With the innovations in digital technology, camera, and imagery, the safety, authentication, and proper detection of the origin of artwork and painting has become a challenge. The problem isn’t with producing an exact replica of an artwork or painting using technology, as a new level of art forgery now exists, but with how an art collector can clearly distinguish the original version of the art or painting they are purchasing from a fake. Even though genuine artwork comes with a receipt or certificate of authentication, it doesn’t guarantee the originality of the artwork.
Blockchain art provenance is changing the art world. Blockchain provenance promises to tokenize art ownership and make it possible to certify the validity of any artwork/painting purchased. This blockchain tokenization also allows you to transfer certificate token when the artwork/painting is sold giving the new owner sole ownership of the artwork. This process covers more than just artwork and paintings by notable artists but also opens its doors to digital arts, photography; screen art is irked with copying and pirating.
The provenance of artwork is a welcome and promising phase where blockchain is making an impact but another area that this technology in collaboration with CoArt is giving small time art lovers a chance to own a piece of a masterpiece through a system of joint buying which give many individuals the right to own a fraction of the art.
CoArt
A new blockchain art project that is revolutionizing the art world is CoArt. The art industry is a 65 billion dollar industry that only the rich can buy into. Now CoArt is allowing small investors to co-invest in luxury art. Co-investing means several people having the right to a piece of art or painting. Basically, CoArt is giving everyone the chance to enjoy a piece of art.
How will CoArt achieve this?
They intend to loosen the restrictions on retail investors to invest in art assets through a combined effort of fractionization and tokenization. Sources show that the value of artworks doesn’t reduce even though the number of artwork has reduced drastically over the years. The price of artwork continues to appreciate in the world market. CoArt is using token art mechanism to solve all the problems that are obstacles in the art world. Some issues that CoArt and blockchain will solve are
- Affordable entry fee for small time investor
- Solving the problem of provenance
- Solve the problem of illiquidity
The above are three main areas that CoArt and blockchain are transforming
Blockchain provenance art:
The conventional method of documenting artwork makes forgery easy by art thieves who sell fake art pieces in the world market. This is a big problem for art collectors, auction houses, and art lovers. To verify the authenticity of the art, expert art appraisal is brought in, but without a proper centralized or decentralized database system, fake arts receive excellent evaluation too.
Blockchain art provenance is solving this problem by using cryptographic links to identify authentic art and prevent forgeries.
This technology will help create an art database that will simplify the purchasing of artwork for public and private organizations. Today, art houses and companies have come together to create a decentralized digital database for all artwork and their origin for easy tracking over a transparent system to reduce investment risk as art houses and buyers will be getting the real deal with every artwork.
Democratization
When art pieces are registered on the blockchain, it democratizes the art world. The art world is for the wealthy and rich but CoArt is changing this by introducing fractionization. Fractionization allows for a combine or collective ownership of art pieces. The process works by all individuals paying for a registered artwork and owing a fraction which can be sold on its value over time.
The CoArt ecosystem allows users to use its token, COAT, to co-invest in an artwork. This token uses smart contracts to build a trusted system that makes it easy to buy, trade, and sell artwork without the problem of illiquidity. The token will enable easy trade and transfer of ownership is based on the ER-20 coin. The CoArt platform has an open platform and is releasing 8 billion COAT token into the markets. Secondly, the token will allow for easy certification of the painting in the blockchain database.
Some other issues that CoArt and blockchain will solve are:
- Copyright protection
- Art education and assets procurement
- Exploitation of artist by auction houses and art bodies
- Forgery of artworks and paintings
- Lower buyer’s premium
- Manipulating art pieces and using art as a means for money laundering will stop which will boost transparency of valuation, originality, collection, and manage investment risk to the lowest.
The CoArt Platform — how it works
With so much prospect and change that blockchain technology is bringing into the art industry, there is need to know how it works for a better understanding on how to protect our artwork/painting and how to enjoy the affluence that comes with owning the right to an original art piece. The tokenization of artwork will give each art piece a unique token code that will distinguish the art in the international market.
How many users will participate in the ecosystem?
CoArt expects a conservative estimate of 500,000 users. The reasons for that estimate is that CoArt will have 24/7 auctions in high-end artworks and develop gamification mechanics comparable to “Cryptokitties”, “DADA.nyc” and other killer apps. That way CoArt becomes not only an investment and trading platform, but also a social network with a built-in monetization and exchange mechanism for art lovers, hobbyists, artists, investors and general public.
For Retailers:
For retailers that need to be part of an artwork, they transfer funds into smart contract CoArt wallets to be tokenized before purchasing an artwork. Depending on the piece, the funds are tokenized; for example, a Picasso painting will be tokenized as PCO and a Van Gogh painting as VNG. The investor received these token through smart contract which is converted to the COAT token and used to purchase a piece of the painting. Now, each investor gets a piece of the art not physically, but they own the right to a piece of the artwork or painting purchased. It works like dividends, where everyone has the right to an asset.
For the Traders:
CoArt has a simplified process that allows owners to trade or sell their rights without delay. This way it is easy for an owner to relinquish their rights of the art easily without any fear. The tokens representing a specific painting like the PCO or VNG are exchanged on the COAT platform through the open API protocol. This service is opened and available globally 24 hours per day and throughout the week.
The Owners of the Art Assets
These include collectors, artists, museums, hedge funds, art galleries, and family offices who can offer a portion of their art assets for investors to invest in while retaining full ownership and control of the artwork. They are also able to tokenize their art assets through the CoArt open API protocol and offer it up for investors too. Basically, what this means is that an owner with 50% right to an artwork can tokenize half of his 50% to retain 25% while trading the remaining 25% up for potential investors through the API protocol or list it on any of its various exchange.
The CoArt ICO
The Pre-ICO is planned for the first half of September 2018 with the ICO following after. The mission is to create a solid judicial, technical, and financial basis for the project that will take hold of the massive art market by revolutionizing the art investment sector for small and medium scale investors to have a piece of luxury artwork to their name. We hope to achieve this by spreading the word to retail investors about the new investment opportunity through a global public relation campaign.
Token details
Token name: COAT (the name is subject to change pending various factors)
Acceptable token: ERC 20
Total token: 888 million
Token supply for sale: 532.8 million which is 60% of total supply
Hard cap: 32.9 million USD
Token price: 1 COAT = 0.088 USD. There will be bonuses available with a range of 50%-70% during the private round.
The CoArt ICO will help:
- Establish a community of supporters that will form the early users of the CoArt platform
- Develop and implement blockchain solutions and smart contract to create a decentralized trusted art platform
- With scalability by establishing the proper infrastructure for a long-term sustainability and future expansion
Token distribution
- 60 percent of the tokens will be made available during the token sale (private, pre-ICO, and ICO) and early adopters and supporters will enjoy favorable bonus rates.
- 15 percent of the token is for partners and liquidity of the CoArt project. This will strengthen and solidify their partnership and pave way for future collaboration and expansion, as well as prepare for the launch and use the reserve to handle any unprepared circumstances and for stabilizing the platform’s internal economy
- 15 percent will be split among the founders and team members in recognition of their passion towards the project and its success. There will be vesting with a cliff.
- 10 percent will be set aside for advisors, ambassadors, and the bounty program for the continual promotion and development of the CoArt project.
Conclusion
CoArt does not intend to compete with the established art market but hopes to collaborate with art houses to expand the sector to give small-time investors that love art a piece of the luxurious world of the arts. This collaboration will be beneficial to art houses as it will enlarge their client base that will have the opportunity to buy, trade, and sell art through the blockchain token mechanism with smart contract while utilizing the CoArt API protocol. This process will allow galleries, museums, and auction houses to parade the best artwork without fear of theft, forgery, or counterfeiting due to the unique coding system and blockchain art provenance for easy global verification from a decentralized art database.
