In order to determine the authenticity of a work of art, many art galleries and auction houses rely on provenance. Provenance is basically the list of transactions that shows how an artwork switched hands from one owner to another, tracing it back to the original owner – the artist. Gallery bills, exhibition records, auction records, shipping labels or dealer stamps are often used to trace the artwork’s origin to its creator and prove that a piece of art is an original. Sadly, it’s not unusual or uncommon for provenance documents to be forged or counterfeited, and fake artworks sold as originals despite all the precautions. During the 1980s and 1990s art dealer John Drewe and his partner John Myatt, faked provenance documents for over 200 forgeries, while in 2016 Eric Spoutz pleaded guilty for selling hundreds of fake American masters pieces accompanied by forged provenance documents.

Realizing the downsides of regular provenance, blockchain technology offers a superior way to track art as it moves from one owner to another. Every time an artist creates a new artwork, he or she can protect it with a digital token. There’s a variety of companies providing token verification to artists out there like Verisart or Monegraph.

After sending a picture of the artwork, or an URL of a digital artwork, with a few simple information like title, dimensions, and date, these companies will provide the artist with a token, which serves as a certification of authenticity. At the same time, the artwork will be added to blockchain. When the artwork is sold, the artist transfers the token to the new owner, alongside an art piece, and this transaction of tokens gets digitally recorded on the blockchain. Every time an artwork is sold, the change in ownership is recorded by adding a new block with the sales data and a time stamp on the blockchain. That way, every sale becomes a part of the permanent record of transactions.