It would be harder than putting VINs on a private subnet, but how about allowing vehicle owners to get zero-knowledge proof of ownership on a public chain?
July’s news that the California Department of Motor Vehicles would move vehicle titles to an Avalanche (AVAX) subnet has all the hallmarks of innovation theater, the kind that is counterproductive to crypto adoption.
The value of using blockchain for this kind of application is debatable. Years ago, I too was a fan of using blockchain tech for provenance. But after watching countless valiant efforts (like TradeLens) flounder and being forced to contemplate why, I’ve come to believe any blockchain that’s controlled by a single entity or a handful of legally bound affiliates is just a bad database.
The standard argument in favor of this type of solution states that moving data on-chain improves traceability and transparency. But you can get those benefits from vanilla digitization and services like Carfax have been around for years. Ironically, this particular implementation is on a private subnet.
