The US Government has just released an announcement that it is offering grants up to $800 thousand for the development of a blockchain-based anti-forgery solution. The US Department of Homeland Security is focusing its blockchain efforts on enhancing its capabilities of spotting fake documentation.

US Department of Homeland Security and Blockchain

The DHS, through its unit Science and Technology Directorate (S&T), will distribute the non-dilutive funds in four phases. The department chose the non-dilutive route so that the entity doesn’t need to sell equity in order to receive the funding. The funds will be distributed through its Silicon Valley Innovation Program (SVIP).

The things that the US Department of Homeland Security hopes the blockchain can effectively track are identity documents for travel, tribal identity documents for travel, cross-border oil import tracking, raw material imports, and citizen, employment, and immigration authorization documents.

“The broad Homeland Security mission includes the need to issue entitlements, licenses and certifications for a variety of purposes including travel, citizenship, employment eligibility, immigration status and supply chain security,” said S&T SVIP Technical Director Anil John. “Understanding the feasibility and utility of using Blockchain and distributive ledger technology for the digital issuance of what are currently paper-based credentials is critical to preventing their loss, destruction, forgery and counterfeiting.”