Hyperledger Project – the cross-industry effort for the advancement of blockchain technology – enlisted a new member, but it’s not your usual bank or tech firm this time.

Daimler AG — the parent company of Mercedes Benz — joined the project yesterday as a “Premier” member to “collaborate with a global network of experts in order to build the cross-industry blockchain standard,” the company said in a statement.

Daimler is not the first carmaker to express interest in blockchain groups: Toyota’s financing arm — Toyota Financial Services — joined the R3 blockchain consortium last year to explore potential applications of distributed ledger technology in auto financing.

But there are many other potential use cases of blockchain tech for industrial giants, such as Daimler, Brian Behlendorf, Hyperledger’s executive director, told Bank Innovation.

Daimler is a company with huge supply chain tracking needs, one natural application for blockchain technology. Major companies like Daimler in the automotive industry are evolving rapidly towards a broader transportation and mobility position, where integrating your relationship with the customer across many different operations and partners is important. Any of these could become interesting projects for Daimler, and perhaps there are others we don’t even know about. These are similar to needs driving other members, like Airbus, the manufacturing firm Sany, and other industrial giants towards blockchains and Hyperledger.

But using blockchain for auto finance, is, of course, a natural step for carmakers. “They [Daimler] also manage the flow of billions of dollars every week through their finance operation, interacting with hundreds of other banks, and as that industry goes blockchain, so must someone like Daimler,” Behlendorf added.

The OEM did not yet announce of any specific blockchain projects. “Daimler decided to become a Hyperledger member to be a partner in working on future standards in the sector. We are also looking forward to collaborate with the other members in the consortium,” a spokeswoman told Bank Innovation. 

Hyperledger Project currently has more than 115 members, spanning various industries including finance, healthcare, IoT, credit card services and aeronautics, among others.

“The diversity of our membership continues to grow, demonstrating that blockchain technology has the potential to impact many industries and transform the way business processes are handled,” Behlendorf said in a statement.

To learn more about distributed ledger technology, join us in San Jose on March 6-7 for Bank Innovation 2017, where the best conversations in fintech take place. Click here to register.