Kodak announces its plans to launch its own cryptocurrency. Kodak is a 130-year-old company known for making photography products.
Along with Wenn Digital, a blockchain developer, it announced that it will create its own cryptocurrency based on photography licensing.
The KodakCoin And KodakOne
Kodak will be launching its own cryptocurrency called Kodakcoin. It aims to provide "a photo-centric cryptocurrency to empower photographers and agencies to take greater control in image rights management."
Kodak will also be launching the KodakOne platform, which will use blockchain technology to give photographers an encrypted ledger to be able to register rights for their work to be able to license it more easily.
Besides using the blockchain technology to sell image rights, the KodakOne platform will also provide web crawling to monitor and protect the intellectual property of images registered in its system.
Kodak hopes to set up a new economic system for photography. This system would also allow photographers to get paid more quickly. Instead of having to deal with a third party, photographers would only need to deal with a seller using the blockchain technology.
Kodak chief executive Jeff Clarke touted the benefits of the new technology.
"For many in the tech industry, 'blockchain' and 'cryptocurrency' are hot buzzwords, but for photographers who've long struggled to assert control over their work and how it's used, these buzzwords are the keys to solving what felt like an unsolvable problem," said Clarke.
According to Kodak, it wants photographers to use this advancement in technology to take advantage of a different licensing system. One way it wants to help is by democratizing the way that photograph licensing systems work.
Cryptocurrency Boom
The announcement of the cryptocurrency sent Kodak's stock rising more than 30 percent. While many are critical of cryptocurrencies due to the volatility in the market, blockchain technology is where companies see large interest, especially financial companies. It eliminates the need for a third party, where a transaction would only need to be done between both parties in order to be verified.
The initial Kodakcoin offering will go live on Jan. 31. Like an initial public offering for a company on the stock market, investors are given the chance to purchase the cryptocurrency before it goes live. This allows more funding to increase development for the cryptocurrency.
Recently, anything that involves cryptocurrency or blockchain technology is causing companies' stocks to rise. A couple of companies have used this move to their advantage.
Long Island Iced Tea Corp. changed its name to Long Blockchain Corp. in December and made its stock double in price. There's also the case of the biotech company, Bioptix Inc., where its stock rose when it changed its name to Riot Blockchain last year.
