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Meet the online marketplace that is using blockchain to improve transparency for fine art investors

A new online marketplace is giving art investors and collectors the chance to trade shares in fine art pieces and is using blockchain to back up its security and transparency credentials.

Maecenas, which has offices in London, Switzerland and Singapore, claims it can reduce costs and bring transparency to the notoriously opaque world of art investing through its investing marketplace, which cuts out the middleman and allows anyone to invest in a share of high-value works of art.

Its open market which will give investors the chance to trade real financial shares in multi-million dollar works of art in real time, matching art owners such as galleries and individual collectors with regular investors.

Blockchain technology is also utilised to guarantee the provenance documentation of every work of art on the marketplace, with the outcome of physical inspections and loss registry searches cryptographically secured in the blockchain which Maecenas claims makes the records impossible to falsify.

Outlining the startup’s ambition, Co-founder and Chief Executive, Marcelo Garcia Casil said: “We want to create a fair and open marketplace where investors and art owners can meet without intermediaries. We are using technology to revolutionise the art finance market, reducing costs, introducing transparency and creating liquidity.

“We are creating a new way to invest in fine art. Our ambition is to make the art industry a better place for everyone.”

The 2% transaction charge for investors and 6% listing fee for owners means the platform significantly undercuts the fees charged by auction houses, which commonly reach 30%, and are a key factor which the company believes will help it disrupt the archaic practices of the staid art market.

As it eyes further expansion the company has also recently launched a £400k crowdfunding campaign on Seedrs, which itself comes on the back of a £200k investment from Swiss venture capitalists Polytech Investors.

Casil believes that the transparency afforded by blockchain technology combined with the removal of vested interests from the transaction will see Maecenas create a truly democratic way for investors to own a share of some of the world’s finest pieces of art.

He added: “This is an industry which has been tainted by a history of fraud, money laundering and obscure practices. We want to democratise the fine art market by guaranteeing transparency and fairness. We will offer the most competitive fees in the market, giving every investor the chance to own a share of a masterpiece.”

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