De Marchi auctions Fausto Coppi jersey using blockchain tech

BlockStar has partnered with cycling brand De Marchi to auction off the world’s only authentic replica of Fausto Coppi’s 1953 De Marchi jersey, all traced on IBM’s HyperLedger blockchain.

Coppi, better known as Il Campionissimo, was a two-time winner of the Tour de France (1949, 1952) and a five-time winner of the Giro d’Italia (1940, 1947, 1949, 1952, 1953).

The aforementioned jersey was created by Elda De Marchi to honour Coppi’s Road World Championship win in 1953, before it vanished for 60 years until being rediscovered in 2015. While the original is now housed in Italy’s Museo Ghisallo, the now 88-year-old De Marchi has sewn a replica using the same materials, colours, dimensions and relic look.

De Marchi CEO Mauro Coccia says: “We are proud to pay tribute to Italy’s greatest cyclist by harnessing BlockStar’s world class technology to provide the winner with an authenticated, dual ownership of a true cycling artifact. This auction is a unique opportunity to collect not only the only authorised and one-of-a-kind physical replica of Fausto Coppi’s jersey, but also the digital rights to the piece.”

Further info here.