February 20, 2026 – FedEx Corp. has joined the Hedera Governing Council. The move places one of the world’s largest logistics companies inside a blockchain network alongside Google, IBM, and Deutsche Telekom. The announcement, made on February 13, marks one of the most significant corporate endorsements of distributed ledger technology to date.
Why This Move Matters
Global logistics runs on a $10 trillion economy. Much of it still runs on paper. FedEx moves over 16 million packages daily across 220+ countries. That scale demands faster, more reliable data verification. Blockchain provides a neutral layer for achieving this objective without central control.
Vishal Talwar, FedEx’s Chief Digital Officer, framed the strategy directly. He said that the goal is to move from “paper speed” to “data speed.” On Hedera, shipping events and documents can be cryptographically recorded. Third parties, such as insurance stores, verify data. No single entity controls the information.
The Blockchain Bet in Context
Enterprise blockchain has faced significant challenges. High-profile projects collapsed: the ERSK-IBM joint venture shut down in 2013. Yet adoption is accelerating. A 2026 Reuters report found 40% of trade professionals now actively use or explore blockchain and AI. That is up from just 6% two years prior.
Hedera stands apart from earlier enterprise blockchain experiments. Its hashgraph consensus processes over 10,000 transactions per second. Governance is distributed across 39 council members. No single company can dominate decisions. FedEx will run its network node and hold equal voting rights.
What FedEx Actually Gains
FedEx is not putting raw shipment data on a public blockchain. Instead, it will use Hedera to share cryptographic proofs, timestamps, certifications, and verification hashes. Sensitive operational data stays within FedEx’s own systems. This model protects competitive advantage while enabling trusted cross-border collaboration.
The implications for customs processing are significant: in participating jurisdictions, goods expedite shipping documents and undergo cryptographic verification, and intermediaries gain a shared view of relevant events. Reconciliation costs drop. Compliance becomes continuous rather than retrospective.
The Bigger Picture
Industry observers call this period the “Great Rebuild”, a restructuring of logistics frameworks strained by geopolitical pressure, and AI-driven supply chain automation depends on clean, verifiable data. Siloed paper records undermine that entirely. FedEx’s Hedera commitment addresses the foundation, not just the surface.
FedEx’s $90 billion annual revenue and 500,000+ employees give this commitment weight. If the integration works at scale, other logistics players will face pressure to follow. The Hedera council, once considered an experiment, is starting to look like essential infrastructure.
