Axis is an experiment in “micro-licensing” where software licenses are respresented as tokens on a blockchain network. These tokens are openly and freely tradeable and immune to counterfeiting.

Currently, most second-hand software is sold based purely on trust and reputation on platforms like eBay. With licenses as blockchain tokens, it’s simple to verify the authenticity of a particular license and ensure that during a sale the exchange of funds for a valid software license occurs atomically.

Given that these tokens live on a programmable blockchain network, software vendors can also build more advanced functionality into each license - for instance, capturing a portion of the sale price as a fee each time a license changes hands.

Axis won a prize at the 2017 Money20/20 hackathon.