Russian news outlet TASS detailed that the Russian Authors ‘ Society (RAO) is introducing a blockchain-based financial platform for Intellectual Property loans. Alexander Sukhotin, RAO’s CEO, disclosed that the venture, named CoFi, is in its last stages of improvement and is planned to be unveiled in Q1 2019. The platform aims to draw potential holders of intellectual property rights and speculators who are prepared to loan.
Sukhotin stated at a round table entitled “Cult & Tech: New Content Economy” at the International Cultural Forum in St. Petersburg that the intellectual property market faces a major need for a system that allows direct communication between rights holders and investors in order to secure loans through patents and other forms of intellectual property.
RAO’s director general also noted that the upcoming blockchain-enabled platform will not be limited by intellectual property types, but will include patents, music and visual art. The company is currently looking for experts to evaluate different types of ownership, said Sukhotin.
The State Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow recently announced the launch of a blockchain – based art patronage system that allows organizations to make private donations to digitize a certain item from the collection of the gallery–thus becoming the patron of the artwork.
Previously, the head of the major Russian bank, Sberbank, forecast that blockchain adoption will take place on an industrial scale in one to two years, claiming that the “technology hype is now over” and blockchain is now “entering the industrial development stage.”
