SATSCHIP: Preserving Provenance with Bitcoin

Phone, Fine art, Bitcoin

Authenticity has always been a cause for concern in the world of fine art.  With Forgeries and copies being sold and passed off as original works by the masters themselves.  In 1983 an artist by the name of John Myatt, discovered his innate ability in artistic mimicry, and during a 10-year window forged as many as 200 different works of art in different styles.  Not only does this defraud buyers of fine art, it also dilutes the artist’s collections. Proving provenance and authenticity has become increasingly more challenging in recent years, but as the saying goes “Bitcoin fixes this” and it truly does in this case.

Enter SATSCHIP, a tiny NFC chip developed by Coinkite that allows provenance tracking for physical items such as artwork.  The SATSCHIP contains within it a Bitcoin private key or XPRV that is verifiably linked to the artwork it is attached to. Got a fine art canvas you just finished up? Adhere the SATSCHIP to the canvas and you now have a verifiable certificate of authenticity for your piece.  

The owner of the artwork can sign transactions with the private key encoded into the SATSCHIP, cryptographically proving ownership of the piece.  Meanwhile, any observer or interested party can use the NFC capability of their phone to tap the chip and verify its authenticity and originality.  Once the SATSCHIP has been scanned, the phone will display details regarding the artwork including a brief description, creator, medium used, and date it was created, providing buyers with the confidence and the legitimacy needed.

(1) SATSCHIP™ on Twitter: “This is how we do 🎵” / X

It’s easy to see use cases of the SATSCHIP going beyond just artwork into any physical item that can benefit from authenticity verification.  Luxury goods, collectibles, legal documents, and much more can leverage SATSCHIP and the Bitcoin network to combat counterfeiting, adding another layer of legitimacy.  As the adoption of blockchain and its technology increases, solutions like SATSCHIP provide users with digital trust and confidence in the physical world.

Elegantly solving the age-old problem of provenance using this cutting-edge technology, Coinkite and their SATSCHIP, provide an innovative use of NFC and Bitcoin ensuring the preservation of integrity and value in the fine art world. 

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