Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. is developing its own custom blockchain based on the Ethereum blockchain, according to source quoted by CoinDesk.

Exactly what Samsung intends to use its blockchain for is not clear.

“Currently, we are thinking of private blockchain, though it is not yet confirmed,” the source told CoinDesk. “It could also be public blockchain in the future, but I think it will be hybrid – that is, a combination of public and private blockchains.”

In an interesting twist, Samsung may launch its own cryptocurrency as well, with the same source claiming that Samsung Coin may be a possibility once the company’s blockchain is developed. The report also said Samsung Coin could even compete with bitcoin and Ethereum on public markets.

The idea that Samsung is developing its own custom blockchain is not that farfetched, however.

As South Korea’s biggest company, with interests not just in mobile phones and televisions but also chemicals, shipping and even apparel, Samsung could use a custom blockchain to improve its supply chain.

If Samsung is building a new custom blockchain, it’s not the first time the South Korean chaebol has ventured into blockchains.

In 2017 Samsung SDS, the information technology subsidiary of the company, announced it was building out a major blockchain network operation to manage Korea’s shipping industry logistics. That blockchain, said to be designed to track shipping imports, exports and location of cargo in real time, was being built in partnership with a consortium of local logistics companies, government and state-run research centers.

The news comes as Samsung is still reeling from the news that its Fold smartphone, the first foldable smartphone on the market, is easy breakable. Although Samsung pushed back the launch date of the Fold on Monday, the news about the phone continues to go from bad to worse. IFixit found earlier today that the phone is “alarmingly fragile.”

Photo: Hans Olav Lien/Wikimedia Commons