Ticket Scalping Chaos Resurfaces
Recently, Jay Chou’s concert, which is set to be held at the Taipei Dome, caused a frenzy among fans, with tickets selling out within 15 minutes. Disappointed fans who couldn’t get tickets were left lamenting, while the scalpers in the black market were selling tickets at prices up to ten times the original price.
The following day, concerns about scalpers arose again with the opening of ticket sales for Lisa’s fan meeting. Although Taiwan’s current regulations encourage real-name ticket sales, the lack of enforcement and stringent reporting mechanisms have made it difficult to combat scalping. Legislators from both the ruling and opposition parties once again urged the Ministry of Culture to strengthen control over scalpers and pointed out that “the current policies have not effectively deterred scalping and require more concrete solutions.”
Wang Zhiqing, a technology expert at LeadBest who has been assisting domestic and international industry players in applying blockchain technology in the ticketing market, expressed his views through social media: “Depending solely on legal amendments or fines may be time-consuming. The key to effectively curb scalping lies in innovative digital technology applications.”
Wang emphasized that scalping has long been a chronic problem in the Taiwanese market, and it should be addressed through technological means.
How does the ERC-7439 smart contract protocol become a solution?
Wang explained, “The characteristics of blockchain tickets include decentralized computing, transparency, and no overselling issues. ERC7439 also has the ability to set whether secondary markets are transferable, whitelist secondary market transfers, and implement management rules based on demand.”
LeadBest proposed the ERC-7439 smart contract protocol for ticket resale at the end of 2022, and it has been approved by the Ethereum Foundation as a global standard. This technology allows for the establishment of transparent and open rules in ticket transactions, effectively blocking scalpers and safeguarding the rights of consumers and ticketing platforms. Similar ticketing technologies have also been practically applied at this year’s WebX, the largest blockchain summit in Tokyo, Japan.
The scalping issue is not a short-term phenomenon, and the government has long been lacking effective solutions due to the ambiguity of the legal framework, which has exacerbated the problem. Every time a popular event takes place, it sparks public outrage. The LeadBest team urges the government to swiftly adopt digital applications, introduce blockchain technology into ticket management, and establish a comprehensive regulatory mechanism that combines legal norms and technological innovation. This will truly protect consumer rights and promote fair competition and healthy development in the entertainment industry.