Live Nation’s ticketing giant Ticketmaster is investing in blockchain technology.

The ticketing software and services company has acquired live events blockchain platform UPGRADED, which makes tickets easy to transfer and impossible to duplicate.

Converting traditional tickets into secure interactive digital assets protected by blockchain UPGRADED protects fans against fraudulent tickets.

It uses encrypted barcodes to prevent fraud often associated with paper or pdf-based tickets, and can be implemented without requiring a venue to replace existing access control hardware.

The acquisition couldn’t be more timely as Ticketmaster combats its alleged deep entanglement in ticket scalping, which is being tested in a United States court.

As previously reported, an undercover investigation published by Canada’s CBC and the Toronto Star found that Ticketmaster allegedly used its invite-only proprietary platform TradeDesk to enable resellers to buy tickets in bulk and sell them on with a substantial mark-up.

Ticketmaster has rejected the claims, saying it “does not have, and has never had, any product or program that allows ticket scalpers, or anyone else, to buy tickets ahead of fans.”

UPGRADED adds to Ticketmaster’s suite of live event products, including venue access tool Presence®, pre-registration tool Verified Fan®, and Blink Identity, a facial recognition tool.

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“Ticketmaster is the unquestioned leader in live event ticketing and is the perfect platform for us to bring the unique promise of blockchain to millions of fans,” said Sandy Khaund, Founder and CEO of UPGRADED.

“UPGRADED leverages Blockchain to maximise trust for ticket holders, give control and flexibility to content owners, and data to teams and performers. We’re proud of what we’ve built and are looking forward to working with the incredible team at Ticketmaster to help us scale.”

“Ticketmaster is constantly exploring emerging technologies, and there aren’t many that have the unique possibilities of blockchain,” said Justin Burleigh, Chief Product Officer at Ticketmaster, North America.

“We’re excited to have UPGRADED join the team as we continue to focus on providing the world’s leading identity-based ticketing platform to fans, artists, and our clients. We think blockchain and UPGRADED will continue our progress to improve ticketing and create a safer and more seamless experience.”

This article originally appeared on The Industry Observer, which is now part of The Music Network.