Robotaxis on the blockchain? Avalanche and Toyota team up for the future

Imagine a future where robotaxis drive on our streets, all powered by blockchain! That’s the idea of Avalanche and Toyota Blockchain Lab, who are working together to build the technology needed for self-driving robotaxi fleets. This shows another exciting way that blockchain technology could be used in the future of transportation.

Avalanche and Toyota are looking into creating a new blockchain layer called the Mobility Orchestration Network (MON). The aim is to “manage trust and unlock the value of mobility”. It is built on Avalanche’s multichain infrastructure and Interchain Messaging (ICM). This proof-of-concept aims to enable secure data sharing for things like vehicle financing, ride-sharing, insurance, and even carbon credit tracking! It will also make it easier to transfer ownership of items sold on second-hand markets.

According to Roi Hirata, head of Japan at Ava Labs (the company behind Avalanche), this MON network will pave the way for exciting new possibilities, including fully autonomous robotaxi fleets.

Monetizing mobility on the blockchain

During Cointelegraph’s Chain Reaction live show, Hirata explained that robotaxis are one of the most interesting potential uses for the network:

“The payments, the leasing – you can actually start your own robotaxi services by raising funds onchain, with some kind of security token system.”

Investors would be able to fund and track their robotaxis via the blockchain, meaning the entire business model could be built onchain “from scratch.”

Robotaxi infrastructure: still needs manufacturers and regulators

But this will only work if regulators and manufacturers are on board. Manufacturers may be the harder hurdle to clear.

Ava Labs’ Hirata said that regulators and carmakers need to work together to use blockchain technology to keep official records and make it easier to transfer ownership of cars.

“There’s always an official record in different countries and in different formats. So it’s really important that we work with the manufacturer on a blockchain.”

The idea of using tokens to measure mobility could be the next big trend for people who invest in crypto, especially after Toyota and Avalanche recently showed how it works.

Tracking vehicles is complicated, and in the future, many different systems will be needed to support its tokenisation.

Other companies are also using Avalanche blockchain’s ability to turn real-world assets into digital tokens. For example, Grove, a credit protocol for institutions supported by Steakhouse Financial, aims to raise $250 million in tokenised RWAs on the Avalanche network, in partnership with the $373 billion asset manager Janus Henderson.