Blockchain

[packs]

Why would a physical card be on blockchain? Blockchain is a receipt for something digital that shows you own it. You wouldn't need a digital receipt for a physical object.

[RL]

topps bunt??

[Frankish]

I like the idea of tracking the history of cards to avoid trimming, other frauds, sales after theft, etc., but blockchain probably wouldn't make the most meaningful contribution in this case. The card is a physical asset that would need to be tagged permanently somehow. And if that were done then a simple registry at the time of its initial tagging (high res photo files, etc) would be sufficient for many of the issues.

If the card itself weren't tagged, what would stop someone from simply cracking the case, altering or selling the card, and tossing the slab in the trash?

That said, I'm not dismissing that blockchain technology can't be used in a meaningful way in this industry...just that there is a base, physical layer to the problem that must be addressed first.

[Tripredacus]

Originally Posted by Frankish

I like the idea of tracking the history of cards to avoid trimming, other frauds, sales after theft, etc., but blockchain probably wouldn't make the most meaningful contribution in this case. The card is a physical asset that would need to be tagged permanently somehow. And if that were done then a simple registry at the time of its initial tagging (high res photo files, etc) would be sufficient for many of the issues.

If the card itself weren't tagged, what would stop someone from simply cracking the case, altering or selling the card, and tossing the slab in the trash?

That said, I'm not dismissing that blockchain technology can't be used in a meaningful way in this industry...just that there is a base, physical layer to the problem that must be addressed first.

It depends on how it is used, but honestly this concept can be done even without blockchain. The difference with blockchain is that the information is public.

So consider this situation where this type of data can be stored in blockchain:
- year / set / card number / card name
- grading company
- grade / subgrades
- cert number

That's great but grading registries are already pretty much free as it is right? Regrades aren't going to become magically tracked just because the data is public. What is the percentage of regrades or crossovers that are done where the grader is sent the card in the original slab? Because to me, that is the only situation where a regrade can be tracked, and that would require the grading company to connect the old cert to the new cert. Then how many times do these actions take place where the card is cracked out of the slab and sent to the company?

So in the situation where the original slab isn't sent, there is no way to know if that particular card was graded before. Putting info into blockchain isn't going to make any sort of difference. What would need to come first are ways to issue forensically unique identifiers to cards... which is what (as I understand it) that automated grading company is supposed to do. And even then (again) blockchain doesn't make a difference as long as the information is already public, and of course that type of identification will only apply to graded cards going forward and would not apply to anything that came before it.

[Republicaninmass]

Originally Posted by packs

Why would a physical card be on blockchain? Blockchain is a receipt for something digital that shows you own it. You wouldn't need a digital receipt for a physical object.

Genamint would have a scan, and know exactly where the card had been. All you'd need to do is to run a scan through the program and each card has unique identifiers.

I think

[swarmee]

Originally Posted by Republicaninmass

Genamint would have a scan, and know exactly where the card had been. All you'd need to do is to run a scan through the program and each card has unique identifiers.

But that's now PSA proprietary, and only useful on cards submitted through PSA in the future. Blockchain could be used on any graded card, without it having to pass through PSA first.

[FrankWakefield]

Secondly, if enough people want blockchain security on slabbed card ownership for transfer purposes, then someone will step in to provide that if there's money to me made. Although it would still leave slab tampering to sidestep that security, which means that folks would see advancements in slab tampering technology. If the day comes when that blockchain protection is in use, I'll not be someone who pays to use it. The vast majority of graded cards that I buy are busted out; how are they gonna 'blockchain' that?

Firstly, it reminds me of a current beer commercial, maybe Budweiser, where the person tasting the beer is wired to a polygraph machine, and the operator proclaims that he's told the truth about the beer... and then we see that the polygraph operator is wired up to another polygraph machine with a separate polygraph operator who then proclaims that the first operator was telling the truth about the beer drinker telling the truth.

Thirdly, for some collectors of graded cards, those collectors would have much bigger, more vast, better collections if they'd have spent all of that slab money on more ungraded cards, and had developed some skill at assessing potential cards themselves.

[steve B]

I keep my blockchain either with the bike stuff, or on the bikes..

I think it would do bad things to cards, even slabbed ones.

[Casey2296]

Originally Posted by steve B

I keep my blockchain either with the bike stuff, or on the bikes..

I think it would do bad things to cards, even slabbed ones.

Only if that fits a 74 Norton Commando...

[steve B]

Originally Posted by Casey2296

Only if that fits a 74 Norton Commando...

Unless it uses a chain 3/16 wide with a 1 inch pitch... no, it won't fit.

[packs]

I think privacy would be an issue for many collectors too. I know that if I had a million dollar collection I would have no interest in letting anyone else know about it. Why would I opt to have my information attached to cards in a database that's searchable? Wouldn't that put a target on my back?