Create a Digital Identity for Art in the Blockchain
The art market is booming again and Blockchain technology is reshaping the art world. Art has long been one of the most dynamic and compelling of markets, but identifying the provenance or value of an artwork, or guarding it against counterfeit and fraud is often a challenge. Thanks to blockchain technology and a very innovative protocol, EmerCert, which we created to establish a decentralized chain of trust, the Smartefact platform redefines how we buy, sell, trade and enjoy and create art, both in the physical world and digitally.
Smartefact is a digital identity platform that allows to create a decentralized digital identity for an artwork in the blockchain, and facilitate both the authentication of the artwork and the management of collections.
While Smartefact does not replace existing authentication practices, it is a great and cost- effective complement to them. Art galleries, museums, auction houses, experts, collectors and more... can seamlessly register artwork to record authorship, prevent counterfeits, and track the artwork's history,, including exhibitions records, sales records, and expertise certifications.
It is the first service of its kind using the secure and fast growing Emer blockchain and using an advanced protocol created to establish a robust chain of trust between the players. Contact us for more information, or Get started with artwork registration.
Mobile Application (Android & iOS)
When a physical artwork (e.g. a painting) is registered with Smartefact, it is given a unique NFC tag. The Smartefact Mobile App is required to scan the NFC tags (or QR codes), and see the records about the artwork kept in the blockchain. Data stored in blockchain can include detailed information about the painting as well as its author, and its history such as exhibitions, valuations, expertise certifications, sale and ownership changes, and much more.
Features of the Smartefact App include a powerful search engine that allows users to search for records in the blockchain. Smartefact also decodes the data found in the blockchain into a readable form through its user-friendly interface, so that the user has readable data instead of unfriendly raw data.
How Verification Works?
After scanning the NFC tag, the QR code, or manually searching for the title (identifier) of the art object in the Smartefact Mobile App, our system searches for the record in the blockchain.
Any record (object's master record, author's manifest, event certificates) will be considered valid if:
- The electronic signature of the document is valid, and the actor who created it has at least one valid chain of trust, and no revocation certificates
- Or there is a valid certificate that certifies this document.
The Smartefact platform is quite complex, but in a nutshell, if a record is found, it is processed and a large number of checks are performed by the system:
- It checks the presence of a trusted chain for that asset (for example, if an embedded signature is used, the signatory's certificate is requested and checked).
- It searches for revoked certificates for that asset.
- It checks the issuer’s electronic signature. If the signature is invalid, the object itself may still be valid by another trust chain (for example by the certificate).
- If an NFC tag is present, and is registered in the blockchain, then the chip tag is checked for correctness.
- It searches for the author's manifest and, if found, validates it.
- And finally, it searches for other certificates and validate them (e.g. exhibitions, expertise, etc.)
About smartefact.org
Art Identity
How It Works
Register Artwork
Blockchain
Emercert
FAQ
Download Mobile App
Get in Touch!
EmerTech Limited
Innocentre, 1/F LionRock 72
72 Tat Chee Ave
Kowloon Tong
Hong Kong
Email: info@smartefact.org
Smartefact is a product of EmerTech, a member company of the Incu-App Programme, HKSTP (Hong Kong Science & Technology Park)