to differ materially from historical experience and present expectations or projections. Actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements and the trading price for our common stock may fluctuate significantly. Forward-looking statements also are affected by the risk factors described in the Company’s filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Except as required by law, we undertake no obligation to update or revise publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, after the date on which the statements are made or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.
