Hong Kong's leading newspaper, SCMP (South China Morning Post), will launch a new standard to represent some of its historic moments on the blockchain, through non-fungible tokens (NFT).
This Monday, the SCMP (South China Morning Post) Hong Kong-based English-language daily has announced plans to launch a new NFT standard called Artifact, to represent their history.
According to publication, the newspaper has decided to create a new standardized metadata structure that allows it to record its historical moments on the blockchain, in the form of non-fungible tokens (NFT). The SCMP also noted that it intends to allow others to use its NFT standard to represent authentic moments in history as non-fungible tokens, helping to connect and collect the world's history in a more meaningful way.
SCMP is betting on technology blockchain and NFTs as a trusted solution to decentralize “the factual accounts of history and authentic historical assets” that are part of its 118-year history. In addition, the newspaper indicated that these new technologies, with the potential to represent and secure ownership, will make these historical moments immutable and decentralized pieces that will exist forever on the blockchain, and that will be accessible to anyone.
It may interest you: NFTs come to the big screen, in a new thriller by Anthony Hopkins
SCMP and The Sandbox
To achieve its goal, the South China Morning Post is partnering with The Sandbox, one of the largest and most important blockchain metaverses in the digital industry. Within the metaverse, SCMP will build a space to create a collection of NFTs with the most representative moments of its 118-year history. In this way, it will be able to demonstrate the use of the Artifact standard to discover, create and connect history.
“The Post (SCMP) recently announced a strategic partnership with The Sandbox, a leading decentralized virtual gaming world, to bring its 118 years of journalism on Hong Kong and China to life in the metaverse.”
In The Sandbox, SCMP will bring to life the most iconic and representative history and spaces of China and Hong Kong, showcasing different cultural and historical experiences that will enrich the metaverse and the NFT industry. Within the metaverse, the newspaper will represent digital real estate that will create new experiences for users. To celebrate the partnership, The Sandbox will hold a new LAND sale on July 22, allowing metaverse players to purchase places near the newspaper project.
Gary Liu, CEO of SCMP, said that blockchain technology offers immense potential to preserve journalism that witnesses and explains history in an immutable and secure way. Likewise, through Artifact, SCMP wants to offer a unique opportunity to “discover, collect, exhibit, exchange and reanimate (unique) moments and meaningful objects of our collective human experience.” One of the priorities of this newspaper has always been to engage and educate a global audience about new developments, technology and innovation.
NFT and the media
Blockchain technology and NFTs have become widely adopted digital tools in the world of journalism and information. The possibility of collecting moments from history and turning them into unique, authentic and unrepeatable digital objects, which help connect with the audience in a more personal way, has caught the attention of the big players in this industry.
In June, the renowned television channel CNN announced which would launch a collection of NFTs on the Flow blockchain. CNN represented several of the most iconic and important moments of its history as non-fungible tokens, which were traded through Vault by CNN. Likewise, the same month the publication USA Today announced the auction of an NFT with more than 300 images of space travel, to celebrate 50 years as the first newspaper sent to the Moon. The auction was held through the Origin platform, which combines the potential of NFTs with decentralized finance (DeFi).
The New York Times, one of the most recognized newspapers in the world, also began experimenting with blockchain technology and NFTs by auctioning an article written by journalist Kevin Roose about these new technologies. The Associated Press The news agency used non-fungible tokens to celebrate its 175th anniversary in May. The prestigious news agency launched a collection of NFTs showing several of the most iconic images in history, such as the famous photograph of American soldiers raising the country's flag on Iwo Jima in 1945. The funds raised from the collection will be used to finance the agency's journalism and development, it reported in a statement. release.
Continue reading: PleasrDAO, Sygnum and Axie Infinity and the different use cases for NFTs
