Blockchain solution to the Ivory problem

in #blockchain7 years ago


Recently New York crushed two tons of ivory as a protest against its sale. In my opinion this is a horrible solution to a horrible problem. First, it is likely that you are crushing antiques that have significant historical value. Second, you are decreasing the supply therein manipulating the supple demand curve. If you curb the supply without curbing the demand you only make it more profitable to illegally harvest new ivory, giving even greater incentive for more elephants and rhinos to be slaughtered.

Read story here:
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/central-park-protesters-crush-ivory-culled-slain-elephants-article-1.3381867

So what's the solution? The Blockchain. All existing ivory could be placed on the blockchain, instantly tracking the sale of all pre-existing pieces. With a private key attached to each piece it would be easily authenticated and nearly impossible to counterfeit. There would be no need to destroy it, which is senseless, and any ivory not existing on the blockchain would be easily identifiable as illegal. All illegal ivory could be confiscated and added to the blockchain and then auctioned off for the profits to benefit the cause of stopping the illegal trade. Another benefit would be to legitimize the legal harvest of ivory. It is possible to harvest rhino horns, in a controlled setting, without doing permanent damage to the animal. But because all ivory has been banned this market solution has been ostracized.

Harvesting Rhino horns:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/southafrica/12173750/Why-the-worlds-largest-rhino-farmer-is-cutting-off-their-horns.html

The new, legally harvested, ivory could then be added to the blockchain to validate its existence. This would create a free-market solution the ivory market.

I'm not a techie so I cannot provide the solution to this problem. But I freely give the idea to anyone willing to try and create a solution. Please share this article and spread the ideas within as I think blockchain technology could have a big impact in this area.

Let me know what you think. Any ideas, opinion, or suggestions are welcome.

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