EXHIBITOR NEWS: Tag management platform ixkio has added a new feature that enables users to easily verify the authenticity of both a digital non-fungible token (NFT) and the physical NFC tag linked to it in a single interaction.
The new feature means that brands can now verify the authenticity of both an NFC tag and an associated NFT in the same call — providing confidence that the combined physical and digital entities are connected.
NFTs are digital blockchain-based certificates that can be used for verifying the ownership of videos, online artwork and other digital assets. Being uncopyable, they can address the issue of counterfeiting while also creating exclusivity.
There are many possible use cases, though one of the more promising is to create ‘digital twin’ products that exist in both the real world and in cyberspace.
“In many ways, people already have a digital twin of themselves — a virtual, online social identity. Therefore, it’s logical that people’s physical purchases and interactions can also exist in parallel in the digital space,” ixkio CEO Phil Coote explained to NFCW. “When they own a real-world item, an NFT gives them a digital twin that allows them to also own it within the virtual spaces that they inhabit.”
This means, for example, that a consumer who purchases a pair of high-end sneakers could don the same luxury footwear in their favourite online game.
An NFC authentication tag attached to the shoes holds a key that is then used to create a unique code with each scan. That unique code is verifiable on the ixkio server, providing confidence in the confirmation that the NFC authentication tag is, indeed, what it purports to be, therefore affirming that the sneakers to which it’s attached are genuine. The tag also links to the NFT of the digital shoes, allowing them to be imported into the game.
“With the continued growth of physical authentication with NFC, digital authentication with NFTs and the logical need to connect the two by creating digital twins, our customers are looking for easy ways to implement their projects,” Coote told NFCW.
“This new feature strengthens the ixkio platform’s ability to power the connection between physical and digital, using NFC tags and NFTs working together in unison to help brands protect products from counterfeiting, promote exclusivity and extend reach.”
NFT management is available now at no additional cost as part of ixkio’s Flex Alpha plan and enables users to manipulate NFT data directly via a web interface or — for integration with larger projects — through the platform’s management API.
Learn more about Ixkio in the NFCW Expo.
Explore: Ixkio
Learn more: Anti-counterfeiting, Authentication, Blockchain, Contactless, digital twin, ixkio Flex Alpha, NFC, NFC tags, non-fungible token (NFT), Phil Coote, tag management, Verification
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