Ureeqa launches NFT Validation-as-a-Service platform

Canadian fintech UREEQA has launched a new, ready-to-integrate Validation-as-a-Service (VaaS) technology to help clamp down on fraud and protect creators and owners of non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

The platform enables NFT buyers and sellers to validate the authenticity of these digital tokens, generating two certificates of authenticity – a ‘Package-of-Proof’ and ‘Responsibly Minted NFT’ credential – that provides evidence to prospective buyers that an NFT creator and its creation have been authenticated and are legitimate.

While validation of an NFT creator’s identity is fairly commonplace in the NFT trading market, UREEQA notes that validation of both authorship and ownership is currently “lacking”.

Most traders, it said, have been too focused “on the ease with which creative pieces can be initialised and sold”, rather than efforts to authenticate these digital assets.

“The initial exchange models were adopted by NFT marketplaces on the fly, hurried and so demand-focused that [they] enabled bad actors to take advantage of the situation,” UREEQA chief executive Kirk Fergusson said in a statement.

UREEQA said its new validation platform operates as a “centralised model”, generating a Package-of-Proof that is visible to anyone on the decentralised Ethereum digital ledger.

The system has already been “tried and tested by renowned artists” on UREEQA’s own marketplace, the company said.

NFTs are a type of unique and non-interchangeable digital asset (often photo, video, or audio files) stored on the Ethereum blockchain – an immutable and decentralised digital ledger for storing digital assets. These assets are accessible to owners via a crypto wallet.

NFTs have been popularised as a next-gen solution to trading unique digital art pieces and memorabilia.

UREEQA notes that core components of its VaaS solution can be integrated into most NFT sales platforms or marketplaces, as well as auction houses or creator associations, enabling sellers and buyers to validate their NFTs.

Fergusson said that its VaaS platform would help to “eradicate fraud and instil trust in the creations [NFT developers are] offering”.

“By leveraging our VaaS solution, NFT marketplaces can quickly work to stamp out fraud while preparing their marketplaces for broader mass market adoption.”

Nearly one in 20 Australian internet users currently own an NFT, according to a recent survey by online publisher Finder.com, with more than one in 10 planning to acquire one soon.

Founded in Canada in 2020, UREEQA specialises in the development of digital copyright protection and validation technologies.