When the idea of cryptocurrency, or any “decentralized” asset for that matter, first blipped on promo’s radar, it was mostly related to non-fungible tokens – known most commonly as NFTs. These intangible digital assets grew rapidly during the pandemic. Think of them like baseball cards, only not printed on paper – something you own but could never hold. The proof of ownership resided on something called the blockchain, and maybe you could find a way to complement that intangible token with something in the real world, like a paper card that matched or even an apparel item.

NFTs pretty much tanked. Cryptocurrency is very widespread now (Bitcoin is the most popular example) but has also earned a lot of recent skepticism for being centered around “meme coins” and pump-and-dump schemes.

However, the technology that makes these items work, the blockchain, very much remains. And its central premise of a decentralized location for ownership is an idea with potential, especially when it comes to asset management and workflow.

In short, if your workflow software company goes under, what happens to all of your data? Or perhaps worse, what if all your data gets tampered with?

Poof.

For print companies, what if they could harness the blockchain to protect themselves from such disasters? That’s the belief driving Lucid Dream Software – lasting, intangible representation for tangible objects. “Tokenization of real-world assets” is what David Lewis, president of Lucid Dream Software, calls it.

Blockchain Uses for Printers & Decorators

Software firm Lucid Dream just announced a blockchain-based platform for printing called Smart Supply System. Lewis’ background bridges print and technology, having worked as a laser transfer and heat transfer specialist for AW Specialty Papers in addition to his software work with Lucid Dream. The idea of permanent representation of physical assets came to Lewis in an unlikely location – the vet’s office.

“I have this beautiful little puppy who’s come into my life,” says Lewis. “I took him to have him neutered and they put a chip in him. … You read the chip and it takes you to the information that this particular company has. And then I was watching the news the other day, and I saw a story about this company that had gone out of business with all of this chip information for these dogs. So now they’re telling everybody, ‘If your dog has been chipped by this company, you need to re-register him someplace else,’ and I thought, ‘Man, what a great place to put that – on the blockchain.’”

90.1%
The predicted compound annual growth rate for the blockchain technology market from 2025-2030.(Grand View Research)

The blockchain. For the layperson, the blockchain is a digital ledger that stores transaction history in “blocks” of data like timestamps, transaction data and previous ownership. It’s tamper-proof and not attached to any one specific company.

The practice is outlined well in a 2020 article published in the Harvard Business Review:

“When blockchain record keeping is used, assets such as units of inventory, orders, loans, and bills of lading are given unique identifiers, which serve as digital tokens (similar to bitcoins),” writes Vishal Gaur and Abhinav Gaiha. “Additionally, participants in the blockchain are given unique identifiers, or digital signatures, which they use to sign the blocks they add to the blockchain. Every step of the transaction is then recorded on the blockchain as a transfer of the corresponding token from one participant to another.”

The idea behind Smart Supply System is to take the idea of digital ownership and attach tokens to every real-world step in printing – inks, printer pieces, substrates – and digitize them in the workflow. The software also takes data like SKUs, pricing information and quantities and integrates them into the workflow. Printers can scan labels and QR codes to load their “consumables” – e.g., inks or T-shirts – into the system.

Lewis says that merchandisers can even tokenize things like licensing agreements so they can keep track of the exact number of products they’re legally allowed to print.

“The software is set up so that the artwork is directly connected within the software such that it’s encrypted, protected and can only be used for the [allowed] number of times, and the expenditures are linked to the consumable items,” Lewis says. “When they’re gone, you can’t print them anymore.”

Even color usage can be integrated into the data blocks – a crucial aspect of branding, especially when working with sports teams or colleges who are particular about their branding identity and aesthetic.

Growing Adoption

Worldwide spending on blockchain solutions has skyrocketed in recent years. According to Statista, the global expenditure was just under $1 billion in 2017. In 2021, it was $6.6 billion. It was $19 billion in 2024.

If the idea of crypto and blockchains makes your head spin, rest assured you’re not alone. But like many changing technological trends and evolving ways of doing business, it’s worth keeping an eye on. Just as there are times when you’re not aware you’re using AI, blockchain is starting to integrate itself into the workflow management system in programs like Smart Supply System.

“Within the scope of what we’re doing, nobody really even knows that it’s blockchain,” Lewis says. “Nobody has to go out and buy any cryptocurrency or understand how to use digital wallets. This is all handled in the Smart Supply System technology. The actual use of the blockchain is one of the features, but it certainly is not something that the end-user even has to be aware of.”