KodakCoin (stylized KODAKCoin) was a photographer-oriented

blockchain A blockchain is a type of distributed ledger technology (DLT) that consists of growing lists of records, called ''blocks'', that are securely linked together using cryptography. Each block contains a cryptographic hash of the previous block, ...

cryptocurrency A cryptocurrency, crypto-currency, or crypto is a digital currency designed to work as a medium of exchange through a computer network that is not reliant on any central authority, such as a government or bank, to uphold or maintain it. It i ...

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 The Eastman Kodak Company (referred to simply as Kodak ) is an American public company that produces various products related to its historic basis in analogue photography. The company is headquartered in Rochester, New York, and is incorpor ...

and RYDE Holding Inc. (formerly WENN digital), with the relationship and project cancelled. The initial coin offering (ICO) was initially scheduled for January 31, 2018, but was indefinitely delayed due to questions about its vetting process. A simple agreement for future tokens (SAFT) was then scheduled for May 2018, which limited purchases to accredited investors. The website and project has been shut down, with all mention of the KodakCoin and KodakOne removed from Kodak's

website A website (also written as a web site) is a collection of web pages and related content that is identified by a common domain name and published on at least one web server. Examples of notable websites are Google, Facebook, Amazon, and W ...

Background

KodakCoin SAFTs were made available on May 21, 2018 to

accredited investor An accredited or sophisticated investor is an investor with a special status under financial regulation laws. The definition of an accredited investor (if any), and the consequences of being classified as such, vary between countries. Generally, a ...

s in the United States, United Kingdom, and some other countries. Working in conjunction with the KodakOne

digital rights management Digital rights management (DRM) is the management of legal access to digital content. Various tools or technological protection measures (TPM) such as access control technologies can restrict the use of proprietary hardware and copyrighted work ...

platform, KodakCoin was intended to serve as the currency for an encrypted ledger of intellectual property rights ownership. KodakCoin would have used the

Ethereum Ethereum is a decentralized, open-source blockchain with smart contract functionality. Ether (Abbreviation: ETH; sign: Ξ) is the native cryptocurrency of the platform. Among cryptocurrencies, ether is second only to bitcoin in market capita ...

blockchain platform. KodakCoin was created by WENN Digital, using the Kodak trademark under license. KodakCoin may be a rebranding of an abandoned initial coin offering (ICO) known as RYDE, a cryptocurrency developed by WENN Digital. WENN Digital is a company formed by investments from Wenn Media Group and Ryde GmbH, a German company.

WENN Digital

In the initial press release about the KodakOne project published by Kodak on January 9, 2018 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) builds a technological core of the KodakOne platform, was "meanwhile majority-owned by WENN Digital".

KodakOne

KodakCoin was designed to work with

's KodakOne platform, to facilitate image licensing for photographers. 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. The website and project has been shutdown, with all mention of the KodakCoin and KodakOne removed from Kodak's website.

Reception

Following the January 9 announcement of the new platform at the 2018 CES in

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Veg ...

, Kodak's stock price tripled in two days, as its market valuation increased to 565 million, an increase of more than 300 percent. By the end of January, one third of Kodak's shares were trading short. BBC News "Tech Tent" declared KodakCoin/KodakOne and the (unrelated) Kodak KashMiner "Worst Idea" at CES 2018.

References

External links

* {{Cryptocurrencies Cryptocurrency projects Kodak Stock photography Ethereum tokens