Codex Protocol : Art and Collectible Certification

In the artistic NFT universe, the first problem to be solved was that of authenticity. How to prove, being an artist, that you are the creator of the work? How do you validate and authenticate that you’re not buying a counterfeit?

Presentation of Codex Protocol

Since 2018, the Codex Protocol project focused on these two features. Whether you are an artist, a salesman, a buyer, or simply curious, it is possible to create and search their certificates for work recorded on their platform.

On the one hand, we have the creation of the certificate (the Codex Record) which will be used to authenticate the physical or digital work. Once your work is certified, it will be possible to verify who owned the property – provenance.

On the other hand, we have the Codex Viewer which allows us to check all the necessary info thanks to the certificate search.

In concrete terms, Codex Protocol solves several problems and bring few value-added services:

• Allow the artist to “stay in touch” with the work and see the piece change ownership over time
• Immutable recordings deter fake creation
• Catalogs prevent the manipulation of the artists’ market
• Applications built with non-fungible tokens (NFTs) could track resale royalty payments
• The sale of works of art with blockchain recordings allows the owner of the work to access a multitude of services, such as insurance, assessments, etc.

As you can see, Codex Protocol has targeted the auction world as public!

Create your Codex Record

So, how do you put your art on the blockchain? Codex Protocol has made the operation very simple by following 9 steps :

1. If you haven’t installed MetaMask, you will need to start with that. Here is the link: https://metamask.io/. MetaMask brings the Ethereum blockchain to your browser.
2. You’ll need some ETH to pay transaction fees. This ranges from pennies to less than a dollar.
3. Go to https://codex-viewer.com/#/ and sign in.
4. Select “Add New Asset”
5. Upload a photo, name it, and describe the artwork in the window that pops up
6. Create the Codex Record
7. Pay the associated gas fee
8. Wait for the transaction to be mined.
9. You’re done! You’ve now created your first tokenized artwork, and you can now manage and transfer ownership of the artwork as you please.

In your wallet, you will receive the NFT proving that you are the owner of the work.

Selling your art

If you bought artwork at an auction, you will have received the certificate during your purchase. You will be able to upload (privately or not) it when creating the Codex Record to prove the source of your purchase.

If you have doubts about the value of your work, you can also ask some experts, which will help you, for a fee, to determine the price of your work according to its origin, rarity, and quality. You can add their evaluation in the additional files of your work.

Finally, it is possible to obtain a certificate of origin from Codex Protocol to add a new value of authenticity. This is only possible if all the additional files listed above are present.

If you want to change the description of your work because you have knowledge of additional information about the artist, provenance, techniques used or other, it is also possible! Each change will be saved and anyone will be able to see the changes you have made.

When your work is sold physically at an auction, you will need to send the Codex Record in a very simple way: press the “Transfer” button and enter the email address of the new buyer. He will receive an email to claim his NFT.

When your artwork is sold on OpenSea, everything is saved automatically. Once the sale is completed, all information and documents are transferred to the new owner’s portfolio.

Identifying physical artworks

Although the blockchain already offers the ability to publicly monitor the source of transactions and goods, Codex Protocol has specialized in auctioning art and collectibles.

The protocols of identification and provenance of artworks have been in the status quo for many years. Indeed, counterfeiters have continuously improved their technique and it is increasingly difficult to ensure that the work is not a counterfeit.

Although the Codex Protocol will not prevent the creation of false documents before being put on the blockchain, it still makes the verification work after-the-fact much simpler.

Sources :

• How to create a Codex Record ?
• Use the Codex step by step