How OPEN is providing decentralized tools to liberate the ticketing industry

The stranglehold of Live Nation

For years, Live Nation and Ticketmaster have dominated the live event industry, controlling nearly every aspect of ticketing, venues, and promotion. Their monopoly has resulted in inflated ticket prices, exorbitant fees, and restrictive contracts that squeeze out competition. Fans, artists, and venues alike suffer under this exploitative model, and breaking free has seemed impossible—until now.

The truth is, ticketing companies haven’t had the tools to compete against the vertical integration and subsequent monopolization of the industry. Venues have been locked into predatory exclusivity deals. The system is designed to ensure that any challenger is either crushed or forced to play by the cartel’s rules.

Eight years of building the alternative

At OPEN, we've spent the last eight years building a decentralized alternative—not just another ticketing system, but an entire ecosystem designed to empower independent ticketing companies, venues, and artists.

Our model ensures ticketing companies onboarded into OPEN have resources to secure exclusive venue contracts themselves, funded through our decentralized event financing tool and a fully onchain secondary market without rent-seeking.

Instead of perpetuating the problem, we're turning exclusivity into a tool for decentralization, shifting control from monopolistic corporations to a fair, transparent, and distributed network.

Here's where it becomes revolutionary: every deal in the OPEN ecosystem benefits the community. The OPN token powers this system, ensuring benefits flow directly back to the people driving the industry forward—our token holders.

CM.com acquires GUTS Tickets: a giant leap for adoption

We began our journey aiming to become the decentralized data standard for the ticketing industry. To prove our model, ensure stability, and demonstrate added value, we founded GUTS Tickets. Now, with its mission fulfilled, we embark on the next major chapter: mass distribution.

We’re proud to announce GUTS Tickets has been acquired by CM.com, a publicly listed company selling over 19 million tickets annually. Soon, all these tickets will move onchain through OPEN. Importantly, this isn’t a cash purchase—it's a strategic sacrifice of GUTS for long-term benefits including guaranteed trading volume, deep ecosystem integration, and extensive marketing support, particularly in the secondary market. Both our event financing and fully onchain secondary market are fueled by the OPN token, which will capture fees from every transaction.

Roadmap: integrating 19 Million tickets onchain

Here’s how we'll accomplish this massive integration:

Phase 1: Backend integration and infrastructure setup

• API integration between CM.com’s systems and OPEN's blockchain-based infrastructure.

• Deployment of OPEN’s advanced smart contracts for high-volume ticket issuance.

Phase 2: Deployment of smart contracts for resale royalties

• Smart contracts automatically collect resale royalties from secondary transactions.

• Royalties are directed to the OPN DAO, benefiting the community directly.

Phase 3: Secondary market activation

• Transition CM.com's secondary market fully onchain, utilizing the OPN token for fee collection.

• Immediate on-chain settlement of all ticket sales using OPN tokens, enhancing transparency and efficiency.

• Higher secondary market margins directly benefiting OPN holders.

• Seamless integration for 19 million annual users, significantly boosting OPN utility.

Phase 5: Incentivizing participation through OPN token

• Mandatory fee collection in OPN tokens on all transactions, ensuring consistent demand and token utility.

• Minimum OPN holdings required per dollar borrowed via decentralized event financing, creating sustained token demand.

Event financing: Unlocking venue deals through decentralized capital

CM.com is particularly enthusiastic about our decentralized event financing service, directly challenging Ticketmaster’s strategy of locking venues into long-term exclusivity through upfront financial incentives. OPEN is building an advanced portal allowing Real-World Asset (RWA) protocols to competitively bid on major venue ticketing deals.

By aggregating significant incoming deals, OPEN enables RWA protocols—including our own—to provide upfront capital to venues, securing exclusive ticketing rights. The OPN token ensures these agreements are locked in, with revenue and profit flowing back into the ecosystem under favorable terms. This revolutionary approach leverages decentralized finance (DeFi) and crypto liquidity to directly compete with Ticketmaster, turning their own tactics against them.

Enhanced OPN token economics

While traditional OPN economics remain active, we're significantly expanding the token's utility and revenue streams:

• Immediate onchain settlement of ticket sales ensures OPN is integral to every transaction.

• Higher margins from secondary market sales directly benefit OPN holders.

• OPN's role in event financing creates consistent token demand, with minimum holding requirements linked to borrowing.

• New revenue streams from royalties and secondary market activities significantly amplify token utility and value accrual.

The modular market: Power back in your hands

Ticketing isn't just selling a barcode—it's about distribution, liquidity, and inventory control. OPEN’s modular approach empowers  ticketing companies without predatory tactics:

• Decentralized Event Financing: Fund exclusivity without cartel involvement.

• Modular Secondary Market: Artist and venue control, excluding scalpers.

• Community Revenue Distribution: Profits benefit token holders, not executives.

The path forward: A ticketing industry built for the people

OPEN aims to replace the monopolistic cartel with a decentralized alternative driven by you through the OPN token. Our ecosystem helps you:

• Break free from restrictive contracts: Operate independently with decentralized funding.

• Compete for venue deals: Secure agreements without exploitation.

• Build trust with consumers: Transparent pricing and resale mechanisms.

• Generate passive income for the community: OPN token rewards ensure profits support ecosystem participants.

Join the revolution

The industry's biggest players had decades to fix ticketing and only made it worse. We're done waiting and this is what we need to do:

• Ticketing companies: Integrate OPEN and compete fairly.

• Venues & artists: Explore decentralized financing and maintain sales control.

• Fans: Support non-exploitative platforms and earn rewards.

• Community: Provide liquidity for events and redirect profits away from the cartel.

We've spent eight years building tools to challenge Live Nation. Now, they’re yours.

This is the turning point.

Learn more and join the movement at onopen.xyz.