Industry News

Ticketfly founder launches blockchain Tari

New blockchain protocol startup Tari, which aims to create “an interoperable layer” for digital assets such as tickets, has been founded by Ticketfly and TicketWeb co-founder Dan Teree.

Teree has connected with cryptocurrency pioneer Riccardo “fluffypony” Spagni, as well as entrepreneur Neveen Jain to launch the new protocol.

Tari is a new open source blockchain protocol being built specifically for digital assets.

These digital assets will range from tickets to a concert and prizes inside a video game with the goal of making these easier to manage and monetise.

Most digital assets currently sit within a single platform and cannot be transferred or sold. Through Tari, Teree says he sees a future in which consumers can sell digital items through an open marketplace, according to Billboard.

Teree also noted that ticketing is the perfect example for blockchain’s use, especially during a time when Ticketmaster is working to eliminate the ticketing barcode and move to an all-digital ticket than can be easily transferred or resold between fans on a mobile app.

Teree told Billboard: “We’re not trying to put StubHub or any other resale market out of business, but we believe the issuer should have more say in how those tickets get treated in the secondary market… Now we have an opportunity to bring that 20 per cent of lost economic value (from resale) back in a more orderly way to the people that worked their asses off in this business, whether it be a promoter or a team or the artists themselves.”

Tari will have its own cryptocurrency called ‘Tari Tokens’ and will use ticketing as one of the first use cases for the open source platform.

“Perhaps a fan could convert digital items on Tari and trade them in for two concert tickets to see The Killers,” Jain told Billboard

“It’s about creating an underlying protocol and interoperable layer between these different kinds of digital assets that can create a lot more liquidity and traceability.”

Image: Davidstankiewicz