Crypto Startup carVertical Touts BMW Partnership, BMW Denies It

Cryptocurrency startup carVertical recently claimed to have a partnership with German carmaker BMW. The company made waves after publishing press releases touting the partnership, as it was building the “first ever connected reports for cars.” The German carmaker, however, denied the partnership.

Following carVertical’s campaign, that saw crypto news websites publish sponsored press releases, BMW took to Twitter to clarify that there is no partnership between both parties. Instead, the German automobile giant claims carVertical is, in fact, just using its CarData interface, which is reportedly “available to any third party.”

Taking this into account, the relationship between BMW and carVertical – which aims to build a “decentralized car history registry” using blockchain technology - could be seen as one between a service provider and its client.

https://twitter.com/BMWUSA/status/976111962047303680

Speaking to TheNextWeb, carVertical’s partnerships manager Aleksandras Gaška said:

“I want to clarify that BMW Group isn’t denying that they will provide data to us, the whole confusion came because both parties understand the word ‘partnership’ differently. There was a contractual relationship between both parties, which is why we decided to call it a partnership.”

carVertical responds to partnership controversy

The cryptocurrency startup has since published a Medium blog post responding to the controversy. In the post, the company notably still calls the relationship it has with BMW a “partnership,” despite the German automobile titan’s tweet.

The blog post claims that a contractual relationship has been entered. In it, BMW has an obligation to share vehicle data with carVertical, and the crypto startup has to pay a fee for access and right to use said data. The post reads:

“We confirm that carVertical and BMW group have entered into contractual relationship concerning exchange of vehicle generated data. Under the Conditions of Use, carVertical has a right to receive data from BMW group and an obligation to pay a fee for this data.”

According to BMW’s press releases, its data interface is available to any customer looking to manage how “their telematics data is shared.” Per the carmaker, customers can release, deny access, or withdraw consent at any time.

carVertical is notably not the only startup exaggerating a relationship with a large established company. As covered by Core Media, Swiss blockchain tech company Agora recently claimed Sierra Leone’s elections were conducted using blockchain technology, which after all wasn’t true.

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Posted from my blog with SteemPress : https://cryptocoremedia.com/crypto-startup-carvertical-touts-bmw-partnership-bmw-denies/

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