Dutch blockchain startup Guts Tickets says it hopes to raise $20m (£15m/€17.2m) through its ICO after amassing $2.5m in a pre-sale.
Guts is an online ticketing platform that uses blockchain technology and cryptocurrency to combine primary and secondary ticketing, with the aim of deterring touts and generating more money for event organisers and artists.
The company, which claims it will sell more than one million tickets by 2019, will officially launch its ICO on November 15.
Co-founder Tom Roetgering told the IQ Mag website: “Our main goal is convince the community that we are a legit project and there is no money-grabbing involved.
“All the computer programme code for blockchain is audited and published so everybody knows everything. Because of the properties of blockchain, everybody is able to see how we transfer the funds and if we misuse them.
“Also important to note is that we’re actually doing a rather small ICO – $17m is considered to be small. I know: bananas. So the bottom line is: we want to do it the right way, all the way.”
In an interview with The Ticketing Business earlier this year, Roetgering said blockchain can solve many of the problems currently affecting the live events sector.
“The great thing about the blockchain is, that it allows us to give certain properties to the ticket, like the maximum amount of tickets [that can be sold to one person] and the maximum price,” he said.
“The price cannot be changed, of course, so it will never get higher if a ticket is resold. So if something came up, ticketholders can sell their tickets via GUTS at any time. They just can’t make a profit by doing so.”
Guts conducted a successful trial of its services at this year’s Here Comes The Summer festival in the Netherlands.
Share this