The promise of blockchain in the supply chain is fading.

The promise of blockchain in the supply chain is fading. The recent end of the TradeLens operation run jointly by A.P. Moller-Maersk and IBM is the most visible sign of a quiet withering of the technology aimed at tracking assets through complex supply chains. The Wall Street Journal’s Isabelle Bousquette reports that another big effort by Walmart to track groceries through blockchain is progressing only slowly, as big bets on the technology taper off or worse. Experts say the complexity of blockchain, the time needed to get it into operation and the difficulties in enlisting participants have made it slow going for the technology that underpins bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Walmart says it had to spend time educating suppliers on blockchain and that most of its small- to medium-sized growers were more focused on “making sure they’re providing quality products to us than about technology.”