Ascribe is an open‑source platform that records digital assets on a blockchain‑backed database, providing immutable provenance and a verifiable ownership ledger. It uses the COALA IP standard to attach flexible, machine‑readable licensing terms to each asset, allowing creators and institutions to manage wallets, transfer ownership, and grant usage rights at scale.
Funding
Funding not disclosed
Founders
Product
Problem
Digital artworks and other digital IP are easily copied and lack a reliable way to prove ownership, assign value, and enforce licensing, making it difficult for creators to monetize their work.
Solution
Ascribe provides an open‑source platform that records digital assets on a blockchain‑backed database, creating immutable provenance and a verifiable ownership ledger. It implements the COALA IP standard to enable flexible, machine‑readable licensing terms that can be attached to each asset. Users can manage a personal wallet of digital property, transfer ownership, and grant usage rights securely. The underlying BigchainDB infrastructure ensures scalability for high‑volume workloads while maintaining clean, queryable metadata. By exposing APIs, Ascribe allows artists, institutions, and developers to integrate provenance and licensing into their own applications.
Target Audience
Primary users are digital artists, musicians, designers, and other creators, as well as galleries, museums, and platforms that need to manage and monetize digital intellectual property.
Features
- Immutable provenance stored on a decentralized blockchain database (BigchainDB) for tamper‑proof ownership records
- COALA IP standard support for flexible, on‑chain licensing and rights management
- Personal digital asset wallet for creating, transferring, and tracking ownership of artworks, music, 3D designs, and other IP
- Scalable architecture capable of handling high transaction volumes (e.g., 100,000 assets per day)
- Open‑source codebase with self‑hosted deployment options for institutions and developers
- API and SDKs for easy integration of provenance and licensing into external platforms
- Compatibility with emerging NFT and digital collectible standards