The Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp (KMSKA) announces Carnaval de Binche by James Ensor, a Belgium painting worth a million euros will be tokenized with a fractional ownership system. By doing so, the museum will be able to fundraise and preserve the rare painting by allowing everyone to be co-owners with EUR 150 investment.
The Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp (KMSKA) is a two-century old museum holding some of the greatest and oldest paintings by legendary artists. The museum has paired up with Rubey and Tokeny, blockchain companies that will help in tokenizing the original painting, Carnaval de Binche by James Ensor.
The tokenization of old art is becoming more and more common. Paintings that once were impossible to own are now becoming tokenized to preserve their heritage and originality while giving ownership rights.
Carnaval de Binche as a token
Carnaval de Binche will become tokenized. However, since it needs to be a permissioned token in order to give rights to ownership to individuals in the marketplace, this tokenized masterpiece will operate on the Polygon blockchain using the Tokeny ERC-3643 security token, a standard token for permissioned tokens.
According to the museum, “[The KMSKA] is the first European museum to tokenize a masterpiece to democratize art investment.”
By tokenizing this million-euro masterpiece, the museum might open a pathway for other museums to also tokenize their rare paintings.
Who can own the tokenized Carnaval de Binche?
Compared to the usual ownership system in which only one individual can own a tokenized rare painting, KMSKA wants to make this painting accessible to everyone. To do so, it has introduced the idea of fractional ownership.
In a fractional ownership system, everyone can become the co-owner of this tokenized masterpiece by investing EUR 150, around $158. There will be an Art Security Token Offering through which the museum can raise funds.
The tokens by KMSKA will be different from the usual NFT tokens as they are backed by debt instruments. It will use Tokeny’s permissioned token, the ERC-3643 security token to ensure a safe transaction. The interested buyers will need to meet certain criteria set by the museum in order to participate in this co-ownership.
The CEO of Tokeny, Luc Falempin says, “There is confusion in the market about NFT and security tokens, and we are pleased to see that KMSKA, an innovative traditional museum, fully understands the differences between these two types of digital assets.”
In the announcement for tokenization, the President of KMSKA, Luk Lemmens said “KMSKA will be more than a place that displays art. We are fully committed to engaging our visitors and token holders in our collection and operation. It is very special that anyone can become a “co-owner” of Carnaval de Binche by James Ensor.”
Carnaval de Binche by James Ensor is indeed a masterpiece that every art enthusiast would want to own. Through tokenization, blockchain technology is opening pathways for a common man to co-own a million-euro painting without damaging its originality.
With the success of this painting’s tokenizations, other museums might also step forward to tokenize their art collectibles so that people all around the world can see and own rare paintings as digital assets with market value.
