The Associated Press (AP) is launching a non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace where collectors can purchase tokenized photographs on the global information platform.
NFT’s initial collection will include photographs of topics such as space, climate and war from AP photojournalists. They’ll be released over several weeks starting Jan.31 at varying prices, according to the marketplace’s website.
The photographs will be created as an NFT on the Ethereum Layer Two Scaling Network, Polygon. The platform will support secondary transactions using debit or credit cards, and payments in Ethereum.
The marketplace is built by Xooa, a blockchain infrastructure platform specializing in creating “white label NFT marketplaces for brands and intellectual property owners”.
Xooa’s head of markets, Zach Danker-Feldman, said the partnership would serve as a “powerful connection between the virtual world and the real world.”
Support is also provided for crypto wallet provider Metamask, with future collaborations with Fortmatic, Binance, and Coinbase on the cards. Additional upcoming features will include “withdrawals to other markets,” “social media capabilities,” “new content concepts” and “off-chain benefits” for NFT holders.
Once every two weeks there will be a ‘Pulitzer Drop’, which will feature Pulitzer Prize winning photographs. Each NFT will include the detailed metadata of the photograph, such as time, date, location, equipment and technical parameters used for the photograph.
According to an AP announcement, funds from NFT sales will be reinvested in funding AP journalism. The Associated Press is a nonprofit information cooperative founded 175 years ago in New York City. Although the platform allows secondary market sales, it will charge a hefty 10% fee.
This is not the news agency’s first foray into blockchain technology. In October 2021, the AP partnered with Chainlink Labs to ensure that all data in its US newspapers and broadcasters would be verified by cryptocurrency.
In 2020, the PA used the Ethereum and EOS blockchains to publish the results of the presidential election. Additionally, in 2018, he partnered with blockchain-based journalism startup Civil to facilitate their plans for tracking content usage and securing intellectual property rights.
The AP is not the only news organization interested in the potential uses of blockchain in the journalism industry. In June 2021, CNN launched its NFT project “Vault by CNN: Moments That Changed Us.” The collection symbolized a series of historic “current moments” from the 41-year history of the information society.
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Associated Press Launches Polygon-Based Photography NFT Platform | Cryptocurrency