Shares in Kodak, the photography company that has struggled to keep pace with changing technology, rose around 40 per cent yesterday after the 129-year-old group announced that it was launching a blockchain business.
The US company announced that it was partnering with WENN Digital, part of the London-headquartered WENN media organisation, to create an encrypted digital ledger of ownership rights for photographers using blockchain — the technology that underpins cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin.
Kodak’s bet on blockchain technology is the latest in a long line of such moves to fire up investors. When Long Island Iced Tea Corp changed its name to Long Blockchain Corp in late December, its shares leapt some 289 per cent.