Counterfeits are a trade-scale problem
The OECD and EU Intellectual Property Office estimate that fakes made up as much as 2.3% of world trade, and 4.7% of EU imports, based on customs seizure data. Luxury goods, watches and collectibles are among the most-copied categories. Holograms and paper certificates have not kept up, because they can be copied as easily as the goods.
Collectors buy with a phone in hand
The Art Basel and UBS collector survey found that most wealthy collectors now research online, and that use of apps and AI tools jumped sharply in two years. It also found that younger collectors are spending heavily and often inherit collections. Evidence that opens instantly from the object fits how these buyers already behave.
Regulation is moving products online
The EU's Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation introduces Digital Product Passports, category by category. Art-market anti-money-laundering rules in the UK and EU already require dealers to keep records of high-value transactions. Both point the same way: objects with a persistent, checkable digital record. Read more in our Digital Product Passport guide.
The tools are ready
- Almost every modern smartphone reads QR codes with the camera and NFC tags without an app.
- Secure NFC chips make cloning detectable for a small cost per item.
- GS1 Digital Link gives products web addresses that work with both retail and consumer scanning.
- Platforms like SmartLinks manage the identity, records and ownership behind each tag.
The landscape of approaches
Approaches to provenance range from paper certificates and holograms, to registries and databases, to blockchain-based certificates, to connected NFC and QR identities. They are not mutually exclusive — the strongest records tie whatever evidence exists to a secure tag on the object itself, so the proof cannot be separated from the thing it describes.