29.03.2024

South Korean ArtBloc to Sell David Hockney Paintings via Blockchain

ArtBloc plans to host a special event introducing the blockchain-enabled fractionalized ownership sale of two of David Hockney’s paintings in Seoul on Sept. 19, local outlet KoreaTechDesk reported on Aug. 29.

South Korean art-focused blockchain project ArtBloc will conduct a fractionalized ownership sale of two paintings by popular British painter David Hockney.

“Hockney Night with ArtBloc” will also function as ArtBloc’s launch party, where art enthusiasts will be able to check out work by Hockney that has reportedly never before been on display in South Korea.

Fractionalized artwork ownership is a method of selling possession by dividing into fractions. According to the report, such ownership can greatly reduce the number of existing problems associated with art investments, as one does not need to obtain artwork physically to gain profits.

Started in March 2019, ArtBloc is a blockchain art project that is reportedly aimed at helping artists get fair pay for their work as well as overcome issues around the art market. ArtBloc’s blockchain platform intends to help investors make an investment decision based on the art reviews, list of transactions and exhibition records of the artwork in order to purchase the fractional ownership in the artwork.

ArtBloc Ecosystem

According to the startup’s white paper, ArtBloc plans to consist of a number of projects, including its data registry tool ArtBloc Hub and ArtBloc MarketPlace, where ownership in artwork will be tokenized, issued, listed and traded. According to the company, ArtBloc MarketPlace is a legal entity with rights to issue ownership tokens known as Art Backed Tokens (ABT), which will represent fractional ownership in the artworks and will be sold individually to investors.

South Korean Blockchain ID Service Raises $8 Million in Series A

ICONLOOP, a South Korean blockchain startup that provides digital identification services, received its first venture capital investment through an $8 million Series A funding round, the company said.

ICONLOOP is a subsidiary of DAYLI Financial Group, one of the largest fintech companies in Asia. The financing round was led by the quasi-government agency Korea Technology Finance Corporation (KOTEC). Another six investment companies, including T.S. Investment, also backed ICONLOOP in this round.

Proceeds will be used to launch its digital identification service “my-ID” and expand a group of expected clients called my-ID Alliance, which currently consists of 27 companies.

That client group has a range of companies and organizations including banks, security firms, e-commerce companies and manufacturing companies.

The service will be launched during the first half of 2020 for commercialized uses, the company said.

Founded in 2016, the fintech firm initially designed an ID service based on blockchain technology for non-face-to-face openings of banking accounts, the company said in June.

The South Korean financial regulator, the Financial Services Commission, included the firm’s my-ID’ service into the ‘Innovative Financial Services and Regulations Sandbox.

A KOTEC spokesperson said:

“The blockchain technology is evolving into practical applications such as decentralized ID services in line with the global trend giving users back the personal data sovereignty.”

Another ICONLOOP’s flagship project is the ICON public blockchain network that uses the loopchain protocol to connect different blockchains. The project is supported by ICON Foundation, which held an initial coin offering for ICX. The coin was the 58th largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization as of Oct.11, according to CoinMarketCap.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *