- A Picasso painting is going to be tokenized on the Ethereum network in December
- Investors will be able to own a part of the painting which will be paid for with digital currency
- This is being organized by Maecena, John McAfee and Ethershift
Blockchain-based fine art investment platform Maecena has announced that it will be embarking on ‘project Phoenix’, a project that will digitalize and tokenize rights to a Picasso painting.
Meecena is working towards bridging the gap between the artwork industry and blockchain. It does this by creating secure digital certificates for works of art and tokenizes them, allowing investors to own a piece of a work of art – in this case, a Picasso.
This is revolutionary in its own right because it gives investors a chance to own a part of an original Picasso painting, an investment that would have cost them millions in a typical setting.
The painting itself, however, will be physically inaccessible, according to the announcement.
How this will work
“We are tokenizing a masterpiece, and making the painting perpetually inaccessible. Any eventual release date of the physical painting can only be decided via a voting process by token holders after the minimum amount of time has passed well into the future,” the announcement said.
It has also been reported that Maecena will partner with John McAfee and Ethershift to conduct the auction. This is a bit of a departure from Meacena’s usually system as it is the first time the auction will be decentralized:
“Unlike previous asset tokenizations performed by Maecenas, Project Phoenix will be a fully decentralized exercise, and the resulting unique tokens will be created on the public Ethereum blockchain.”
Further details will be announced in December.
This is not the first time Maecena has tokenized artwork by a famous painter. Andy Warhol’s ‘14 small electric chairs’ was tokenized and 31.5% of the painting was sold to investors who paid in Bitcoin or Ethereum.
Blockchain and art
Blockchain has made strides in revolutionizing the art world.
First, it is being used to track and prevent the sale of counterfeit artworks.
Now, it is changing how people can invest in art. In a traditional sense, people don’t usually own parts of a painting. They either own the painting or they don’t.
With Maecena’s system, people can invest in paintings the way they would stock which opens art investment to a wider audience and brings in more funds.