The Hashgraph Group launched TrackTrace on Tuesday—a blockchain-based compliance platform built on Hedera. Target market: companies scrambling to meet European Union requirements before 2027 deadlines hit. The digital product passport mandates arrive in waves starting February 2027.
TrackTrace tracks goods across supply chains and records product data including emissions, sustainability credentials, and reparability metrics. The platform uses artificial intelligence to automate compliance workflows and builds verifiable audit trails. Companies can use the data for regulatory reporting and authenticity verification.
The tool answers a specific regulatory problem. The EU’s Ecodesign for Sustainable Product Regulation went into effect July 18, 2024. That framework created rules for digital product passports—standardized records that track key product information across multiple supply chains. First major deadline: battery passports for electric-vehicle and industrial batteries above 2 kilowatt-hours. Compliance required by February 18, 2027.
Textiles, apparel, iron, and steel face digital product passport requirements starting July 2027. The timeline is tight. Companies selling into EU markets need infrastructure now.
Why the rush? The EU Green Deal aims to cut emissions 55% by 2030 and hit net carbon neutrality by 2050. That requires tracking every product’s environmental footprint from manufacturing through disposal. Digital product passports make that possible.
“The European Green Deal strives to establish the first climate-neutral continent by 2050 and needs infrastructure it can trust to transform Europe into a modern, efficient, and sustainable economy,” said Stefan Deiss, co-founder and CEO at The Hashgraph Group. “With TrackTrace built on Hedera, we deliver that critical trust data infrastructure layer that enables companies to comply with DPP regulation.”
The platform integrates IDTrust, Hashgraph Group’s existing decentralized identity solution. That linkage connects physical supply chain events to tamper-proof digital records anchored on Hedera’s network. Immutable audit trails. Verifiable credentials. Built for regulators who demand proof.
Hashgraph Group is working with PwC on digital product passport implementations for enterprise clients. Cointelegraph reached out for details on that collaboration. TrackTrace competes with IBM Sterling Transparent Supply, TraceX, Circular for batteries and plastics, and TrusTrace for fashion traceability. The supply chain compliance market is getting crowded fast.
Hedera positions itself as energy-efficient compared to other distributed ledgers. The network runs on a governance council including Dell, Deutsche Telekom, FedEx, Google, IBM, and more than 30 members total. Enterprise backing matters when selling into regulated industries.
Question is whether early movers gain competitive advantage. Companies that deploy digital product passport infrastructure ahead of 2027 can test systems and fix problems before regulators start auditing. Late adopters face penalties and potential EU market exclusion.
TrackTrace handles product lifecycle traceability—from raw materials through manufacturing, distribution, use, and end-of-life recycling. That cradle-to-grave visibility is exactly what the EU Battery Regulation and ESPR demand. Compliance isn’t optional for companies targeting European customers.
The battery passport deadline hits first. February 2027. That’s 24 months to implement systems capable of tracking battery composition, carbon footprint, recycled content, and supply chain custody. Electric vehicle manufacturers and industrial battery producers face the tightest timeline. Then textiles and steel follow five months later.
Blockchain fits this use case because regulators need immutable records. Paper trails get lost. Centralized databases get hacked or altered. Distributed ledgers create permanent records that multiple parties can verify without trusting a single authority. That’s the value proposition for compliance infrastructure.
The broader pattern: regulation drives enterprise blockchain adoption. Financial services adopted distributed ledgers after post-2008 compliance requirements increased. Now environmental regulations are pushing manufacturers and logistics companies toward similar infrastructure. Follow the regulatory deadlines.
For European businesses and global companies selling into EU markets, February 2027 is the hard stop. Battery passports become mandatory. No passport, no market access. TrackTrace and competing platforms are racing to capture that compliance-driven demand before the deadline.
All eyes on 2027. The digital product passport rollout will test whether blockchain infrastructure can handle enterprise-scale regulatory compliance. And whether companies prepared early enough.
