Physically unclonable
with Unclonix

141 / Physical unclonable functions for real-world goods: how random particle patterns, optics, and multi-step scanning can strengthen product authenticity beyond plain QR codes. Discussion covers EU digital product passport rollout delays, Russia's Chestny ZNAK system, wine-bottle pilots, luxury use cases, and the tradeoff between scan convenience and clone resistance.

Timeline

00:00 Intro

00:59 Connect digital and physical worlds

03:02 EU digital product passport vs Chestny ZNAK

06:04 How unclonix works

11:07 How QR codes protect authenticity

13:59 Does pharma want to prevent fraud

16:11 Hands-on unclonix review

21:55 The case for physical assurance ID

29:30 Wine case study

37:29 The US $100 toothpick trick

Participants

@fulldecent

William Entriken

@

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Episode notes

• Unclonix
• European commission: digital product passport package
• Chestny ZNAK
• US $100 bill security features

William Entriken talks with Martin Sandomirskii of Unclonix about whether physical unclonable labels can give stronger authenticity guarantees than plain QR workflows.

Core idea

• Martin Sandomirskii frames physical unclonable functions as fingerprint-like identifiers for products.
• The technical tradeoff is direct: easier scanning lowers verification friction, while stronger clone resistance usually needs higher-resolution optics and stricter capture conditions.
• The strongest claims are around random particle distributions that are hard to reproduce intentionally.

Standards and policy context

• The discussion compares EU digital product passport timelines with Russia’s already-deployed centralized marking model.
• The hosts also compare these systems with NFT-style custody tracking and one-to-one asset records.
• A recurring tension is interoperability: country-specific systems can still leave gaps at cross-border handoff points.

Product walkthrough and threat model

• Martin describes Unclonix labels as printed patterns plus random particles in a coating layer.
• William pressure-tests the threat model: label cloning, camera resolution limits, false confidence from easy smartphone checks, and production-line capture quality.
• Proposed mitigations include multi-image capture during production, human-visible 3D effects, and layered verification similar to banknote security.

Market focus discussed on-air

• Early traction is presented in wine and luxury goods, especially where brands dislike commodity-looking QR labels.
• Pharma is discussed as a high-stakes case because counterfeit risk and recall investigations can carry major legal and reputational costs.
• The host argues adoption value depends on whether anyone in that supply chain will actually perform verification scans.

Open items for human follow-up

• Confirm public discussion URL.