PO8, a Bahamasbased tech company in the marine archaeology space utilizing blockchain, artificial intelligence and robotics to recover and tokenize billions of dollars of underwater artifacts, will be among 20 innovative blockchain startups competing for the top honors at this year’s Smart Dubai Blockchain Challenge on April 3, 2019.

Smart Dubai Blockchain Challenge is part of the Dubai Blockchain Strategy 2020, a city initiative to make Dubai the first Blockchain-powered city by 2020.

Zeina El Kaissi, Head of Emerging Technology and Global Partnerships at Smart Dubai said, “PO8 has leveraged blockchain to empower an industry sector not many startups have looked into – Marine Archaeology. We are proud to host PO8 as one of the finalists at the Smart Dubai Blockchain Challenge 2019.” PO8 was selected from a pool of over 700 applications from 79 countries.

Using blockchain technology and Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs), PO8 will be monetizing and reshaping the ownership of sunken artifacts by converting ownership rights of recovered artifacts with economic value into a smart contract token, while keeping the physical item in the custody of the PO8 Museum Foundation to be preserved, studied and exhibited worldwide. With a stored value derived from its underlying asset, NFTs can be sold to anyone around the world at pre and post conservation valuations.

“It’s truly an honor to be invited to this year’s Smart Dubai Blockchain Challenge, along 19 other promising startups. Dubai has to be one of the best places in the world to talk about blockchain innovation, and inspire one another to move our communities forward. We look forward to sharing our story of impact and building good relationships in the U.A.E and other parts of the Middle East,” said Matthew Arnett, Co-founder and CEO of PO8 in advance of the competition in Dubai and meetings in Bahrain with government officials.

Recently, PO8 was also recognized for its blockchain for impact work by the Inter-American Development Bank, receiving the 2018 Creative Business Cup Award at Demand Solutions in Santiago, Chile.