THE $1 BILLION BITCOIN GIANT BITFURY IS LAUNCHING A BLOCKCHAIN MUSIC PLATFORM

The Bitfury Group, a bitcoin mining firm turned global blockchain company based out of London, has announced that it will launch an entertainment division tasked with developing an open-source music platform that runs on blockchain technology.

The open-source platform, named SurroundTM, will streamline the secure transfer of copyright assets including better monitoring and management systems, aiming to decentralise a notoriously opaque music industry. To do so, the platform will create a digital system for sharing and monetising intellectual property and provide transparent management functions and trusted data.

“There is a very strong momentum for an open entertainment-related blockchain where market participants themselves would be participating in the market venue, not only from a transactional value point of view,” Stefan Schulz, chief executive officer of Bitfury Surround and a 20-year music and entertainment industry veteran, told Reuters.

“The actual platform is being put together and developed as we speak. Several parts have already been in place,” Schulz said, though it won’t be complete for some time.

According to Reuters, the Bitfury Surround business division will be based in Europe, with operations in Amsterdam and Berlin. Other offices are set for Los Angeles, Tokyo, Seoul and Moscow.

The Bitfury Group raised $80 million from investors last year, including the merchant bank founded by billionaire Mike Novogratz. That funding round pushed Bitfury’s valuation to $1 billion, achieving unicorn status.

Bitfury was founded in 2011 and is now based in London. It sells gear used to mine cryptocurrencies and develops blockchain technology for clients including the Ukrainian government

SurroundTM isn’t the first blockchain music enterprise aiming to open up the opaque music industry. As CNR reported a year ago, international DJ Gareth Emery is fronting a similar project named Choon which is already up-and-running, and streaming music underpinning by blockchain technology.