Afternoon Coffee: IBM’s Food Supply Blockchain Opens for Business, Hurricane Michael to Hit Florida This Week

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IBM announced Monday that its food supply blockchain is ready for businesses to join and help track products from the source to the retailer.

The company has been testing the blockchain for 18 months and now plans to increase its use, a press release said.

The IBM Food Trust has three software-as-a-service modules that are priced for small, medium and global enterprises, beginning at $100 per month, the press release said. Suppliers can add data to the network for free, IBM said.

Hurricane Targets Florida

Hurricane Michael has formed in the Gulf of Mexico and is headed toward the Florida Panhandle. It could make landfall Wednesday afternoon and increase to a Category 3 hurricane, ABC News reports. Florida’s governor has issued a state of emergency for 26 counties. “This storm will be life-threatening and extremely dangerous,” Gov. Rick Scott said.

U.S.-China Trade Tension

High-level officials from the U.S. and China traded barbs Monday before meeting in Beijing to discuss Taiwan, trade disputes and other rifts, USA Today reported. U.S. Secretary of State said Mike Pompeo said the U.S. has “grave concerns” and that the two countries had “fundamental disagreements” to discuss behind closed doors. China’s foreign minister, Wang Yi, said “the U.S. side has constantly escalated trade frictions with China.”

JPMorgan Chase Settles on Sanction

And finally, in compliance news: JPMorgan Chase agreed to pay $5.3 million to settle alleged violations of U.S. sanctions, The Wall Street Journal reported. The U.S. Treasury Department said the violations were tied to the bank’s screening processes, the paper reported.