Blockchain has long moved beyond the cryptocurrency industry and is increasingly used in logistics and supply chain management. This is especially noticeable in Europe, where companies strive to provide end users with maximum information about products and are also searching for new tools to optimize business processes. Distributed ledger technologies allow them not only to reduce costs and speed up operations but also to mitigate risks associated with product counterfeiting and violations of regulatory requirements.
Why Europe is actively using blockchain in supply chains
In 2025, the European Union demonstrates a systematic approach to implementing blockchain in logistics and supply chain management. The technology is no longer seen merely as an experiment but as a necessary tool for compliance with regulatory requirements and increasing transparency across various sectors. This acceptance is facilitated by several regulations:
European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) — aimed at combating deforestation. It requires companies to confirm that their products are not linked to deforestation;
Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) — requires disclosure of information about the business's impact on the environment and society;
Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR) — regulates how financial organizations disclose ESG information.
These regulations imply detailed traceability of the origin of raw materials, production conditions, and logistics routes. Blockchain ensures the storage of such data in a secure and immutable form, making it accessible for audits, oversight, and end consumers. Advantages in this context include:
reduction of costs for compliance checks and audits;
automation of reporting and certification;
minimization of falsifications and errors;
increased trust from partners and clients;
elimination of the need for centralized intermediaries.
Systematic development of blockchain in the EU is ensured by the initiatives of the European Blockchain Partnership (EBP) and the European Blockchain Services Infrastructure (EBSI). They cover the application of technology in logistics, certification, the public sector, and ESG reporting.
Main areas of blockchain application in Europe
In 2025, blockchain is a tool of trust, control, and transparency across various EU industries — from agribusiness to logistics, manufacturing, and energy.
Food tracking
In the agribusiness sector of Europe, blockchain is used to enhance transparency and traceability of supplies. This area is sensitive to EU regulations regarding food safety, product origin, and sustainable production, so decentralized solutions:
record each stage of the supply chain — from farm to store;
prevent falsifications and counterfeiting of origin;
simplify the control of storage and transportation conditions;
support automatic verification through smart contracts.
Thus, under EU programs such as Horizon Europe, platforms for digital tracking of food products are being funded. They are integrated with IoT sensors and public interfaces, allowing information to be obtained via QR codes on packaging.
Automotive industry
Blockchain has become an important tool for the European automotive industry. Problems of counterfeit components, lack of data on the origin of raw materials, and complex multi-level supply chains require technological modernization for:
tracking the origin of components — from raw materials to final assembly;
recording information about each supply node and production stages;
confirming compliance with environmental and social standards;
automation of supplier and logistics chain audits.
Large automotive manufacturers are integrating blockchain solutions with ERP systems and using decentralized ledgers to eliminate data compromise. Such systems cover dozens of suppliers providing information for ESG certification.
Logistics and shipping
In logistics, blockchain enhances transparency and speed of information exchange among participants in supply chains—from ports to carriers and customs services. This is particularly important in international trade, where data was often transmitted with delays or without unified standards.
Key areas of application include:
recording logistics events in real time — arrival of vessels, movement of cargo, customs checks;
automatic synchronization of data between ports, carriers, and terminals;
reducing bureaucracy through electronic documents and APIs;
ensuring the reliability of information and protection against unauthorized changes.
Projects based on Hyperledger Fabric and other enterprise solutions are being implemented in major European ports to create a unified digital environment for all logistics participants.
Sustainable production
In the context of European climate policy and ESG reporting requirements, companies are required to document their environmental and social sustainability efforts. Blockchain has become a key tool for collecting and recording such data, including:
tracking the origin of raw materials — from extraction to production;
accounting for production and logistics conditions in terms of environmental impact;
creating a transparent database for assessing carbon and social footprints;
automating data collection for ESG reporting.
Blockchain allows for the formation of digital product profiles with integration into sustainable sourcing platforms. This simplifies the verification of supplies for both regulators and chain partners. In 2025, such infrastructure becomes mandatory for access to a number of European markets.
Real cases of blockchain application in Europe in 2025
Carrefour (France)
Carrefour implemented the IBM Food Trust platform to track food products, including meat, eggs, and vegetables.
The service allows scanning QR codes on packaging to obtain data about the farm, growing methods, transportation times, and compliance with standards. In addition, the solution is integrated with the internal systems of the retailer and suppliers.
All infrastructure is built on the aforementioned Hyperledger Fabric, ensuring immutability and real-time availability of information.
BMW (Germany)
BMW uses blockchain in the PartChain project to track components and raw materials in electric vehicle supply chains. The system covers the entire journey—from cobalt extraction to battery assembly and installation in the car.
The initiative is supported by the MOBI consortium and serves as a basis for ESG reporting in accordance with European standards. This allows BMW not only to control the origin and compliance of components but also to ensure transparency in EU sustainability issues.
Nestlé (Switzerland)
Nestlé collaborates with the OpenSC platform to monitor the supply of ingredients, including dairy products and palm oil.
The platform allows recording the origin of raw materials and the conditions of their production, for instance, compliance with labor and environmental standards. Consumers access this data through QR codes on the packaging.
The system was developed in partnership with WWF and Boston Consulting Group and is used in pilot projects together with Carrefour. It is also necessary to comply with European market requirements for sustainable sourcing and increased transparency for consumers.
Advantages and challenges of blockchain in European supply chains
By 2025, blockchain has established itself as an important element of digital transformation in supply chains in Europe. Its implementation brings tangible benefits but is also accompanied by a number of systemic challenges — especially for small businesses and the agri-sector. Among the advantages:
transparency. Every transaction, movement, or product verification is recorded in the blockchain in real time. This eliminates the possibility of falsifications and strengthens trust among supply chain participants—from producer to end consumer;
efficiency. Smart contracts allow for the automation of documents, payments, and verification processes. Reducing paperwork decreases the risks of delays and errors, simplifying operational management;
security. Blockchain is cryptographically secured and does not allow unauthorized changes to data. This is especially important when working with certificates, licenses, labeling, and product serial numbers.
As for limitations and drawbacks, they include:
integration with legacy systems. In many industries, isolated or outdated IT solutions that are not ready to synchronize with decentralized networks are still used. This limits the implementation of blockchain at the infrastructure level;
high implementation costs. Transitioning to new technological platforms requires investment in staff training, technical support, and alignment with the partner ecosystem. This is especially challenging for small and medium-sized businesses;
regulatory fragmentation. Despite the common goals of the EU, different countries use various approaches to digital identification, certification, and auditing. This complicates the creation of a unified traceability system.
In 2025, these challenges are especially acute in the agri-sector. For example, small farms in many countries, striving to meet Green Deal standards, face a lack of finances, technical knowledge, and incompatibility of local accounting systems with blockchain solutions. Without coordination and support from the government, it is extremely difficult to implement such projects.
The role of EU regulation in the development of blockchain
In 2025, the EU is actively forming a regulatory framework for the implementation of blockchain technologies, particularly in supply chains. The main focus is on security, transparency, and cross-border interoperability of solutions. Among the initiatives, the following stand out:
Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA)
The regulation came into force on December 30, 2024, and establishes standards for crypto assets. MiCA reduces fraud risks, protects investors, and creates conditions for the circulation of tokenized assets in supply chains and payment systems.
European Blockchain Partnership (EBP) and EBSI infrastructure
EBP brings together 27 EU member states, Norway, and Liechtenstein to create a pan-European blockchain environment for public services. The EBSI infrastructure operates as a network of nodes on Hyperledger Besu, providing cross-border government services, including licenses, certification, and confirmation of product origin.
Implementation of ESG standards
The EU is tightening requirements for disclosing environmental, social, and governance (ESG) information. To verify data on ESG indicators, companies are using blockchain. This is useful, for example, for measuring carbon footprint, business sustainability, and labor conditions in real time.
In addition, the implementation of MiCA provides for models for disclosing negative ESG impacts, mandatory from April 2025.
Institutional support and pilot projects
The European Union finances pilot projects for blockchain solutions. For example, the EIT Regional Innovation Booster initiative launched in Poland in 2025 with funding of €30 million includes several pilot projects in the agri-sector.
And the European Investment Bank, together with the EIF, announced financing of €150 million for projects in the fields of AI and blockchain, including ESG applications for supply chains.
All initiatives aim to unify and legalize crypto and DLT solutions, as well as create a trust infrastructure between states, contributing to the transformation of blockchain into an important element of EU markets.
The prospects of blockchain in supply chains in Europe until 2030
Europe is entering a phase of large-scale digital transformation, in which blockchain is a foundational technology for managing logistics, supply chains, and ESG data. By 2030, its role will significantly increase due to integration with other technical solutions:
artificial intelligence. Such a symbiosis will allow the use of data from the blockchain to build predictive models. This will open up opportunities for forecasting failures, automatically adjusting routes, and detecting anomalies in supply chains in real time, increasing the resilience and response speed of systems;
the Internet of Things (IoT). This will create a continuous digital trace of each supply object. Sensors will transmit data on temperature, humidity, and location directly to the blockchain, forming reliable, secure information about the condition of goods;
tokenized assets (RWA). It will provide a digital representation of goods, logistics units, and contracts. This will simplify the management of ownership rights, document flow, and access to financing, especially within chains sensitive to control and certification.
Together, these trends transform blockchain from a data recording tool into a dynamic architecture for decision-making and trust assurance.
A notable example is the pilot project for logistics tokenization that the EU is preparing for 2026 under the DLT Pilot Regime. The project will cover ports, rail, and road transport in several cross-border corridors to test how distributed ledgers can be used for accounting and transferring logistics assets: containers, platforms, transport seats.
Moreover, according to Mordor Intelligence's forecast, the European blockchain solutions market for supply chain management will grow from $1.26 billion in 2025 to $9.52 billion by 2030, with an average annual growth rate of around 50%. This dynamics is driven by both regulatory pressure (including ESG and Green Deal) and the growing business demand for scalable, reliable, and sustainable logistics systems.
