French Artist Launches Personal Crypto Tied to Value of His Career and Output

Paris-based artist Ben Elliot’s efforts to revolutionize the artwork purchasing and collecting experience have resulted in what he claims to be the world’s first personal cryptocurrency directly pegged to a career.

The Stellar blockchain-based digital currency is called Ben Elliot Token (BET) and is expected to launch in 2021. The value of the token will rise along with the market value of Elliot’s artwork.

Not a stablecoin though

However, BET will not be a stablecoin as it may seem at first. “Ben Elliot Token is following my journey as an artist and my market value. Art goes up and down all the time but is a very stable asset if you consider that a young artist can only go up if he works well enough to make it happen,” Elliot explained to Cointelegraph.

The artist says he chose Stellar because he likes the project and ambition behind the Stellar blockchain as it represents “one single network useful for different systems.” Currently, Elliot is working on the pricing mechanism functionality, which he expects to disclose closer to the end of 2020.

When asked on what trading platforms he is going to list the token, Elliot said that he favors peer-to-peer exchanges, but did not name any of them at this point.

Collecting tokens as art

BET is designed as a decentralized cryptocurrency. Elliot calls the token an artwork itself, saying that he hopes that BET will become one of the few new forms of art that will change the industry.

Aside from collecting BET as an artwork, interested parties will be able to invest in it for profits, exchange with any other currency or spend it on artworks and events. Elliot further said:

“BET holders will be part of a community of forward-thinkers involved in the emerging conversations about the creative and financial fields. They will be able to access an online platform where we will offer a program of exhibitions and exclusive contents. They will also be offered to participate in IRL events where they can gather with other holders, meet and discover a program of talks, screenings, etc. At last, they can also convert the tokens into physical artworks at a preferred price.”

Commenting on the token’s compliance with regulations, Elliot said that “people will be subject to those of their countries in matters of crypto assets.”

Although Elliot claims BET to be the first ever personal token directly tied to his career evolution, Alex Masmej, founder of a company offering loans against non-fungible tokens, just recently raised $20,000 after selling his personal tokens on the Ethereum network.

Masmej promised investors voting rights in major life decisions, participation in his seed funding round, and exclusive sessions.

When art meets money in the digital age

Generally, the art and collectibles industry has embraced blockchain’s benefits. By registering a work of art on blockchain, galleries and art registration services can ensure the transparency of artworks’ history and physical characteristics.

Earlier this year, investment platform CurioInvest and Seychelles-based digital asset exchange MERJ Exchange Ltd. announced the development of a Car Token (CT1) token, which is set to be pegged to the value of collectible cars. Individuals can invest in multiple cars.