Every great deal
starts with clarity.
Keep the scope, milestones, and payment terms in one agreement. Follow what happens next, from funding to release.
Made for South Africa’s creative economy.
Built around your next moment.Agree. Secure. Deliver.
Good energy.Better protected.
What smart contract actually is.
Smart Contract is a simple idea with serious machinery behind it. Instead of a payer handing money straight to a performer — and hoping — the funds are given to a neutral, regulated third party who holds them in trust. The money only moves when the agreed conditions are met.
On Arkive, that third party is a licensed smart contract provider, and those conditions are proof of delivery: a verified check-in, a confirmed location, a completed milestone. Until then, the funds sit in a ring-fenced account that neither the payer nor the performer can reach into.
The result is quietly radical for live entertainment: the money is already there before anyone performs, and it can only travel to the right place. No cash in envelopes. No "the transfer is coming on Monday." No one left out of pocket.
Why smart contract matters.
For years, the live and creator economy ran on trust it couldn't enforce. Performers chased fees for months. Promoters paid deposits to people they'd never met. One bad actor could unravel an entire show. Smart Contract removes the guesswork — for both sides at once.
Non-payment, removed
Talent never chases an invoice again. The fee is already in the vault before showday — the only question is when it releases, not whether it will.
Fraud, designed out
No ghost promoters, no fake bookings, no vanishing deposits. Every party is KYC-verified and every payout is traceable before a single rand moves.
Both sides, protected
The payer's money is safe until delivery is proven. The performer's fee is safe the moment the booking is funded. Neither has to carry the other's risk.
One vault.
Everyone covered.
For talent
Funded bookings only. Show up, deliver, and get paid in 1–2 business days — every time. No deposits chased, no invoices ignored, and no platform fees taken from your side.
For brands & promoters
Your capital only leaves the vault on verified delivery. No prepayment gambles and no refund chases — you pay for exactly what was delivered, proven by check-in and milestone.
For everyone
A neutral, FSCA-regulated third party holds the money. Neither side has to trust the other — they both trust the vault, and the regulated rail it runs on.
How a rand moves
through the vault.
Fund
The brand or promoter funds the booking. Capital lands in smart contract before anyone travels, sets up, or performs — so the deal is real before it's live.
Ring-fence
Funds are ring-fenced in a dedicated TradeSafe trust account, held with Standard Bank — legally separated from every operating account, including Arkive's own.
Verify
Talent completes a biometric check-in, GPS confirms attendance within the venue radius, and smart-contract milestones tick off as each deliverable lands.
Multi-factor release
Release needs three keys: a PIN, a live biometric, and a six-digit code. No single person — on either side — can move the money alone.
Clear to bank
Verified funds clear to the recipient's South African bank account in 1–2 business days. The ledger closes, and every step stays on an auditable trail.
If a deal is disputed,
the money stays put.
Smart Contract's real value shows up on the bad days. When something is contested, funds don't swing to whoever shouts loudest — they hold in trust while the evidence is reviewed, governed by the terms both parties agreed to up front.
Mediation desk
Before any contested release, Arkive's mediation desk reviews the evidence from both sides — check-ins, milestones, messages, and deliverables.
Smart-contract terms
Outcomes follow the contract attached to the booking at signing — calibrated to South African labour, performance and venue law.
Force-majeure, insured
Cancellations from state action, extreme weather or venue closure are underwritten by Liberty, up to a defined sub-limit per event.
FAIS Ombud
If a case can't be resolved on-platform, it routes to the FAIS Ombud — independent, statutory recourse that sits entirely outside Arkive.
Regulated, insured,
and audited by design.
Arkive doesn't ask you to take security on faith. Every layer of the vault is named, regulated, and independently accountable.
FSCA-regulated
Smart Contract is operated through TradeSafe on FSCA-regulated infrastructure — the same licensed rail that clears the funds.
Standard Bank trust
Funds sit in dedicated Standard Bank trust accounts, legally ring-fenced from Arkive's own operating money.
Liberty-underwritten
Every transaction is insured by Liberty, protecting held capital against systemic loss and qualifying force-majeure events.
POPIA compliant
Personal and biometric data is processed strictly under POPIA, accessible only to the Information Officer for verified requests.
AES-256 at rest
All stored data — identity, banking and transaction records — is encrypted at rest with AES-256.
TLS 1.3 in transit
Every connection between app, ledger and smart contract platform is secured in transit with TLS 1.3.
Every layer, named and independently accountable. See the full security & compliance overview →