Seal is a decentralized product authenticity verification platform that is based on the Ethereum blockchain.
Over the years in the course of development of the human race, the parts to growth and innovation have been laid and walked by people who create things that make our lives better and more enjoyable. These people include inventors, scientists, artists, designers, and most recently programmers.
The contributions of these people to the growth, joy, and success of humans cannot be overemphasized.
For instance, programmers, artists, and designers turn ideas into tangible products, which we all derive great utility from, but, in the course of creating their products, these groups of people face numerous challenges among which is counterfeiting.
The menace of counterfeiting is indeed a huge problem for creators. Counterfeiting is so menacing that it even affects well known and established brands as much as it does to new and upcoming brands.
The effects of counterfeiting are of global and wide-reaching proportion. The value of global counterfeit products is currently in excess of more than $700 billion (U.S. dollar). The bulk amount of global counterfeiting (more than 80%) is done on the Asian continent with China getting up to 20% of that value.
The extent of counterfeiting has no geography limitation and no brand is indeed immune to counterfeiting regardless of whether it is a brand in the United States of America, Europe, Australia, Asia or Africa.
The effect of counterfeiting on economies is also quite devastating. Profits which should accrue to legal entities and corporations who pay taxes to governments end up in the hands of criminal gangs which is in turn used to fund various criminal activities including terrorism.
Brands and creators also make efforts to fight the menace of counterfeiting through the use of certain technologies such as the use of holograms, QR-codes and RFID.
Others include fluorescent fiber, watermarks, micro-prints, security threads, product numbering, colour-shifting inks, invisible ultra-violet inks and more.
All the above mentioned anti-counterfeiting methods all have different levels of sophistication, which, however, have shown not to be enough to deal with the challenge of counterfeiting especially when considered in terms of the alarming financial proportion of counterfeiting.
It is also important to mention that brands and creators are not the only ones who are affected by counterfeiting. Consumers are also affected by counterfeiting. Consumers pay the same price they would pay for a genuine product for the fake just because they do not know how to distinguish the original from the fake.
What Seal Network has developed is a solution to the problem of counterfeiting based on the blockchain technology.
Seal’s blockchain technology would be embedding NFC chips into physical products which would enable for authenticity checks.
Brands and creators would be able to build the confidence of their products in the consumer thereby starving the counterfeiters.
The Secondhand Trade Opportunity
Seal has also created a secondhand market for products as brands would be able to make money every time the ownership of their product changes hands on the decentralized Seal network which is possible because a tokenized version of the product has been created.
How Seal Network will Deal with Counterfeiting
Being that it is built on Ethereum blockchain, the solutions which Seal will be providing would basically be online solutions. The way through which Seal would be dealing with counterfeiting includes;
• Online Authentication
Seal Network would be dealing with the issue of counterfeiting by providing an online authentication feature for consumers to be able to confirm the authenticity of a product through the product’s embedded chip.
• Remove Financial Incentive
Seal, through its blockchain and tamper resistant chip technology, would be fighting counterfeiting by eliminating the financial incentive which drives counterfeiters. This means that even with a counterfeit product, the counterfeiter will not make money because the consumer can easily verify the authenticity of the product from the Seal platform.
• Easy Verification
The verification of the genuineness of a product on the Seal platform is an easy process. This process can easily be done from any smartphone. As easy as a single tap on the smartphone.
The Seal APP
Seal has developed a working app that is compatible with the iOS and Android Operating Systems. Current features available on the app include inventory management for brands, authenticity checks for consumers and ownership transfer for transactions.
Seal Network Revenue Streams
The revenue sources of Seal Network would be categorized into two main sources which are the primary revenue streams and the secondary revenue streams.
The primary revenue of Seal Network would come from two main sources which are from service fees and product payments. Brands who subscribe to the Seal Network would be required to pay a service fee of 25% for using the network. If the network is used to pay for products in the future, Seal would charge for the transaction.
The secondary revenue of Seal Network would come from chip sales, as the network would develop NFC chips which it would sell to brands.
Seal would also be making secondary revenue from subscription charges for SaaS products such as custom integrations and analytical tools.
Secondary revenue for Seal would also be coming from support and training for API and consulting and integration services for brands that would be coming onboard the Seal network.
Token
The Seal Network is built on the Ethereum blockchain. The Seal token is built on the ERC20 standard. The Seal token would be used to pay for products and services by the brands and consumers on the Seal Network. The Seal Tokens also power the Seal Network.
Conclusion
Considering the massive proportion at which counterfeiting is conducted and the proportion of its effect on brands, individuals, and economies, there is no doubt that Seal is an idea whose time has come.
Brands and creators who sign up for the Seal solution would be helping not only to improve their revenue but to also ensure that their customers get the genuine products and full value for money.
Website – https://seal.network/
Whitepaper – https://seal.network/seal-whitepaper.pdf
Telegram – https://t.me/sealnetwork
Twitter – https://twitter.com/r/seal_network
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/SEALnetworks/
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Author – Coltpython
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