The right to own land, and the right to own knowledge as patents, both changed the course of history and unlocked enormous wealth. San Diego-born Sean Moss-Pultz believes another watershed development is at our doorstep: the right for individuals to own their data as digital assets.
What’s missing is an accounting system such as the land registry or patents offices of various countries. He founded Bitmark in 2016 and developed a decentralised global accounting system based on blockchain technology. It operates in Taiwan and Vietnam.
Bitmark’s first application of its tools was the music industry, where some music streaming companies use outdated spreadsheets to handle the complex ownership of music rights to pay royalties. Bitmark partnered with KKBox — the largest music streaming service in Asia — and Taiwan’s CTBC Bank to enable instant, automatic payment of royalties.
To date, Moss-Pultz has raised about $3.5 million in funding, with major contributions from the $461 million Alibaba Entrepreneurs Fund — part of China-based Alibaba’s growing e-commerce empire — and New York-based venture capital company Digital Currency Group.
Bitmark plans to monetise by charging a commission on asset trades. Its next project involves using its technology to allow retail investors to invest in the development of video games–a global industry worth more than US$100 billion.
To read our earlier articles in the series, please click here.
