In mid-January, 2018, Coinsquare Discover reported that Kodak, the 130-year old photography company, announced plans to launch a new project called KodakCoin. However, Kodak has now delayed their digital currency plans for the time being. According to Kodak, the coin operates via blockchain technology, serving as a modern economy for photographers to sell and license their work. Purportedly, the accompanying software for KodakCoin will scour the internet for illegitimate uses of licensed photography in an attempt to ensure that photographers are properly compensated for their work. The project aims to secure funding through an Initial Coin Offering. While the ICO was set on January 31st, potential investors were instead met with an announcement from Kodak stating that the ICO is now delayed for ‘several weeks.’ “With over 40,000 potential investors expressing an interest in the ICO on www.KODAKCoin.com, we are now moving into the ‘accredited investor’ verification phase,” said the statement. “Given the large interest in the KodakCoin ICO and the steps that we need to take to verify the ‘accredited investor status’ of each interested investor, we expect this process to take several weeks.”
Kodak made headlines in 2012 when the one hundred-year-old company filed for bankruptcy. However, by late 2013 Kodak managed to dig itself out of bankruptcy thanks to Court-approved financing and hundreds of millions of dollars in patent sales. Kodak entering the digital currency equation is further proof of a trend involving traditional institutions attempting to capitalize on the popularity of the new industry. This is further evidenced by recent news that Australia’s official bullion mint and gold refinery aims to create a digital currency backed by gold. With Kodak unveiling its plans for KodakCoin, Kodak’s stock prices more than tripled in the following day. However, as The Washington Post reported, Kodak did not share this market enthusiasm, believing the price hike to be a distraction from the potential of their technology. “It caught everybody by surprise, internally,” said Cameron Chell, KodakCoin’s lead consultant. “It's been a terrible distraction, and I really wish it didn't happen.”Since Kodak announced a delay of their KodakCoin ICO, Kodak stocks dropped to around $7.50 USD (approximately $9.20 CAD) from a previously elevated price of about $9.20 USD (approximately $11.30 CAD).
Doubts within the community regarding Kodak’s newfound interest in digital currency are plentiful. Specifically, many question how selective Kodak are in terms of their new business partners. As the New York Times highlighted in a piece published the day before Kodak’s announcement, Kodak’s partnering institutions for KodakCoin include ‘a paparazzi photo agency, a penny-stock promoter and a company offering what has been called a “magic money making machine.”’Additionally, despite Kodak’s temporary rise in stock value as a result of their KodakCoin announcement, Bloomberg highlighted that a sizeable number of their investors are short-sellers that predict the price will decline. With KodakCoin’s ICO delayed for the time being, the community is left waiting to see if Kodak will realize its aim of becoming a major player in the digital currency landscape.Image credit: Kodak
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