JSON-LD vs. JSON-RPC vs. JSON
The EU's Green Deal and GS1's DPP Issuance are not fit for purpose to trace climate, social or economic action.
JSON-LD vs. JSON-RPC and JSON in Distributed Networks
Ethereum uses JSON-RPC, which is best suited for use cases that focus on money, ownership, and value, such as transferring, programming, and executing assets.
In contrast, JSON-LD use cases center on workâthe context, meaning, relationships, and industry knowledge that enable systems to cooperate and interoperate in informal networks, multi-party workflows, and semantic knowledge about goods, identities, and processes at any scale.
Blockchain tracing tools built primarily on JSON-RPC and Ethereum/Solana protocols are designed to track and interact with value transfers, transactions, and blockchain state at a technical level. Put simply, they were created for money and commands, specifically to comply with global crypto regulations.
Ethereum/Solana core protocols cannot match the capabilities of JSON-LD for semantic understanding and interoperability without the use of middleware, external domain knowledge systems, or translation layers.
The ESPR requires "ground-up methodology" for DPPs. JSON-LD can record semantically rich information for any structured entity or relationship. "Linked Data" provides the semantic richness and flexibility. In other words, it is designed for work and community.
GS1 appears to have made short-term choices that don't meet the Grounded Theory Methodology legislative requirements. The tools seem to be a mismatch for everyone except the largest firms.
The EU's Digital Product Passport (DPP) approach utilizes GS1 Digital Link URIs, which are not full W3C semantic web standards, but enable decentralized access to product data.
The EU and GS1 prioritize deployable, scalable solutions across diverse industries over strict adherence to W3C standards for semantic interoperability.
The ESPR legislation does not currently include a detailed plan for semantic richness or uniform data modeling.
GS1 Digital Link URIs enable decentralized, web-resolvable product identification with data hosted by multiple stakeholders rather than centralized storage.
While JSON-LD and other semantic standards may be adopted later, GS1's approach does not currently mandate them, which could pose long-term interoperability challenges.
Schema.org is the W3C-affiliated working group that publishes standard data structures. You can verify conclusions and that W3C approved code includes: JSON-LD, Google Microdata, and RDFa.