The value of the art pieces currently being tracked by ArtChain.info is over $500,000.  This is not a whitepaper concept.  This is a real, actual application of the bitcoin blockchain.

Scaling should not be an issue. The chain of ownership does not need to be updated immediately. Waiting several minutes, hours, or even a day for the chain of ownership to update before shipping a sold art piece should not be a problem.  Further, the transaction fee could be set quite high since the art pieces are worth at least several thousand, tens of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands, and so the confirmations should occur relatively fast.

ArtChain.info uses the Bitcoin Blockchain to track the ownership of high-end art pieces (i.e., for art authentication).  Each artist is assigned a master Bitcoin Address which is then linked to an art piece created by an artist by transferring bitcoin from the artist address to the art-piece address.  When the art piece is sold, the balance of the art-piece address is transferred to the first owner address, thereby updating the chain of ownership.  When the first owner sells to a second owner, again the entire balance of bitcoin is transferred to the second owner which updates the chain of ownership on ArtChain.info.  The current owner of the art piece can prove the piece is authentic because they can prove they are in control of the current owner bitcoin address.  This effectively eliminates the possibility the current owner is selling a fake art piece.  Here is an example chain of ownership for an art piece created by artist Walfrido Garcia:

https://artchain.info/products/details/70/1HVyJGe1jyMRujWjeBJveGxP7ZDuvyDJ5Z

ArtChain.info is currently tracking ownership of art pieces from some of today's most popular contemporary artists, including Alec Monopoly, Deborah Azzopardi, Robert Bissell, Alexei Butirskiy, Walfrido Garcia, Dillon Boy, Cheryl Kelley and many others.  The value of the art pieces currently being tracked is over $500,000.

Galleries can also register art pieces from the classic artists, such as Salvador Dali, so the chain of ownership links back to, and inherits the reputation of, a respected art gallery.  This enables a collector to prove beyond doubt that a classic art piece was purchased from a reputable art gallery, as well as enable the collector to transfer this proof of authenticity to a new buyer.

The artist master bitcoin address is published on the artists website, thereby validating the registration on ArtChain.info.  In other words, the artist bitcoin address published on ArtChain.info matches the bitcoin address published on the artists website, thereby validating the artist's registration on ArtChain.info.  Here is an example webpage published by artist Deborah Azzopardi showing her published ArtChain.info bitcoin address:

https://deborahazzopardi.co.uk/artchain/

As you can see... this is an ongoing... real... actual use of the bitcoin blockchain.  This is not some "whitepaper plus roadmap" scam attempting to launch an ICO backed by a fake business concept.

Several of the art pieces registered on ArtChain.info are currently listed for sale on BitcoinGallery.com.  If you click on the "current owner" address in the chain of ownership shown on ArtChain.info, the BitcoinGallery.com page listing the art piece for sale is displayed.

Another possibility is for an art collector to link their current owner address to their website or facebook page in order to catalog the art pieces owned by the collector.

In all cases, only the current owner is able to link the current owner address to a webpage because only the current owner has control over the current owner bitcoin address (which is displayed as the last link in the chain of ownership on ArtChain.info).