The Hong Kong newspaper, the South China Morning Post (SCMP) announced that it will spin off its NFT and blockchain-related venture into a separate company called Artifact Labs, which will be led by SCMP’s current CEO Gary Liu. A global search for the next CEO to lead SCMP into the next phase of growth is currently underway.
In Brief:
- Artifact Labs will be an independent NFT company with SCMP remaining a major stakeholder in the company.
- SCMP will receive licensing fees from the Labs for the IPR underlying the NFTs.
- The launch news is followed by SCMP’s first NFT drop while the company also intends to launch an NFT marketplace.
Artifact Labs will be established as an independent company, with the mission of delivering long-term growth in its blockchain business. It will create value for the SCMP audience, users, content creators, partners, and other stakeholders.
The Post will remain an Artifact Labs shareholder and will seek third-party capital to help fund the company’s growth. And will receive licensing fees from the new company for its intellectual property underlying the NFT products.
The new company intends to launch a marketplace for the trading of historical NFTs – to cater to a growing community of collectors, publishers, libraries, museums, and other institutions interested in the preservation of history.
The launch will also accelerate the development of decentralized applications that bring historical assets onto the blockchain and help connect collectors and communities all over the world.
SCMP CEO Gary Liu said, “Blockchain holds great potential for the media industry, and SCMP is committed to leading in technological innovation and new business development. The founding of ‘Artifact Labs’ is part of this mission. We expect that millions of people will own ARTIFACTs issued by media, historical and cultural organizations around the world and that historical NFTs will be the gateway for many users into Web3.”
Media companies are always looking for new ways to generate revenue that isn’t based on selling ads against print copy. The shift follows the successful launch earlier this week of Hong Kong’s oldest English newspaper’s NFT collection of iconic moments from its archives. ARTIFACTS by SCMP are NFTs from the 118-year archives of the South China Morning Post.
The SCMP’s first-ever NFT drop “1997 Series” are front pages from historical events such as Hong Kong’s handover to China in 1997, the Avian flu outbreak, the Asian Financial Crisis, and Princess Diana’s death.
The collection of 1000 NFTs reportedly sold out in two hours, earning the company approximately $126,000. It was based on Flow, a blockchain developed by Dapper Labs.
The formation of Artifact Labs demonstrates SCMP’s commitment to putting blockchain technology to use. The Post had also stepped into the metaverse gaming space recently.
With its recent partnership with the decentralized gaming virtual world of The Sandbox, SCMP had launched Hong Kong’s iconic Star Ferry Pier in the metaverse.
