Associated Press Logs Joe Biden Win on Blockchain

By Mat Di Salvo

The Associated Press today logged its projection that Joe Biden will be the next president of the United States on the blockchain. The AP partnered with Everipedia, a blockchain company that runs a decentralized encyclopedia, in October. 

The idea is to publish the results of the US election cryptographically on the blockchain because, as says Everipedia, “In an era of misinformation, the need for verifiable information has never been greater.”

The AP called the result after Biden won the state of Pennsylvania today. The news was logged by Everipedia using its OraQle software—which runs on Chainlink (a decentralized oracle network). 

Incumbent President Donald Trump contested the election, calling Joe Biden's win a fraud. Although the blockchain never lies, supporters of Trump may recite the “garbage in; garbage out” garble.

But contested elections theories aside, and even if there are vote recounts, for now Everipedia is sticking to the AP result. 

“Firstly, the AP is the definitive source of US elections since 1848 since Zackary Taylor won that election,” said Sam Kazemian, Everipedia’s president, told Decrypt. “They have been counting national votes since then. Most people don't know this. The AP is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that is not part of the ‘mainstream media’ narrative that right-leaning people think."

Kazemian added that the OraQle product “does not comment on the political legitimacy of the democratic and electoral process.” He added: “People are mistakenly thinking that because the results are on the blockchain, they have more political legitimacy, that's not necessarily the case. Legitimacy comes from the system, not the source.” 

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