Blockchain for card tracking
 

I was just thinking it would be an interesting concept to apply blockchain technology to graded cards. Although you'll find some records from AHs and online sites, it would be cool to track card transactions. If applied correctly, it could even be used to protect against card theft.

Legit interested: how would it really prevent card thefts?

Yeah, not sure your line of thinking and need some flesh to the bone as well.

Block chain works and protects individual owner privacy because the main use is crypto which is not a physical item that is tangible. How would you use block chain for security, as well as use it and maintain privacy of the owner?

Perhaps create a "virtual" database of cards online. Owners can catalog their collections, and blockchain could encrypt their accounts.

Legit transfers of ownership could be done "publicly"; although the actual owner could also make their identity and collections private.

Crypto is obviously the most prominent use. But, it could be used to track provenance and ownership of a tangible asset. Again, this is all theoretical but I found it worth a few minutes of thought. Flips could provide the necessary detail for tracking cards changing hands, price, crossovers, and even potentially keys mapping to archived photos. This is the path one could go down if an item were stolen, cracked out, and resubmitted for grading. You would potentially be able to identify the previous flip, but also who was the last owner.

Obviously there are a lot of assumptions, including consistent and willing participation by all parties involved. I was just trying to think of ways to solve for inconsistent population reports, understanding the "journey" of the card, tracking price, and even methods for discouraging theft.

The recent thread about the Mantle going missing at the National got me going. If this all sounds ridiculous, I apologize for taking up the space.

How exactly is block chain going to track a graded card that was cracked out of a psa holder

All of the details aren't quite worked out yet :). But I do agree it is sort of interesting to think about with all of the Bitcoin stuff we hear about. And it could easily pertaIn to our collections of Pre-War (and other) cards and memorabilia once those small details get worked out. Personally, I have never been a cryptocurrency type person. But more power to them for thinking outside the box. It just seems like a big gamble to me, as of now.

In theory, if the flip was associated with an archived photo (mapped key) of front and back, image software COULD identify specific characteristics about the card and potentially match it to the flip. For high-value cards (e.g. 52' Mantle), a TPG could potentially track whether the card had been graded and if the submission was coming from the rightful owner. It could also improve the likelihood of returning recovered stolen items to the owner. Again, we're a ways off, but it's interesting to consider.

A PR writer for a blockchain company asked to interview me, as an authentication person, for an article about the potential use of blockchain in arts and artifacts. I said I didn't know what was blockchain and he never wrote back :D

There are less advanced systems that can be administrated by a grading company (read 'upgraded security registry') that will, in theory, work better than a blockchain. I've worked with an engineer in the past that was able to set up a system that "verified" holdered cards were the authentic version that was submitted--- the infrastructure changes for a grading company would be significant, but the actual technology, once adopted, could be implemented for between 3 and 10 cents into each slab.

In reality, how many people pass/release their cards on with the PSA or SGC registry? Not many. An email needs to be sent to Cosetta or to SGC customer support to release the item and move it along properly. Being that a blockchain is permanent and cannot be changed without the person who owned that item submitting it for update there would be no opportunity for administration-- in perfect concept, this works. In reality, I don't feel it will work because even a few people not transferring ownership would cause significant problems and I tend to think a larger percent than a few people will forget or otherwise not be able to transfer ownership. What happens if a card hits the auction block twice or a dealer doesn't register it or, or, or, or, or any of the unlimited situations that would lead to the blockchain not being properly updated.

Good luck with whatever you are planning.

S

It's a neat idea for sure. Fwiw, I wrote some code a while back that scraped auction sites so that I could track the provenance of cards I was interested in. It's fun to watch cards change hands and see who made prudent investments vs those who lost money.

That exercise really opened my eyes to just how inefficient the market is for cards.