Quick take:
- Both platforms will screen NFT marketplaces to sniff out counterfeit NFTs.
- Tovera will make use of Sniffles’ technology that detects NFTs minted without permission.
- Tovera’s own image recognition technology for marketplaces and consumers is available for free.
NFT fraud prevention startup, Tovera, has acquired NFT fraud detection project SnifflesNFT to combat forgery in the NFT space. The acquisition was made for an undisclosed price.
With the acquisition, Tovera will make use of Sniffles’ technology that detects NFTs minted without permission, automates takedown requests on NFT marketplaces, and notifies collectors holding unauthorised digital collectibles.
However, Tovera has also developed its own image recognition technology for consumers, which is available for free at FNFTF.io. A version for marketplaces, called Tovera Match, is also available via API.
Bots on NFT marketplaces have been stealing digital art and minting them without the artists’ permission, leading to the massive spread of counterfeit artworks that have scammed buyers of their money.
With plagiarism and counterfeits plaguing the NFT space, combatting NFT fraud is becoming a niche in the NFT market. While OpenSea has rolled out its own “copymint” detection system, companies such as Doppel and DeviantArt are both developing their own fraud detection services.
However, Tovera believes it is the only company currently offering a free version of the technology. The company acquired Sniffles NFT to enhance its image detection capabilities to help identify even the smallest changes to NFTs.
“We started SnifflesNFT to help artists protect their work,” says Mert Hilmi Iseri, founder of SnifflesNFT, in a statement. “Fraud erodes trust in ecosystems, and without trust, there will be no web3 ecosystem. Marketplaces like OpenSea know that they have a massive issue in their hands, and yet they are simply doing the bare minimum to help artists.”
Currently, Tovera can index every NFT and transaction on Ethereum and Polygon. Its NFT fraud detection technology enables users to upload any NFT and see results based on image similarity, contract, date, and blockchain, based on historical timestamps. Additional details including file type, block number, and token ID are also available, with more to come.
“Typically, we find a half-dozen copies,” said Tovera founder and CEO Kristian Kielhofner told VentureBeat. “The art that appears oldest on the timeline is almost certainly the original NFT.”
So far, Tovera is self-financed and has a team of 10 people. The startup was established last year and has indexed about 75 million NFTs now.
“Tovera is on a mission to bring trust to Web3 while also ensuring the authenticity and provenance of NFTs,” said Kielhofner. “By acquiring SnifflesNFT we will accelerate our mission by augmenting our team and incorporating advanced image recognition technology. We look forward to enabling trust with our upcoming partnerships with NFT marketplaces.”
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