Einstein Joins the BlockChain
When Mark, the founder of treasureCRYPT, bought two original postcards written by Albert Einstein, he realised the provenance of the items could be questioned once they left Christie’s auction house in Geneva. They were part of a large group of Einstein letters that were auctioned online from the original receiver of the letters, so the provenance was excellent. However, once they left the building, the provenance could be questioned. This was not helped by an amazing coincidence when Mark received an email from Kickstarter the next day that Einstein’s handwriting font could be purchased online and over 3000 people had already downloaded it.
Mark has over 30 years of experience in developing high speed, high accuracy image processing instruments that are accurate to less than the wavelength of light. This expertise was crucial in developing the treasureCRYPT system.
Inside the Christie’s Geneva office, Mark imaged the postcards with the treasureCRYPT scanner and uploaded the encrypted hash to the Bitcoin, Litecoin and Ethereum blockchains. This gave the images a verifiable timestamp. The provenance of the postcards is now protected and the texture images can be checked manually as well as by the treasureCRYPT system.
Using the treasureCRYPT to scan the Einstein Postcards inside Christie’s Geneva Office.
A treasureCRYPT image of the postcard
Einstein wishing Mark farewell at the Geneva Airport with the postcards in the bag.