Counterfeit product trading has become a multi-trillion-dollar threat to global economic stability and public health, representing approximately 3.3% of world trade. This electronic document analyzes why traditional centralized anti-counterfeiting systems—relying on barcodes, holograms, and centralized databases—are failing due to single-point vulnerabilities and susceptibility to malicious data modification. This research examines the transition toward decentralized architectures, specifically the NFC-enabled Anti-Counterfeiting System (NAS) and its evolution into decentralized versions like dNAS and the VeriChain model. By integrating blockchain 2.0 technologies, smart contracts, and Digital ID systems, industries can achieve end-to-end traceability and immutable record provenance. The study concludes that decentralized authentication is the most robust solution for "how to stop counterfeit goods" in the 2026 digital economy.
Rojwanichakorn et al. (Sun,) studied this question.