Yes, you heard it right. Eastman Kodak is joining the cryptocurrency bandwagon. The company that has been the epitome of photography for 130 years disclosed that it will be using blockchain, the technology that is the backbone of major cryptocurrencies like bitcoin. The company will be leveraging the technology to develop its own platform for digital photography, now with its own currency. The new currency will be named as Kodak Coin.
The company stated that this new website, which is aptly named as KodakOne, will be a “new economy” for photographers to get their work licensed and receive payments. As an immediate result of this news, the shares of Kodak doubled and closed at $6.80. In the after-market trading, the shares were trading 5.8 percent higher.
Blockchain is nothing but a secured online ledger that consists of transactions which do not require any third-party mediator to validate or act as a go-between. The technology has been on the radar of many banks and other financial institutions. Moreover, the developer community has also been quite excited about this new technology, witnessing usage of blockchain in financial transactions like settlements and payments.
Kodak, which is head quartered in New York, has planned to come up with its initial coin offering (ICO) in January for investors based in the U.S, the U.K , Canada, and other countries. This new platform is built in collaboration with Wenn Digital.
KodakOne helps photographers in two ways. Firstly, it will ensure that photographers get to license their work and are remitted quickly. Secondly, it will also search the internet and look for unauthorized usage of the images. Speaking on this occasion, CEO of Kodak Jeff Clarke said, “Kodak has always sought to democratize photography and make licensing fair to artists. These technologies give the photography community an innovative and easy way to do just that.”
Since blockchain has picked up steam, the shares of Long Blockchain Corp have jumped by two folds, and, believe it or not, this happened after the company changed its name from its previous name, Long Island Iced Tea Corp. A trend has been seen where companies are adapting blockchain and even getting their brand name associated with it. Another example is when Riot Blockchain changed its name from Bioptix.
