Determining authenticity
Ev Tchebotarev avatar
Written by Ev Tchebotarev
Updated over a week ago

Sloika is a curated photo platform, so we started with deep care for authenticity for the benefit of both photographers and collectors.

Open platforms are overwhelmed by constant "copy mints", defrauding collectors by selling them fake art, and artists, by robbing them of legitimate sales. This behaviour is rampant and undermines the trust of the parties.

Here's how we help determine authenticity on Sloika:

Every photographer or collective on the platform is "Verified by Sloika". This means the following steps have to be completed in order to be on the platform:

  • We received an application from the artist, and reviewed their credentials — often it is their social media, website, and the body of work.

  • We reviewed that their social media points to their portfolio, or matches with the details they provided to us.

  • We reviewed their works to ensure they match the quality of their submissions (such as, submitted works are in line with the rest of their portfolio)

    • If there's any doubt, we'll run a reverse image search or contact the photographer via other means to verify their identity.

  • We spoke with them on the phone, Zoom, or over email either before or shortly after the approval, before their series or edition goes live.

  • We provide an extensive onboarding process with email, easy-to-read articles and other materials, designed to help understand the contracts and expectations behind 1/1 art and editions, especially for those who are new to the art or web3 space.

  • Every artist is required to have ENS (Ethereum Name Service) before they can mint, providing a public identity for their wallet.

  • At last, when the artist mints their series or an edition, they receive "Verified by Sloika" badge on their profile.

We believe that being able to take the time to verify the artist on the platform provides an incredible value and a peace of mind to collectors, in an opaque space where artists and collectors rely heavily on trust and personal connection to make a sale or a purchase.

For collectors, Sloika offers several additional points of guarantee:

  • Every artist mints on their own smart contract, meaning they can't add additional NFT into a series or an edition — the maximum supply within this contract is known.

  • Metadata is frozen and on-chain (on IPFS attached to a blockchain record) right at the moment of minting.

  • Every smart contract comes with its own $token, and provenance originates from the artist's wallet, making it easier to track for collectors.

  • Every series and edition comes with clear on-chain image rights, which we developed with web3 in mind, giving collectors opportunity to purchase works that can be displayed in real or meta-galleries, for commercial use, and more.

  • And lastly, every new edition and collection contains on-chain property with an artist's name for easy search and cataloging (this feature was suggested by a collector AlphaTrilogy).

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