Blockchain and ticketing: the future?
The resale ticket market is a serious problem for event planners. Dealers make money behind their backs and sometimes some sell fake tickets! This market represents a billion dollars per year in Great Britain! In France, it has not yet been evaluated, but the problem is real! Blockchain technology can provide an effective solution to regulate resale and make fakes impossible.
A smart contract at the ticket office to fight against the black market
In online ticket sales, the purchase of a ticket can be combined with a smart contract to combat fakes. This kind of blockchain-based contract records the ticket identifier and the terms of use on the buyer’s virtual wallet. The ticket is identified with its sole owner. It cannot be resold without the contract which limits the resale price. Payment is made in euros or with a compatible digital currency.
Thanks to the blockchain, the ticket is associated with a unique and confidential digital identifier. It is however traceable by the organizers, and this, in full transparency. Counterfeit banknotes are therefore easily detectable (or recognizable). In addition, the control is strict and inviolable , using technologies such as the NFC chip or Bluetooth. These will recognize the tickets contained in the smart phones of buyers / owners. Aventus, TicketChain and BitTicket are developing this kind of service!
Integrate everything into the blockchain
Online ticketing can be perfectly controlled by the blockchain as information and access is encrypted. Each ticket is associated with a unique digital signature, along with other information that forms a block in a chain. A resale amounts to forming another block which will not be validated if it does not comply with the conditions (information) put in place by the organizer. Resale can therefore be prevented for a specified period or completely prohibited.
Each ticket is then associated with a unique identity and a unique telephone . Security is greatly enhanced, preventing intruders and fraudsters from entering an auditorium or stadium. This would reduce the chances of a terrorist breaking in where he shouldn’t, or simply identifying him easily if he had obtained a ticket on a blockchain. On the owner’s side, by registering their identities as well as blockchain holdings, buying and selling a concert ticket or a ticket to a sports match is made easy and secure.
Solutions already in development
SecuTix, a cloud ticketing platform, used a 100% digital ticket system using blockchain technology during the Paleo Festival which was held in Switzerland from July 18 to 23, 2018.
In the Netherlands, GUTS.Tickets and Citizen Ticket recently launched their blockchain ticketing solutions.
Aventus.io should also soon be offering its service, developed in collaboration with the Center for Cryptocurrency Research and Engineering at Imperial College London. Blockchain is the future!
