In a new report, the US Postal Service has suggested that it is considering exploring and experimenting with blockchain technology, particularly regarding financial services, identity services, supply chain management, and device management.

The report, released by the Postal Service's Office of the Inspector General (OIG), noted the recent efforts by major companies, such as Citibank and Australia Post, to explore the blockchain technology.

Emphasizing on the benefits of the technology, the report said that it offers a new way to transfer any kind of data or information in a fast, tracked, and secure manner without need for an intermediary. It further said that the current nascent stage of the technology makes it difficult to recognize its full potential.

It added while the technology was initially developed to allow peers to exchange digital currency directly, it is now yielding a number of “promising” solutions beyond financial services, such as property transfers, the execution of contracts, authentication services, device management, and records management.

In order to better understand blockchain technology’s features and capabilities, as well as identify potential areas of interest for the Postal Service, the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General contracted with Swiss Economics, a consulting firm with interest and expertise in blockchain technology.

Swiss Economics has suggested leveraging blockchain technology through the creation of a financial platform – “Postcoin” platform.

“Postcoin would be strongest as a global postal money transfer and payment platform”, it said. By allowing for faster and direct transactions between posts, the platform could not only benefit users but also the international postal network. Moreover, the platform’s flexibility and convenience could potentially allow the expansion of electronic money transfer services to anyone in the world.

The report said that one major area where the Postal Service could leverage the technology is financial sercives – by digitizing and streamlining the services, the technology would make them faster and cheaper.


“The Postal Service could benefit from blockchain technology in the short term by studying the technology and possibly experimenting with blockchain-based solutions for financial services. The Postal Service already offers some financial services, including money orders and international money transfers, where blockchain could be an enabling tool, allowing the Postal Service to offer these services more efficiently”, the report said.

In the long-term, blockchain technology could also be useful to the Postal Service in other areas such as identity services, supply chain management, and device management.