ROCHESTER, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Today Kodak and WENN Digital, in a licensing partnership, announced the launch of the KODAKOne image rights management platform and KODAKCoin, a photo-centric cryptocurrency to empower photographers and agencies to take greater control in image rights management. 
 
 Utilizing blockchain technology, the KODAKOne platform will create an encrypted, digital ledger of rights ownership for photographers to register both new and archive work that they can then license within the platform. With KODAKCoin, participating photographers are invited to take part in a new economy for photography, receive payment for licensing their work immediately upon sale, and for both professional and amateur photographers, sell their work confidently on a secure blockchain platform. KODAKOne platform provides continual web crawling in order to monitor and protect the IP of the images registered in the KODAKOne system. Where unlicensed usage of images is detected, the KODAKOne platform can efficiently manage the post-licensing process in order to reward photographers. 
 
 “For many in the tech industry, ‘blockchain’ and ‘cryptocurrency’ are hot buzzwords, but for photographers who’ve long struggled to assert control over their work and how it’s used, these buzzwords are the keys to solving what felt like an unsolvable problem,” said Kodak CEO Jeff Clarke. “Kodak has always sought to democratize photography and make licensing fair to artists. These technologies give the photography community an innovative and easy way to do just that.” 
 
 “Engaging with a new platform, it is critical photographers know their work and their income is handled securely and with trust, which is exactly what we did with KODAKCoin,” said WENN Digital CEO Jan Denecke. “Subject to the highest standards of compliance, KODAKCoin is all about paying photographers fairly and giving them an opportunity to get in on the ground floor of a new economy tailored for them, with secure asset rights management built right in.” 
 
 The initial coin offering will open on January 31, 2018 and is open to accredited investors from the U.S., UK, Canada and other select countries. For more information visit www.kodakcoin.com. This initial Coin Offering is issued under SEC guidelines as a security token under Regulation 506 (c) as an exempt offering. 
 
 For more information and to sign up for product updates, please visit www.kodak.com/go/kodakone. 
 
 About Kodak 
 
 Kodak is a technology company focused on imaging. We provide – directly and through partnerships with other innovative companies – hardware, software, consumables and services to customers in graphic arts, commercial print, publishing, packaging, entertainment and commercial films, and consumer products markets. With our world-class R&D capabilities, innovative solutions portfolio and highly trusted brand, Kodak is helping customers around the globe to sustainably grow their own businesses and enjoy their lives. For additional information on Kodak, visit us at kodak.com, follow us on Twitter @Kodak, or like us on Facebook at Kodak. 
 
 About WENN Digital 
 
 WENN Digital, in partnership with Kodak, is the creator of the KODAKOne platform and the KODAKCoin cryptocurrency. WENN Digital is an experienced development and operations team with deep expertise in proprietary blockchain development, big data, copyright law, AI-enabled image recognition and post licensing monetization systems. WENN Digital has a strategic relationship with the Deloitte Analytics Institute in Berlin and the Deloitte Blockchain Institute in Munich. Further, WENN Digital leverages the market position of its 30-year old subsidiary WENN Media, which works with approximately 2,500 professional photographers. WENN Digital’s live operational copyright infringement management system is delivering revenues to photographers worldwide today and will form Phase 1 of the KODAKOne platform. 
 
 Kodak, KODAKOne and KODAKCoin are trademarks of Eastman Kodak Company. 

 Investors really love Eastman Kodak's makeover. 
 
 One day after the 130-year-old industrial company announced plans for its own cryptocurrency, shares rose 57 percent. On Tuesday, they more than doubled. 
 
 KodakCoin will roll out after an initial coin offering later this month, Kodak said Tuesday. Blockchain, the technology underpinning popular digital currencies like bitcoin, is going to be used to build KodakOne, the company's new photo rights and royalties tracking product for digital photographers. KodakCoin will be the currency used on that platform. 
 
 Kodak shares were around $3.13 before the announcement was put out and closed on Wednesday at $10.70. 
 
 It is another step in the evolution of the faded American brand, once synonymous with film cartridges, paper and camera equipment. Kodak entered bankruptcy six years ago and emerged with a new focus on digital printing and packaging. But it still struggled to regain momentum. 
 
 Like many old-line companies it has embraced cryptocurrencies and blockchain to remake its image, and time will tell whether that will stick. 
 
 Shares of Long Blockchain Corp. doubled after the beverage company changed its name from Long Island Iced Tea Corp. in December. The company had faced a delisting warning in October by Nasdaq because its market value had fallen below $35 million. The biotech equipment maker Bioptix got a similar boost when it changed its name to Riot Blockchain last year. 

 There’s a growing list of companies that have added language about blockchain or cryptocurrency into their names and mission statements, and it makes sense. Companies that do so see their stocks rise in value afterward. The latest company to jump on this trend is, unexpectedly, Kodak, which just launched its own KodakCoin, a cryptocurrency for photographers. As soon as the news was announced, Kodak’s stock (KODK) jumped up, and as of this writing, its stock price is $5.02, a 60 percent gain. 
 
 KodakCoins will work as tokens inside the new blockchain-powered KodakOne rights management platform. The platform will supposedly create a digital ledger of rights ownership that photographers can use to register and license new and old work. Both the platform and cryptocurrency are supposed to “empower photographers and agencies to take greater control in image rights management,” according to the press release. The digital currency is meant to create a new economy for photographers to receive payment and sell work on a secure platform. 
 
 Kodak CEO Jeff Clarke said in a press statement, “For many in the tech industry, ‘blockchain’ and ‘cryptocurrency’ are hot buzzwords, but for photographers who’ve long struggled to assert control over their work and how it’s used, these buzzwords are the keys to solving what felt like an unsolvable problem.” 
 
 There’s also a precedent for selling artwork or illustrations through blockchain technology, as the world saw with the Ethereum-based CryptoKitties. CryptoKitties features artwork drawn by Guilherme Twardowski, who drew every single cat and cat feature in the game. 
 
 But while Kodak’s proposed blockchain-powered platform and virtual coin sound good on paper, it’s not clear why the photography company needs to use blockchain to achieve its goals, rather than just create another social media platform instead. It appears that Kodak, like the other tea and vape companies that received media attention last month for making the abrupt leap to blockchain, could just be trying to capitalize on the current cryptocurrency mania. 
 
 KodakCoin’s initial coin offering opens on January 31st, under SEC guidelines as a security token, and it’s open to US, UK, Canadian, and other investors.
– Time was, when flagging companies wanted to appear hip they would give a mascot sunglasses and a skateboard. Well, it appears blockchain and cryptocurrency are the new sunglasses and skateboard. Following on the heels of Long Island Ice Tea Corp., which changed its name to Long Blockchain Corp. in December, Kodak announced Tuesday it would be creating its own cryptocurrency called KodakCoin, the Verge reports. According to CNBC, Kodak stock had more than tripled by Wednesday following the announcement of KodakCoin and the blockchain-powered KodakOne platform where photographers can trade in KodakCoin. By way of explanation for the soaring stock, CNN writer Seth Fiegerman on Twitter offered: "Because 2018." Kodak is using blockchain—the technology behind bitcoin and other digital currencies—to create a digital ledger where photographers can "sell their work confidently on a secure blockchain platform," according to a press release. The Verge notes it's unclear why Kodak actually needs blockchain for this, though companies are starting to realize they can get a bump in their stock value by adding something about cryptocurrency to their names or business plans. Kodak CEO Jeff Clarke says "cryptocurrency" and "blockchain" aren't just "hot buzzwords" for Kodak but "the keys to solving what felt like an unsolvable problem." The market appears bullish on that, with Kodak stock prices increasing from $3.13 to $11. The former Long Island Ice Tea Corp. and biotech equipment company Bioptix—now Riot Blockchain—saw similar stock gains upon changing their names.