Kodak Announces Launch Of “Kodakcoin”, Stocks Surges 50%

Now that it is all too clear to everyone that all it takes to send your microcap stock price soaring anywhere between 50% and 500% or more, is to either add “Blockchain” to the company name, or announce some “Cryptocurrency initiative” as we showed two weeks ago, moments ago former camera and film giant Eastman Kodak did both, sending its stock soaring as much as 77%.

In a press release on Tuesday afternoon, Kodak stock soared after the recently insolvent photography company said it would launch the Kodakcoin, “a photocentric cryptocurrency to empower photographers and agencies to take greater control in image rights management.”

From the press release:

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.

The immediate result is shown below:

But wait, it gets better, because in the press release, Kodak actually goes so far to mock the fact that “blockchain” and “Cryptocurrency” have become hot buzzwords, something Kodak is disgusted by… but will gladly take the 50% stock spike. To wit:

“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.”

As for Kodak, these “buzzwords” are a shortcut to nearly doubling the stock in seconds.

The move comes as investors continue to bid up virtually any asset related to cryptos or the blockchain technology that underpins them, no matter how ridiculous or tenuous the tie. Microcaps previously involved in sports bras, fruit juices and teas have made the move and been rewarded with spikes in their share prices.

As for Kodak, the company emerged from bankruptcy in 2013 after selling off most of its patents to companies including Apple and Microsoft. The Rochester, New York-based company now focuses on digital photography and printing, as well as licensing agreements, and judging by its stock price, another bankruptcy may be inevitable unless the company somehow manages to capitalize on its brand new cryptocurrency.