WISeKey Announces Non-Fungible Tokens (NFT) for Digital Identity Verification of Valuable Objects and Proof of Ownership of Digital and Tangible Assets

WISeKey Announces Non-Fungible Tokens (NFT) for Digital Identity Verification of Valuable Objects and Proof of Ownership of Digital and Tangible Assets

The acceleration of NFT has been fueled by the need to curb fraud and forgery in artworks but is now quickly being adopted by other industries that can benefit from a non-cloneable digital certificate of authenticity

Geneva – March 18, 2021 - Wisekey International Holding ("WISeKey", SIX: WIHN, NASDAQ: WKEY), a leading cybersecurity, AI, and IoT company, today announced the development of its Non-Fungible Tokens (NFT) application built on highly-scalable blockchain infrastructure backed by proprietary Digital Identification technology that secures, authenticates and proves ownership of digital and tangible assets.

WISeKey is adding the NFT capability to its WISeAuthentic Platform (https://www.wisekey.com/wiseauthentic-blockchain/), which uses a patented method for digital certification of authenticity of a physical object, and corresponding computer program and storage device, as well as using the method for digital certification of authenticity of a physical object of value. The method includes the steps of issuing a storage device, including a digital certificate of authenticity including encrypted information reflecting at least one characteristic unique to the physical object, checking, whenever required, the validity of the digital certificate of authenticity by use of a network computer, the network computer cooperating with the storage device and a validating or a certifying authority so as to output sensibly in real time the status of validity of the digital certificate of authenticity, and modifying , whenever required.  

More information about the patent can be found at - http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=8&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PTXT&s1=wisekey&OS=wisekey&RS=wisekey  

With a rich portfolio of more than 46 patent families, covering over 100 fundamental individual patents, and another 22 patents under review, WISeKey continues to expand its digital tangible asset protection technology footprint in various domains, including the design of secure chips, near field communication (NFC), development of security firmware and backend software, secure management of data, improvement of security protocols between connected objects and advanced cryptography.

WISeKey’s patented technology that already secures millions of objects (luxury products, expensive wine, jewelry, collector’s items, high end watches, art, etc.), now includes NFT applications backed by Digital Identification technology that secures, authenticates and proves ownership of digital and tangible assets. The combination of Digital Identification with NFT will be a game changer in proving ownership of digital tangible assets. Major brands are already creating and trading NFTs: Nike has used them to create digital shoes linked to real-world shoes while Louis Vuitton uses NFTs to track the provenance of luxury goods. This trend is likely to continue in 2021 as fashion embraces the trend towards representing physical assets in a digital form. Imagine an asset, such as a luxury watch or famous artwork that need to be authenticated, the NFT digital asset can be used to prove the ownership of the virtual and tangible object containing digitally signed information that is easily verifiable, making it impossible to replicate. With this technology creators can turn their products into NFTs for copyright ideas. The use of NFTs to verify identity involves turning physical objects into non-fungible tokens to avoid counterfeits.

The NFT market is now growing exponentially with NFT trading expanding in all sectors fueled by the need to curb fraud and forgery in artwork but is now quickly being adopted by other industries that can benefit from a non-cloneable digital certificate of authenticity.

About WISeKey

WISeKey (NASDAQ: WKEY; SIX Swiss Exchange: WIHN) is a leading global cybersecurity company currently deploying large scale digital identity ecosystems for people and objects using Blockchain, AI and IoT respecting the Human as the Fulcrum of the Internet. WISeKey microprocessors secure the pervasive computing shaping today’s Internet of Everything. WISeKey IoT has an install base of over 1.5 billion microchips in virtually all IoT sectors (connected cars, smart cities, drones, agricultural sensors, anti-counterfeiting, smart lighting, servers, computers, mobile phones, crypto tokens etc.).  WISeKey is uniquely positioned to be at the edge of IoT as our semiconductors produce a huge amount of Big Data that, when analyzed with Artificial Intelligence (AI), can help industrial applications to predict the failure of their equipment before it happens.

Our technology is Trusted by the OISTE/WISeKey’s Swiss based cryptographic Root of Trust ("RoT”) provides secure authentication and identification, in both physical and virtual environments, for the Internet of Things, Blockchain and Artificial Intelligence. The WISeKey RoT serves as a common trust anchor to ensure the integrity of online transactions among objects and between objects and people. For more information, visit www.wisekey.com.

Press and investor contacts:

WISeKey International Holding Ltd
Company Contact:  Carlos Moreira
Chairman & CEO
Tel: +41 22 594 3000
info@wisekey.com        

WISeKey Investor Relations (US)
Contact:  Lena Cati
The Equity Group Inc.
Tel: +1 212 836-9611
lcati@equityny.com

Disclaimer:

This communication expressly or implicitly contains certain forward-looking statements concerning WISeKey International Holding Ltd and its business. Such statements involve certain known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors, which could cause the actual results, financial condition, performance, or achievements of WISeKey International Holding Ltd to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. WISeKey International Holding Ltd is providing this communication as of this date and does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements contained herein as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

This press release does not constitute an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to buy, any securities, and it does not constitute an offering prospectus within the meaning of article 652a or article 1156 of the Swiss Code of Obligations or a listing prospectus within the meaning of the listing rules of the SIX Swiss Exchange. Investors must rely on their own evaluation of WISeKey and its securities, including the merits and risks involved. Nothing contained herein is, or shall be relied on as, a promise or representation as to the future performance of WISeKey.