I’m a firm believer in blockchain and crypto but being a believer doesn’t mean I should put my common sense aside.

In 2018, I created a startup called 1Krowd to use blockchain for ticketing. I spent over 6 months thinking, tinkering and finding excuses (literally) to use blockchain for my ticketing solution. But all answers led to the same conclusion — DO NOT use blockchain. Eventually, we used facial recognition technology instead.

I was discouraged, to say the least, as I was so excited about this new Web3 technology. But please allow me to share my findings.

Ticketmaster Acquires Blockchain Ticketing Solution UPGRADED

Wow, this was amazing news! I thought if Ticketmaster, the world’s largest ticketing company, is acquiring a blockchain startup, there must be a strong validation that blockchain is good for ticketing, right? I even had the right differentiating factor to beat UPGRADED, so I thought.

The acquisition was circa 2018 but up to now, no other news came from the startup nor Ticketmaster. In fact, their website has gone bust. One may say it was an acqui-hire. Right, so let’s check from 2018 to now to see what else Ticketmaster or their parent Live Nation has been doing with blockchain or NFT.

Ticketmaster owner Live Nation partners with blockchain ticketing firm — FanDragon Technologies

FanDragon is the creator of TixTo.Me — a blockchain entertainment wallet. The collaboration supposed to offer consumers access to tickets in one secure blockchain wallet. As of now, TixTo.Me and FanDragon websites no longer exist.