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Two Brothers Disrupt the Counterfeit Economy with Blockchain Start-up Seal Network

February 25th 2018, marks the pre-ICO launch of blockchain powered product authentication and services platform Seal. This Amsterdam start-up enables anyone to verify if a product is genuine or fake. Bart & Joris (founders) share: “We come from a family of creators. Our mother frequently saw her products get imitated, so we know first hand how devastating the impact of counterfeiting is. “Our family suffered.” Seal combines NFC chips, which are embedded into physical products, the Seal app, and the Seal Network to provide a fast, simple, and secure way to provide products authenticity and other services.  By facilitating a secure tokenized version of a physical product,

February 25th 2018, marks the pre-ICO launch of blockchain powered product authentication and services platform Seal. This Amsterdam start-up enables anyone to verify if a product is genuine or fake. Bart & Joris (founders) share: “We come from a family of creators. Our mother frequently saw her products get imitated, so we know first hand how devastating the impact of counterfeiting is. “Our family suffered.” Seal combines NFC chips, which are embedded into physical products, the Seal app, and the Seal Network to provide a fast, simple, and secure way to provide products authenticity and other services. 

By facilitating a secure tokenized version of a physical product, Seal allows product-specific services to operate such as transferring ownership, theft prevention, product recalls, brand activation campaigns, product analytics and custom integration with third-party software, like the brands’ own app or e-commerce sites. In addition to solving the counterfeiting conundrum, Seal lets brands deal with parallel trade and midnight shifting once and for all.

Counterfeiting Fuels Organized Crime

Seal Network was founded by Bart and Joris Verschoor, two brothers who spent a lifetime developing products and technology. Bart shares: “Our family suffered from it, but the real impact is far more insidious. Counterfeiting fuels organized crime on a massive scale. It’s the single biggest source of funding for crime rings, terrorism, and cartels. Buying knockoffs are perceived an innocuous crime, but that Michael Kors wallet from your local street market or that fake iPhone charger from Alibaba might be funding the next attack like the London Subway or 9/11.”

Disrupting the Counterfeit Economy

Seal Network is designed for adoption by brands. Its business model allows brands to charge fees for services. For the first time in history, brands can earn money from items sold through the second hand trade, while simultaneously protecting their markets from counterfeiters. Every time products change hands, the brand earns a fee, turning their products into revenue streams. This offsets the costs of equipping the products with NFC-chips while providing a lucrative revenue stream where brand monetizes their authenticity. By using the power of the blockchain, authenticity can be checked and ownership can be transferred decades from now, even if the product itself is discontinued, as long as people contribute to the decentralized Seal network.

The Blockchain Revolution in the Palm of your Hands

Whether products are sold in stores or on the second hand market, people can purchase goods with confidence again. Seal brings all the benefits of the blockchain revolution into the physical world. It puts the power of the blockchain into the hands of people. When asked what the vision for Seal is, Bart explained: “The ultimate ambition of Seal? To become the currency of authenticity, where products can be paid in full with Seal. Using Seal to pay for products provides both buyer and seller a guaranteed exchange of goods that are simply impossible with FIAT currencies. The powerful properties of Seal and its functionality as a medium of exchange are a giant leap forward because it is optimized to securely settle the exchange of physical goods.” The start-up is a tribute to all the creators in the world, who work incredibly hard to make the products we all love so much. They’ve dedicated their lives to improve those all around the world. Now it’s time to return the favour. Seal aspires to ignite a renewed appreciation for the world’s most beloved and worthwhile brands. Out of love for creation. 

About Seal:

Seal enables anyone to verify the authenticity of their favourite products. They want to bring back confidence to consumers and allow for brands to interact with their most heavily vested customers in the most direct way the internet has ever seen. They are building a better world in which consumers appreciate the creative work of makers and stop feeding the counterfeit economy and its disastrous effects on the world.

This is a sponsored press release and does not necessarily reflect the opinions or views held by any employees of The Merkle. This is not investment, trading, or gambling advice. Always conduct your own independent research.