Tokenizing the right of entry — Using NFTs to solve ticket scalping

It is a well known fact that the primary and secondary ticket market are highly inefficient. At times it seems that ever actor involved in the market is getting the short end of the stick.

• Fans are getting scalped and scammed from all sides.
• Artists are missing out on resale market profits while still getting flack for allowing their tickets to be scalped in the first place.
• Resale market corrupts the validity of the customer data set of the ticket issuer(as secondary sales go undetected).
• Supply and demand on the secondary market is fractured and badly coordinated.

The only actors that seem to come out ahead are the middlemen. Resale platforms like Viagogo, TicketSwap and Seatwave net the largest gains while adding next to nothing to the event experience.

A ticket is unique in the sense that it can be used only once. This means that if we tokenize a ticket, we need to be able to separate tickets of the same event by a unique identifier. ERC721s are perfect for this feature set.

The GET Protocol uses Ethereums NFT technology to make trust-less and friction-less ticket trading possible. Due to this we are able to reset the market structure in the way that fans, artists and promotors receive most of the spoils. It is about time if you ask me.

Overview of this blog

• What is there to tokenize; the definition of a ticket
• How an NFT can become a right of entry
• Benefits of GETs NFTs

More about GET Protocol

This blog is an slightly modified of a previously published blog (linked below).

The Desert of the Real— Introducing getNFT Tickets

More blogs (both technical as sector focused) can be found on our medium blog.

Definition of a ticket

Before we can properly discuss how the GET Protocol tokenizes the ticket asset, we need a proper definition of a ticket.

A ticket can be defined as the right to enter an area or venue during a certain time span. Tickets come into existence when they are issued in by the primary issuer, referred to as the primary ticket market.

Ticket markets — Primary & secondary

The issued right of entry has both utility value for the current owner(the value of using the ticket) as well as a resale value(value of the ticket when resold). If — for a certain ticket owner- the resale value exceeds the utility value (note, this varies per person widely) the ticket will be offered for sale on a the secondary ticket market.

Tickets are digitally native assets that can only be truly owned by 1 person at the same time. These 2 feats make them exceptionally well suited to be represented as an NFT.

Transferring your right of entry

Now that we have established that a ticket is effectively a transferable right — an asset that non-physical in nature. In addition we know that this asset is assigned different values for different people. Before diving into the composition of the getNFT ticket asset, let’s briefly explore how static tickets deliver this ‘digital right’.

Example of a static QR code containing some information.

The QR code — The original paper wallet seed

A QR code is a data format that can easily be interpreted by computers. In most cases QR codes encode a unique & secret URL. Only devices with certain authentication can successfully visit the URL endpoint and mark a ticket as validated.

In a sense, traditional QR codes are naked private keys. As merely sharing a QR code publicly will expose its secret message. Allowing anybody that has ever had access to that QR to utilize it . Even if the user isn’t the ‘official’ owner of the ticket. A static QR code is, evidently, static and thus cannot track who is the current owner of the ticket (and if multiple people own the same copy). In a way, a static QR code is ‘too dumb’ to enforce anything beyond encoding a string.

Buying a static QR code ticket isn’t different from buying bitcoin and taking delivery by receiving a copy of the sellers private key. With a pinky promise that the bitcoins on the wallet are truly yours as the seller certainly won’t use it. You aren’t allowed or able to move them though!

For some reason people still accept this archaic uncertainty in ticketing.A static QR code ticket can only be used once. After validated, all other owners of the same QR code will now own a worthless asset (that was previously valid).

If the aim is to tokenize a ticket with an NFT, we need to be sure that the QR code can only be used by the owner of the getNFT ticket.

Storing a secret in a public ledger

Blockchains are public ledgers. So it is not smart to store a secret QR code in the metadata field of an NFT. In order to encapsulate the right of entry within an NFT we will need a form of encryption only allowing the owner of the NFT to generate the QR code at the right time.

The medium.com server has encrypted the data on this page with the public key of your browser. By doing so medium.com can send the encrypted page data over the web. Only the private key of your browser can decrypt the message. Malicious interceptors of data can’t include malware in the message, as they cannot insert scripts in an encrypted file.

The type of encryption we are looking for is asymmetric encryption. Luckily, this is one of the most used types of encryption. For example, the green SSL lock you see in top corner of your browser is the product of such asymmetric encryption verification(SSL). The browser page as served to you right now is decrypted by your browsers private key (read more about SSL here).

Asymmetric encryption for ticket QRs

Tickets are a right of entry at a certain time. In order to ensure the getNFT retains its value when it is traded from wallet to wallet, it should only be possible to generate the QR after a certain time-lock (after which transferring the NFT should become disabled). Luckily this is the exact type of logic smart contracts are perfect for.

Ingredients for a getNFT to generate a QR code:

• A getNFT minted by a official GET Protocol NFT Factory Smart Contract
• The unique ticket identifier stored in the NFT at issuance(mapping to the ticket).
• The address of the owner of the getNFT at the time of the tickets activation (an activation can be triggered by a blockheight target, or be done in a tx by the ticket issuer).

How a getNFT becomes a QR code

One of the downsides of static QR codes is the fact that they are still usable by their previous owners. The diagram below demonstrates that having owned an getNFT in the past doesn’t leak the ‘QR code’ as the generation of this secret is either time-locked or needs to be activated by the issuer.

Even though Alice has owned the NFT in the past, she is not able to generate a QR code as te

Summary benefits getNFT tickets

• getNFTs enable true ownership of the digital asset that is the ticket.
• getNFTs are transferable, making tickets truly safely transferable and shareable.
• getNFTs can store unique metadata, effectively allowing the inclusion of event & resale-rules in the digital asset.

More about GET Protocol

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A blockchain-based honest ticketing solution for all.

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