In 2014, Disney’s Seattle office began developing a corporate blockchain known as Dragonchain. Now, the project is approaching commercialization — complete with an initial coin offering — although Disney is no longer involved.
As reported in Business Insider, Disney spent two years building a blockchain intended to serve as an asset management platform. However, the project never reached implementation, and Disney released it to the public under an open source license.
However, recognizing that the platform had a number of use cases and commercial potential, a group of former Disney employees founded the Dragonchain Foundation in January 2017 to maintain the source code, and the team now aims to commercialize the platform through the creation of Dragonchain Inc.
The developers describe Dragonchain as a hybrid between public and private blockchains, neither of which fully meets the needs of established businesses with legacy systems. The structure of the platform allows companies to maintain control and privacy of their internal data but also includes a bridge to public blockchains such as Bitcoin. In their words:
“We’re attempting to mix a “tried and true” classical software architecture (security and scalability) with a decentralized blockchain system, with simplified integration for those without blockchain experience, whilst allowing an organization to retain complete and explicit control over its data, processing, and network without worry about the community or public network.”
The Dragonchain Inc. platform also aims to help companies utilize the benefits of blockchain technology without having to hire developers with highly-specialized expertise. The platform purports to give businesses a “turn key” product that includes pre-coded smart contracts, as well as a developer-friendly platform that allows smart contracts to be programmed using established languages such as Java, Python, Node, and C#.
To fund the project, Dragonchain is launched a token sale, which began on October 2 and will continue for one month. Dragons — as the tokens are called — are used to pay for access to the commercial elements of the platform. Approximately 238 million Dragons, or 55% of the total, will be distributed during the Dragonchain ICO.