The American Eastman technology company, Kodak, has announced plans to launch of its own cryptocurrency through an ICO scheduled for the end of January.
Announced as a photo-centric cryptocurrency and encrypted digital ledger of rights ownership for photographers, Kodak crypto solution will allow photographers to register their works on Kodak’s forthcoming blockchain. The blockchain’s native KodakCoin will serve as the medium of settlement on the network. Users will be able to pay image copyright owners for usage rights through KodakCoin or receive payment in the same cryptocurrency.
According to Kodak CEO, Jeff Clark, “For many in the tech industry, ‘blockchain’ and ‘cryptocurrency’ are hot buzzwords, but for photographers who’ve long struggled to assert control over their work and how it’s used, these buzzwords are the keys to solving what felt like an unsolvable problem. 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.”
Kodak is a household name in film photography, though its bankruptcy and subsequent recovery in 2013 led the firm to completely focus on printing and digital film more. Kodak has partnered with WENN Digital on the initiative to create the KodakOne platform and the KodakCoin cryptocurrency. KodakOne blockchain will be deployed at a later date, after the release of a beta version.
Regulation Compliant ICO
The initial Coin Offering will be compliant with SEC guidelines as a security token under Regulation 506 (c). Market data suggests that, at the very least, Kodak is enjoying a bit of an investor windfall as a result of its announcement, recording a price surge of 119% having risen from an opening of $3.10 to $6.80 as of press time.
However, the company is yet to reveal the total hardcap of its offering despite announcing that scheduled date, Jan. 31, 2018. The offering will be open to authorized investors from selected countries including U.S. and Canada.
Kodak has also announced to install a large number of dedicated ASICs (Application Specific Integrated Circuits) for mining Bitcoin in its headquarters. These hardwares will then be offer as two year contracts to investors at $3,400. The miners have been estimated to generate about $25 daily based current mining difficulty. The suggestion is that at current price and difficulty levels, the hardware will earn $25 per day, meaning in two years the hardware will generate $18,000. This earning will then be splitted equally between both parties.
Kodak is a company that was singled out as outdated when it failed to embrace the emergence of digital photography. It turned out once was enough as the company is now intent on leveraging blockchain technology ahead of competitors and seal it place in the new trend that is currently disrupting real time values
