Ledger.swiss
OFFICINEBIT is a partner of Ledger.swiss
Swiss Ledger is the innovative institutional blockchain developed in Lugano, designed to provide reliable, compliant infrastructure for public and private applications.
In this context, OFFICINEBIT is involved in developing solutions based on Swiss Ledger through Artchain, a system for the digital certification of artworks that guarantees authenticity, traceability and transparency in the art sector.
The collaboration makes it possible to harness the potential of the blockchain to experiment with new forms of data notarisation and validation, helping to define a safer and more verifiable standard for the contemporary art market.
Creating the artwork's digital identity
Each artwork is associated with a unique identifier (cryptographic hash) generated from its essential data, such as:
- Images of the work
- Institutional description of the work (title, year, technique, dimensions)
- Information about the artist
- Provenance and existing certifications
This data is recorded on the blockchain permanently, creating a kind of "digital passport" for the work.
Vittore Carpaccio. Sant'Agostino nello studio, c. 1480
Writing tools and instruments of knowledge are arranged like traces of a code under construction, elements of a language that unfolds between presence and record. The mystical vision becomes a metaphor for an algorithmic epiphany, a change of state in which matter dematerialises into information, turning thought into a structure of verifiable data.
Notarisation and protection of data integrity
- Once entered on the blockchain, the work's data can be neither modified nor falsified.
- Every update or change of ownership is recorded transparently, ensuring complete traceability over time.
- If anyone tries to alter the data, the system flags the inconsistency, thus protecting the authenticity of the work.
Albrecht Dürer. Melencolia I, 1514 (detail of the magic square)
Dürer's engraving works as a device of knowledge, a visual organism in which every element, from measuring instruments to polyhedra, from the magic square to alchemical symbols, is encoded in a system of relationships. It is a potential archive, a network of signs that records and structures information, anticipating computational logic. The magic square becomes a metaphor for an original cryptography, a visual algorithm in which every number is a node validated by its position and its relation to the whole. Like a cryptographic hash, it seals memory in a precise order, guaranteeing its integrity and permanence over time. Melencolia I is thus a proto-decentralised ledger, a distributed intelligence that organises knowledge in an encrypted, verifiable language, prefiguring the "digital passport" of the artwork on the blockchain.
Certification of works
- The blockchain acts as a decentralised public register, allowing scholars, collectors, museums and art dealers to quickly verify a work's provenance.
- Owners can generate authenticated digital certificates, usable for transactions, exhibitions or changes of ownership.
Jan van Eyck. The Arnolfini Portrait, 1434 (detail of the mirror)
In Jan van Eyck's Arnolfini Portrait, art becomes a "visual document" certifying the marriage, a proof of authenticity through light, detail and the play of mirrors. The painting is a "seal" bearing witness to the event, fixing it in a visible, immutable act.
Like the blockchain, which guarantees the origin of works, the painting acts as a "digital certificate" binding image and reality. The reflection in the mirror, showing the painter and a possible witness, suggests transparency and truth, concepts central to the certification of authenticity.
Tokenisation of the artwork
In some cases the work can be tokenised (NFT or fractional ownership token), allowing the digital management of the asset where required.
Paolo Veronese. The Wedding at Cana, 1563
With its wealth of detail and multitude of figures, the work becomes an image that breaks down into parts which, though independent, form a whole. This fragmentation evokes the concept of tokenisation: the work, divided into digital tokens, allows many holders to take part, each with a fraction of the whole. Each part, though separate, keeps its bond with the original work, like the guests at the banquet, united in the whole.
Tokenisation thus democratises art, distributing value and making it accessible and shared.
Certify your works
Would you like to know how to register and certify the works in your archive or collection on Swiss Ledger? Write to us at info@officinebit.ch.
Further reading: Artchain · Digital archives