EMEX

EMEX is regional scryp used in development of “Emeralda: Games for the gifts of life,” playable in a virtual space Bill H. Ritchie named Emeralda Region in 1992. EMEX is the crypto currency of choice for Emeralda Regional banking, insurance, and trust for investors in virtual, virtuous, private art galleries. EMEX coins are backed by physical works of art, crafts, and design in the Ritchie Family Art collection. One hundred EMEX equal one Emeralda Dollar, backed by one-square inch of two-dimensional visual art works. The base price in US dollars (fiat) was initially determined by Bill Ritchie’s art valuation by auction in June 2018 and verified on AskArt at $.99 fiat and estimated in 2021 by an art valuator for two Ritchie art patrons to be $12.50. Blockchain offers a potential for two important aspects of art experiences – integrity and consensus. Before blockchain, those two elements in the art experience were opaque like a brick wall. Even if one could penetrate a transaction between an art collector and the artist who made the art, there was no proof of stakeholders like one has in a smart contract on the blockchain. Art experiences can, and should be, deep and wide, and this the blockchain can provide. The provenance of a work begins at the moment in time and the place where it was created. EMEX is not the same as fiat – dollars and cents – comprising a link between artist and art collector. When people bought art directly from the artist, they had a higher experience of the integrity and consensus, a relational experience, than when buying from a middleman, such as an art dealer or auction house. EMEX links and binds the creator and the owner – the latter who may be a steward of the art because they will likely take care of it. Even in situations where the art is not in the hands of the buyer or on their physical wall, the work is safely stored, and its integrity maintained by the blockchain. The social aspect of this is important in forming community and often times education, too. Trust cannot be taken for granted, and it is in this that EMEX is unique because it is connected to the artist’s legacy as a legal instrument and can be part of charitable and educational undertakings – such as scholarships and bequests.