Can Bitcoin-Style Ticketing End Fakes and Resales?
Software based on the Bitcoin cryptocurrency system could put an end to many types of ticketing fraud, its creators said. Aventus Protocol will be tested during the 2018 soccer World Cup, and soccer season tickets will be sold via the system next year. If successful, this technology could be rolled out to concerts and other entertainment events.
London college graduates Annika Monari and Alan Vey described Aventus as the “Bitcoin of ticketing,” explaining that – like bitcoins – each ticket has an encrypted protocol known as a blockchain contained within it. It can only be copied, moved or otherwise passed on if the blockchain is verified by the larger ticketing system. Any fake tickets can be instantly identified and rejected, while the selling price of valid tickets can be monitored and maintained against artificial hiking.
The Aventus website boasts a “global standard for ticketing” which “permits rights holders to define rules across the ticketing supply-chain – including promoters, venues primary / secondary agents – to which everyone must adhere.” Monari and Vey, who are in their mid 20s, said in a statement: “We used to sit in this common room having coffees and worrying about our coursework. But now, hopefully, we will be the people who can solve the problems in the ticketing industry. That would feel incredible and be such a huge achievement for us.”
Vey added: “There have been times where people have tried to take us for a ride because of our age. Some people do assume by default that we don’t know what we’re talking about.”