Bitbrand launching digital luxury marketplace
Bitbrand is rolling out a platform for the sale of blockchain-certified digital products.
In an email to Chain Store Age, Bitbrand founder Giuseppe Sacco explained how the company, which will officially open its marketplace for digital luxury items on Feb. 29, intends to operate. Sacco is also co-founder of Italist.com, an online luxury goods marketplace that partners with over 400 brands worldwide.
“Bitbrand is the world's first platform to offer blockchain-certified digital products with tangible utility, starting with customizable Apple Watch faces,” Sacco said in the email. “Luxury brands have struggled to move into the digital space because they can’t protect their intellectual property (IP) and brand reputation.”
According to Sacco, Bitbrand is building a secure luxury space where users can discover, buy, collect, use and auction off authentic digital products. Rather than utilize non-fungible tokens (NFTs), Bitbrand leverages Web 3.0 technologies such as blockchain (a a real-time, single digital ledger verifying all transactions conducted on the blockchain network) to authenticate digital content which is consumable via credit cards and can be used on personal devices such as smartphones and Apple Watches.
Bitbrand’s first offering will be a three-step process for downloading authentic digital “watch faces” to Apple Watches, with pricing that begins at the $50-$100 range. This inaugural launch, developed in collaboration with Los Angeles-based artist Artlord, Getty Images and luxury brand Armand Basi, debuts on its website on Feb. 29, 2024, and will be showcased on a Times Square billboard March 18-25.
“Bitbrand thrives on partnerships and collaborations with artists, photographers - including a curated and exclusive selection from Getty Images, celebrities and luxury brands,” Sacco said in the email. “We enable these brands to transcend traditional offerings by creating digital equivalents of their iconic products.”
In the near future, Sacco said Bitbrand will extend its digital offerings to include custom wallpapers for iPhone users, complete with authenticity certificates, before expanding to Android devices. Bitbrand also plans to soon offer consumers an accessible way to port their exclusive digital content on social media platforms, gaming platforms, or other digital venues through automated and secure APIs that will allow users to move content among their web apps.