We raised $11M in the pre-sale. Now we are offering you the chance to bring the Mona Lisas of the world to the blockchain community. Maecenas Follow Sep 7, 2017 · 3 min read

In the first 48 hours more than 500 Cofound.it Priority Pass members and Pantera Capital, the leading blockchain investment firm, already backed our vision of democratising access to fine art by participating in our token pre-sale. In total, you have already contributed more than 33,000 ETH (about $11M) to fund the development of our art trading platform and expansion to new markets.

Today, we are opening our token crowdsale to the general public. And we are offering all contributors an exclusive chance to contribute to the blockchain disruption of the elite art world.

The small print of the art world

With additional contributions, we can make sure your favourite art pieces are listed sooner on the Maecenas platform. By getting involved in the public token crowdsale, you can help us get the funds needed to attract owners of multimillion high-grade artworks and make these artworks accessible to the blockchain community.

When an owner of an artwork decides where to sell a part of their collection, they have to weigh risks and gains. Every marketplace has its properties: how fast the artwork can be sold, what are the guarantees that the market owners give to the potential buyers about the authenticity of the work of art, and most important, how wealthy and solvent are the buyers at the individual marketplace.

As the new kid on the block we have to convince the world that our platform is the next big thing for selling and buying art work. To secure the trust of the owners, Maecenas will have to guarantee them with funds that a certain amount of money will be raised. And this is why we need the extra contributions.

From Picasso to Andy Warhol

We already have more than 30 multimillion dollar paintings in the pipeline. That means that we already have signed letters of intent with their owners. And when the Maecenas platform goes live with the first beta users at the beginning of next year we will already have enough art works for the platform to run smoothly.

Some collections that we have in the pipeline are Blue Chip Artists — these are works of famous artists which are expected to reliably increase in economic value regardless of the general economic conditions — , Contemporary Art, Undervalued Old Masters, and Rising Emerging Asia. In return, you get the chance to invest your money in an assets class previously unavailable to smaller investors.

These are some of the names that could make it into the initial collection thanks to your contribution:

Impressionist and Modern: Picasso, Monet, Braque, Pissarro, Giacometti, Brancusi, Modigliani, Renoir, Chagall, Munch, Sisley .

. Post-War and Classical: Contemporary: Warhol, Basquiat, Lichtenstein, Soulages, Beuys,Duchamp, Bacon, Sam Francis, Dubuffet, Bourgeois.

If you want to help make fine art accessible to everyone, contribute to Maecenas now to bring the best fine art masterpieces to the blockchain community, and tell your art-loving friends about Maecenas.

If you still have any questions, please follow the following links:

How to participate in the crowdsale >

How to avoid Scams (Article by Cofound.it) >