Iconloop has signed a deal with Yeolmae Company to provide a blockchain-based certificate issuance service for the company’s ARTnGUIDE platform, which acts as an intermediary site for the joint ownership of art.

The agreement was covered heavily in the local press. It was confirmed by the company by email and by a release and via ARTnGUIDE’s website.

Under the terms of the deal, Iconloop’s ‘broof’ service will record the ownership of the artwork, along with the image of that work, in a manner that prevents falsification of the record. A timestamped certificate is issued that displays the image as well as a ‘chop’ stamp signature.

ARTnGUIDE currently has 16 jointly-owned works listed on its website. The works include five by Lee Ufan, founder of the avant-garde School of Things, and three works of Whanki Kim, an early abstract artist in Korea.

At present, the co-ownership of each work is recorded by utilizing an ethereum-based service. The record, which is publicly accessible, includes ownership status and a detailed change history.

Iconloop says that its offering significantly differs from the existing system as it will allow for the recording of the image. It is not clear whether the broof system will completely replace the current records platform or work along side of it.

Iconloop is a South Korean technology company and a subsidiary of Dayli Financial Group. Dalyi was founded in 2015, and Iconloop was founded a year later. One of Iconloop’s projects is ICON, the public blockchain network.

The company works with a wide range of partners, including Samsung, Mirae Asset and KB Kookmin Bank. It also has a coin, ICX, which is ranked 40th globally by CoinMarketCap with a market cap of about $100 million.

ARTnGUIDE was formed in 2018. The first work purchased via ARTnGUIDE was Kim Hwan-ki’s Sanwol (1963). It was acquired in October 2018 for 45 million won ($37,000) and sold about two months later for a 22 percent gain, according to the company.

Painting via CoinDesk archives