KodakCoin (stylized KODAKCoin) was a photographer-oriented blockchain cryptocurrency[1] that was planned for payments for licensing photographs; however, the project has failed and been shut down. The cryptocurrency was being developed under a brand licensee agreement between Kodak and RYDE Holding Inc. (formerly WENN digital), with the relationship and project canceled.
Development | |
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Development status | Initial coin offering |
Website | |
Website | www |
The initial coin offering (ICO) was initially scheduled for January 31, 2018, but was indefinitely delayed due to questions about its vetting process.[2] A simple agreement for future tokens (SAFT) was then scheduled for May 2018, which limited purchases to accredited investors.[3]
The website and project has been shut down, with all mention of the KodakCoin and KodakOne removed from Kodak's website.[4]
KodakCoin SAFTs were made available on May 21, 2018, to accredited investors in the United States, United Kingdom, and some other countries.[5][6][7] Working in conjunction with the KodakOne digital rights management platform, KodakCoin was intended to serve as the currency for an encrypted ledger of intellectual property rights ownership.[8] KodakCoin would have used the Ethereum blockchain platform.
KodakCoin was created by WENN Digital, using the Kodak trademark under license.[7] KodakCoin may be a rebranding of an abandoned initial coin offering (ICO) known as RYDE, a cryptocurrency developed by WENN Digital.[9] WENN Digital is a company formed by investments from Wenn Media Group and Ryde GmbH, a German company.[7]
In the initial press release about the KodakOne project published by Kodak on January 9, 2018[10] WENN Digital is described as having a "live operational copyright infringement management system" that "is delivering revenues to photographers worldwide today" and leveraging "the market position of its 30-year old subsidiary WENN Media, which works with approximately 2,500 professional photographers". German media reported on March 21, after a conversation with WENN Digital CEO Jan Denecke, that his Berlin-based startup RYDE GmbH, which according to the White Paper released by WENN Digital (dated April 24, 2018)[11] builds a technological core of the KodakOne platform, was "meanwhile majority-owned by WENN Digital".[12]
KodakCoin was designed to work with Kodak's KodakOne platform, to facilitate image licensing for photographers.[13] The KodakOne platform uses web crawlers to identify intellectual property licensed to the KodakOne platform, with payments for licensed photographs to be made using KodakCoin cryptocurrency.[14]
The website and project has been shutdown, with all mention of the KodakCoin and KodakOne removed from Kodak's website.[15]
Following the January 9 announcement of the new platform at the 2018 CES in Las Vegas, Kodak's stock price tripled in two days, as its market valuation increased to US$565 million, an increase of more than 300 percent.[16][17][18][19] By the end of January, one third of Kodak's shares were trading short.[20]
BBC News "Tech Tent" declared KodakCoin/KodakOne and the (unrelated) Kodak KashMiner "Worst Idea" at CES 2018.[21]