The ‘Art’ side of Blockchains transactions

Transactions with art objects are very complex from many points of view. One is the relationship between seller and buyer. The first question which a buyer has in mind is how and why I will trust the seller. Or in the case of purchasing through some broker, as a buyer I can doubt these intermediary good intentions. On the seller side, the same questions could arise. Trust between both or three parties is hard to be achieved. No to mention that is very costly because many times other parties are involved, like lawyers. Suppose that the early stages of the transaction are ok, transportation is another big issue. Some objects require special conditions to be moved and tracking their route is very important. And what about the biggest dilemma of buyers: did I buy the original or some cheap copy of the painting? Hiring an art expert is a solution, a very expensive one.

Blockchain technology could help all parties involved in such types of transactions. But not alone. To construct a secure and trustable transaction we need to start with valid data. This data in our case will be provided through reputation protocol. Buyers, sellers, brokers, lawyers, transporters, and experts all must have a reputation passport. This passport will reduce friction between parties. Blockchain will take care of data integrity. If we consider a permission blockchain then all parties involved in the transaction can secure verify partners’ data. Privacy and transparency will be assured as well. And yet blockchain needs data from IoT devices to track shipments. Also needs AI to reduce cost with expertise made by humans. Blockchains are the center of all actions. A good solution using this technology will bring costs of verification close to zero for art transactions. A special mention is that third parties are not eliminated from the process. Just evolve lawyers with smart contracts, transportation with IoT, and experts using AI technology.