Associated Press to sell historic pictures as NFTs
15:31, 11 October 2021
Global news agency, the Associated Press (AP), plans to sell historic pictures from its archives as non-fungible tokens (NFTs) later this month.
The AP is releasing a curated collection of archived news reporting of key moments in world history.
Alongside pictures, the AP will also offer digitised copies of newswire flashes of important world events such as the Allied D-Day landings in Normandy in 1944.
Long history
The non-profit US news agency was founded in 1846 and has staff and news bureaus in 250 locations in 100 countries.
The New York-based news cooperative is collaborating with Australia’s MetaList Lab for the sale of its pictures and other assets on the Binance NFT marketplace on 19 October.
AP believes that facts belong onchain and distribution of this historic news reporting to the blockchain is nothing short of vital for the preservation of world history, the news agency said in a press release.
Niche asset class
NFTs are a niche asset class that combines the art world with the world of the blockchain, a decentralised system that records digital transactions.
NFTs differ from crypto currencies because they represent digital or physical assets, such as a work of art or musical composition, and contain additional information that can authenticate its origin and prove ownership.
The “non-fungible” part of NFTs mean they cannot be exchanged once issued, much like an airline ticket which contains specific information in the form of seat allocation and airport gate location.
In the first six months of 2021 NFT sales reached $2.5bn (£1.8bn), according to marketplace data compiled by Reuters.
Read more: Bored Ape NFT lots sell at auction
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