California DMV to digitize car title management system via Tezos

cointelegraph.com:

The California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) is testing out the digitization of car titles and title transfers via a private Tezos blockchain.

The move is part of a collaboration between the California DMV, Tezos and blockchain software firm Oxhead Alpha, with the latter announcing t successful proof-of-concept on Jan. 25.

The California DMV has tapped Oxhead Alpha to build on a private Tezos testnet that it has dubbed a “shadow ledger.” It is essentially designed to become a blockchain-based replication of the agency’s current database.

The California DMV’s chief digital officer Ajay Gupta told Fortune on Jan. 26 that the agency is looking to have the shadow ledger ironed out within the next three months.

Following on from that, it is looking to roll out applications such as digital wallets to hold and transfer NFT car titles, with the DMV acting as a middleman to oversee such operations.

“The DMV’s perception of lagging behind should definitely change,” Gupta told Forbes.

Oxhead Alpha’s president Andrew Smith outlined that the California DMV’s blockchain initiative will serve a wide range of use cases for the agency, particularly concerning the modernization of its current paper-based systems.

Smith highlighted examples such as transaction fraud, in which car sellers hide key information about the vehicle's condition to offload a dud or “lemon” onto unsuspecting buyers.

While faulty vehicles have a special designation on their titles in California, Smith noted that sellers can move the car over to another state and hide the faulty designations with relative ease.

With the use of blockchain-based record keeping, however, and with other DMVs potentially adopting the tech also, it would be much easier to digital track