Merck KGaA is moving deeper into blockchain-based supply-chain verification as European regulators prepare to impose tougher product transparency rules across industries.
The German science and technology group has entered a strategic collaboration with The Hashgraph Group to integrate Merck’s M-Trust physical authentication system with TrackTrace, a Digital Product Passport platform built on Hedera.
The companies say the combined system is designed to help businesses prove – where a product came from, as well as the authenticity of physical product.
That distinction is becoming more important as the European Union tightens rules around product origin, composition, sustainability claims and deforestation-linked commodities.
Under the EU’s Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation, Digital Product Passports are expected to become a core compliance tool for product categories brought under the framework. These passports are designed to give consumers, companies and regulators access to product-level data through a scannable tag, such as a QR code.
The EU’s Digital Product Passport registry is expected to go live on July 19, 2026.
The regulatory pressure is not limited to manufactured goods.
The EU Deforestation Regulation will require companies placing commodities such as cocoa, coffee, timber, soy, palm oil, rubber and cattle-linked products on the EU market to prove that those goods are not connected to deforestation.
Large companies are now expected to comply from Dec. 30, 2026, after the bloc delayed implementation amid industry concerns over readiness and digital enforcement systems.
For Merck and The Hashgraph Group, the opportunity sits at the intersection of those two trends: product compliance and product authenticity.
TrackTrace creates digital records of a product’s origin, lifecycle, sourcing data and related credentials. Merck’s M-Trust adds a physical layer by embedding invisible security markers into products or packaging using patented pigment technology.
When scanned with an M-Trust handheld device, the product’s authenticity is confirmed, cryptographically signed and recorded within TrackTrace on the Hedera network.
The goal is to create a single chain of proof connecting the physical item to the digital claims attached to it.
It’s important because digital records alone do not solve the counterfeit problem. A supply-chain database can show what should have happened to a product. It cannot always prove that the product in front of a regulator, buyer or consumer is the same one described in the system.
“Digital records alone are not sufficient for high-stakes supply chains,” Stefan Deiss, CEO and Co-founder of The Hashgraph Group, told AlexaBlockchain. “Enterprises need to prove the physical product is genuine, not just the paperwork.”
Deiss said the integration with M-Trust is intended to cover both physical authentication and digital verification, from the first mile to the last mile, creating a foundation for trusted Digital Product Passports across industries.
Merck said the collaboration builds on its participation in the Enterprise Accelerator Program of The Hashgraph Association, a Swiss-based nonprofit focused on adoption across the Hedera ecosystem.
The companies said the system has already been demonstrated in a first working supply-chain pilot, which is expected to be announced separately.
The timing is notable.
Product traceability has become a compliance issue, not just a sustainability branding exercise. Companies selling into the EU will increasingly need to substantiate claims about origin, materials, carbon footprint, lifecycle and sourcing conditions.
Weak verification systems create clear commercial and legal risks.
Fraud risks in cocoa is rising due to high prices and incoming EU rules. These include the adulteration of cocoa with cheap fillers such as husks and the falsification of deforestation-free certificates.
Those examples show why product passports may require more than a QR code.
If certificates can be forged, and if products can be substituted or diluted, companies need systems that can connect claims to physical goods. That is the gap Merck and The Hashgraph Group are trying to address.
Dr. Thomas Endress, executive director and head of M-Trust in Merck’s Group Science & Technology Office, said product authentication has always required a bridge between physical and digital systems.
“Integrating M-Trust’s verification with TrackTrace’s digital traceability creates exactly the kind of end-to-end trust infrastructure that enterprises and regulators are asking for,” Endress said. “This is what product authentication looks like when it is built for the scale and complexity of modern supply chains.”
Hedera’s role is to act as the network layer for tamper-resistant records.
Supply-chain traceability has long been one of the most discussed enterprise use cases for blockchain.
Early pilots promised better transparency in food, luxury goods, pharmaceuticals and raw materials, but adoption was often slowed by fragmented data standards, supplier onboarding costs and the difficulty of proving that a digital record matched a physical product.
That last problem is central to the Merck-Hashgraph integration.
Blockchain can make a record difficult to alter after it has been written. It cannot, by itself, verify that the original data was true. A counterfeit product can still be attached to a genuine-looking digital record if the physical authentication layer is weak.
Merck’s M-Trust system is meant to reduce that risk by embedding the verification mechanism directly into the product or packaging.
Similar efforts are already visible across other sectors.
In luxury goods, the Aura Blockchain Consortium, backed by LVMH, Prada Group, Cartier and OTB, has built blockchain-based product passports for authentication and traceability.
In electric vehicles, Volvo has introduced a battery passport for the EX90 SUV using Circulor’s blockchain-based tracing system, ahead of EU battery passport requirements.
In food, blockchain traceability pilots have been tested to reduce the time needed to trace contaminated products through complex supply chains.
The results have been mixed but instructive.
Blockchain-based traceability can improve auditability and data integrity when suppliers participate and data standards are clear. But it does not remove the need for physical verification, inspections, supplier governance and regulatory acceptance.
That is why the Merck collaboration is more significant than another enterprise blockchain pilot.
It reflects a shift in the market from voluntary transparency tools toward regulated proof systems. As EU rules harden, companies may need infrastructure that can satisfy auditors, customs authorities, buyers and consumers at the same time.
The combined TrackTrace and M-Trust architecture is designed to support multiple regulated sectors, including food, pharmaceuticals, luxury goods, electronics and industrial components.
Merck & Co. (known as MSD outside the U.S. and Canada) reported a full-year 2025 revenue of $65.01 billion with EMEA contributing $14.6 billion.
The collaboration also strengthens Hedera’s enterprise positioning at a time when many public blockchain networks are trying to prove relevance beyond financial speculation.
As Europe turns product data into a compliance requirement, supply-chain transparency is becoming a business infrastructure problem. Merck and The Hashgraph Group are betting that the next phase of Digital Product Passports will require proof of the product itself, not just proof of the paperwork.
The above article “Merck Taps Hedera for EU Digital Product Passport Compliance Push” was first published on AlexaBlockchain. Read the complete article here: https://alexablockchain.com/merck-taps-hedera-for-eu-digital-product-passport-compliance-push/
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