The initial coin offering (ICO) for the Kodak-branded cryptocurrency, dubbed KodakCoin, has been delayed.
The public sale was originally supposed to launch on Jan. 31, as previously reported by CoinDesk, following a pre-sale during which 8 million KodakCoins were sold.
Per the statement, the delay is being attributed to an extended process of verifying that those trying to invest are actually accredited in the U.S., meaning that they have a net worth of more than $1 million or an income of at least $200,000.
The statement continued:
“Given the large interest in the KODAKCoin ICO and the steps that we need to take to verify the ‘accredited investor’ status of each interested investor, we expect this process to take several weeks.”
The project is the result of a deal between Kodak and WENN Digital, and is intended to serve as the underlying token for a decentralized photo rights management platform (and as pointed out by Ars Techina, the project appears to be traced to an earlier, similarly-structured project called RYDE coin).
Kodak’s pivot to blockchain led to rumors that the company was trying to take advantage of the current investor atmosphere around other firms, many of which have seen their stocks double or triple after announcing pivots related to the tech. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said last week that it plans to scrutinize such moves more closely.
Market data shows that, in the wake of the delay announcement, Eastman Kodak Co. share prices have fallen. Per Google, the stock’s value is down more than 15% as of press time.
The Jan. 31 statement also warned investors against fake KodakCoin ICO pages appearing on Facebook and other websites, and that investors would not be able to purchase tokens outside the company’s official platform.
Clock in sand image via Shutterstock
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