Two of the largest American news magazines, Fortune and TIME, have jumped headfirst into the non-fungible token (NFT) ecosystem in recent times. The New York-based multinational business magazine Fortune raised $1.3 million selling its first NFT collection this week. Furthermore, after selling NFT magazine covers, TIME has revealed the company is teaming up with the Cool Cats NFT project.
Cool Cats NFT Project and TIME Magazine Collaborate
Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are very popular in 2021, and many people believe the trend will continue for a very long time. The NFT industry has attracted a great number of popular artists and it has lured a large quantity of celebrities as well. Alongside celebrities, well known brands are diving into the crypto sphere via NFTs. For instance, at the end of June, Bitcoin.com News reported on the largest U.S. newspaper publishing company Gannett launching the firm’s first NFTs.
In mid-April, Bitcoin.com News reported on TIME magazine telling the public it was adding bitcoin (BTC) to its balance sheet after auctioning three NFT covers at the end of March. On August 14, the NFT project Cool Cats told its followers that it was teaming up with the company TIME in order to mint 400 NFT pieces.
Cool Cats and TIME magazine collaborateThe Cool Cats project is an NFT project similar to Cryptopunks and Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC), as Cool Cats has issued 10,000 limited edition NFT cats. The newly minted Cool Cats will feature cats reading TIME magazine and there will be 100x Elu’s cat, 100x Clons’ cat, 100x Xtremetom’s cat, and 100x Lynoid’s cat, according to the recent announcement.
“Wow, what a crazy TIME to be alive,” the project’s team said in the announcement. “We are honored and privileged to announce a limited edition drop with one of the most iconic and well-respected companies out there, TIME magazine. The president of TIME, Keith Grossman, likes the cats so much that he suggested we do a collaboration together! As Keith mentioned in this tweet — cats have been in TIME’s DNA.”
Business Magazine Fortune Raises $1.3M in Ether
In addition to Gannett and TIME magazine, the well known business magazine Fortune announced on August 12 it raised $1.3 million selling NFT covers. Fortune sold 256 limited NFTs for approximately one ether per NFT, as well as three NFTs that were auctioned separately. The artwork was crafted by the “high-quality meme generator” and digital artist dubbed “pplpleasr.”
Fortune’s NFT cover illustration was drawn by the digital artist “pplpleasr.”In total, Fortune says the company raked in 429 ether and the authors Robert Hackett and Declan Harty said the firm was donating half of the funds to nonprofits. Just like TIME magazine holding bitcoin on its balance sheet, the remaining ether funds will be held by Fortune. The Fortune authors said the company was now a group of “HODLers.”
Furthermore, after the company’s last sale, the news giant Gannett said it predicts non-fungible token (NFT) assets will be a “large opportunity” for publishing companies.
What do you think about the publishing giants TIME, Gannett, and Fortune getting into the crypto space and selling NFTs? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below.
