Art & collectibles

Provenance is most of the value, and it lives in paper that can be lost or faked. The ledger keeps custody events signed and ordered, from studio to gallery to collector.

The market is rife with forgeries, and the documents meant to prevent them are often easier to produce than the work itself. A certificate of authenticity, a gallery invoice, an exhibition label: each one is separable from the canvas, and each can be reproduced by anyone with a printer.

There is a second problem the paper does not solve. Artists who make high-value work frequently see nothing from the sales that follow the first one, however far the price climbs afterwards.

Rethentic assures the source. Custody events are signed and ordered in the ledger, from studio to gallery to collector, so the chain is checkable rather than asserted. Artists can optionally follow where a work goes, and a royalty structure can be attached to the record so they receive fair credit on future sales.