Imagine a world where content creators get paid fairly, and where transactions are recorded on a public ledger. Here's an example of blockchain getting leveraged to empower creative professionals. Ink Labs Foundation offers creatives exactly that.
Ink's mission is to better identify content ownership and to remove the middleman, which enables creators to turn their work into liquid assets and deal directly with potential partners. The INK token also acts as currency, allowing creators and users to exchange value, whether it happens on a small scale or on a larger scale involving in-depth content and industry-leading agents.
Today's payment systems often act as an expensive barrier of doing business around the world. But that's where cryptocurrencies come in to lower transaction fees, and enable creative gurus to form cross-border partnerships.
That's because Ink transactions can take place using the INK token. And to make sure things go smoothly, a commercialization team provides oversight on agreements known as smart contracts. A smart contract is one that binds two parties to an agreement without the need for a middleman or escrow service in between. The INK token has a market capitalization of nearly $60 million USD, as of this writing.
One of Ink's solutions involve an Intellectual Property Asset Exchange — a digital marketplace for creative works. (The exchange will debut in April 2018.) It solves arguably the biggest challenge that content creators face today, which is to turn their creativity into financial assets, and at fair value. By establishing an auction-type environment, the exchange enables creators to get a better price than they would have gotten by dealing with just one or two parties, whether book publisher, news outlet, recording studio, film company, modeling agency, design firm and others.
The Ink team can also implement a talent scouting system that leverages both experts and stored data to connect content creators who are best suited for a certain project.
INKstone Platform
Aside from the asset exchange and tokens, Ink is developing blockchain technology that facilitates the development of various applications. The Singapore-based venture launched a a Blockchain-as-a-Service (BaaS) platform called INKstone on January 24. The beta version gives app developers convenient blockchain infrastructure services. INKstone includes:
1.) One-click Blockchain Network Deployment — The first version supports INK Consortium Blockchain cluster, Hyperledger Fabric cluster and other blockchain development environments.
2.) Flexibility in Blockchain Configuration — Multiple blockchain configurations are optional to support developers' preferences as needed.
3.) Visual Presentation of Content — Users can view a visual presentation of blockchain network topology, block information, transaction information and smart contract information.
4.) Smart Contract One-Stop Management — The platform provides smart contract upload, management, deployment and invocations.
5.) Issuance and Circulation of Assets — The platform also includes the functions of account management, supporting for high-efficiency value transfer, content distribution, intellectual property remuneration and other creative industry applications.
The Project Protocol
Ink's team thinks their project can become the Qtum of the global creative industry. Qtum is a computer protocol and cryptocurrency, and it takes the best parts of bitcoin and ethereum and bring them together in a way that is business-friendly. The protocol is so simple and so lightweight in terms of data usage that Qtum’s public ledger can be synced on smart devices.
As the team looks towards the future, the Ink project appears to be limited only by the level of ambition and creativity of its developers. The long-term goal is to create a global intellectual property ecosystem that accounts for cultural differences in business practices across different regions of the world. Feedback from users on the Ink network will one day serve to promote the best content in the world and ensure that creators get compensated as such.
To learn more, visit https://ink.one/.
Resources:
Medium: https://www.medium.com/@inklabsfoundation
White Paper: https://ink.plus/statics/pdf/ink_whitepaper_en.pdf
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/inklabs.found.9
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/inklabsfound
