The Codex is a decentralized title registry for the A&C market. Unlike every other asset class, no central title registry exists for A&C today. This makes it difficult to determine ownership, which is critical for two reasons:

1. Current ownership is a prerequisite for transacting, insuring, lending, and many other applications
2. Past ownership ("provenance") is the most important consideration for establishing authenticity and thus the value of A&C.

With a widely adopted title registry, we expect that annual transaction value could grow by hundreds of billions of dollars, over $6 billion losses from fraud and forgeries could be prevented, and the value of all A&C would appreciate. Moreover, a title registry would make transacting A&C faster and less expensive, lending against the assets easier, insurance underwriting less risky, and fractional ownership possible. The Codex is intended to empower existing market stakeholders and intermediaries, not disrupt them, which is why we are developing an open and decentralized protocol that anyone can build on top.