ORIGYN, a Swiss foundation that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to identify and authenticate objects of value, has partnered with luxury watch marketplace WatchBox. The pair will co-produce certificates of authenticity in the form of NFTs that enable customers to trade the digital ownership of a watch.
ORIGYN is the largest project on the Internet Computer Protocol, or ICP, developed by The DFINITY Foundation blockchain. Individuals who purchase a collector quality timepiece via WatchBox can expect ORIGYN to certify the authenticated object thanks to its biometric technology. Each watch is given a unique biometric fingerprint and an NFT that contains all of this information is minted.
These are utility NFTs that may offer customers insurance, digital provenance, concierge service, and access to exclusive experiences. Users can point their phone cameras at a watch, scan it via the application and verify its serial number. ORIGYN’s utility NFTs will be rolled out to WatchBox consumers in the summer of 2022.
Cointelegraph spoke to Daniel Haudenschild, chief executive officer of ORIGYN Enterprise, the for-profit arm of the ORIGYN Foundation, who said that authentication NFTs will make secondary market trading faster and safer for buyers and sellers alike. He said that the secondary market in luxury watches is expected to reach as high as $32 billion by 2025.
“By combining blockchain, unique luxury goods biometrics technology and our utility NFTs, we aim to authenticate luxury goods and ensure their ‘unfalsifiability’ traceability throughout their use, from sale to second hand, and allow customers to make luxury purchases in complete security.”
According to Haudenschild, tracking provenance is one the oldest use cases for blockchain, but using authentication NFTs provides a “direct route to your consumer in a way that brands and manufacturers have never had before.” He used watchmaker Omega as an example, stating that if Omega had a customer database of all the owners of its watches, even those who purchased…
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