Tired of Ticketmaster? Onchain RWA Tickets May Succeed Where Regulations Fail

TIX is a new settlement layer for the live-events industry that’s utilizing decentralized finance (DeFi) to reshape ticket sales and financing. By transforming tickets into onchain real-world assets (RWAs), TIX seeks to revolutionize an industry reliant on upfront financing. With more than $8 million in ticket sales to date, TIX aims to provide venues and artists with innovative financial solutions while ensuring fans enjoy lower fees and more transparent resale options.

Key Takeaways

TIX is a decentralized settlement layer for the live-events sector leveraging DeFi and onchain technology.
It has facilitated over $8 million in ticket sales and generated around $2 million in venue financing.
TIX is set to launch on the Solana mainnet by mid-2026.
It aims to address the live-events industry's upfront financing challenges by turning tickets into RWAs.
Ticketmaster has also been exploring blockchain technology, particularly through NFT ticketing initiatives, yet faces competition from emerging blockchain solutions like TIX.

A New Approach to Ticket Sales

TIX is a newly launched settlement layer designed specifically for the live-events industry. Emerging from stealth mode, it offers a decentralized finance (DeFi) model for lending and onchain settlement, which could significantly change an industry that has operated much like a private credit market for years. The TIX network has already facilitated over $8 million in ticket sales, while also generating about $2 million in financing for venues. The company plans to launch on the Solana mainnet by mid-2026, as reported to Cointelegraph.

The initiative is spearheaded by industry professionals from Ticketmaster and Buildspace, with TIX serving as the foundational settlement and financial layer for KYD Labs. This consumer-focused ticketing platform recently raised $7 million in a funding round led by the venture capital firm a16z. While KYD Labs manages ticket sales and event organization, TIX is responsible for the underlying onchain structure, which includes tokenizing tickets, along with managing financing and settlement processes.

Tackling Industry Challenges

TIX's primary goal is to confront the credit-and-debt challenges prevalent in the live-events sector, where venues and promoters often require upfront financing prior to ticket sales. By converting tickets into onchain real-world assets (RWAs), TIX allows venues to tap into immediate capital from various sources. This innovative model not only empowers artists to sell tickets directly but also enables fans to enjoy lower fees and clearer resale policies.

Ticketmaster and Blockchain Technology

Although TIX is poised to disrupt Ticketmaster's market position, Ticketmaster is also engaging with blockchain technology itself. The company has been experimenting with this technology since at least 2019, and in 2022, it selected Flow blockchain for its NFT-based ticketing efforts. Ticketmaster has reportedly issued nearly 100 million NFT tickets, as indicated by a report from TheStreet. This suggests a thriving integration of NFT technology across multiple applications, despite the declining excitement since 2022.

Advocates for RWA technology propose significant advantages for ticketing. This technology enables tickets to be minted as unique digital assets, which reduces the risks of fraud and counterfeiting. Furthermore, tokenization enhances transparency and gives greater control over secondary resale markets.

Distinguishing NFTs and RWAs

While there are similarities between NFTs and RWAs, they represent different concepts. NFTs pertain to a token’s technical form, whereas RWAs focus on the actual assets or rights involved. In ticketing, RWAs can be utilized alongside NFTs to effectively tokenize access.

As the industry evolves, innovations like TIX could pave the way for more equitable, efficient, and transparent ticketing systems.