Media NFTs: South China Morning Post to spin off blockchain venture after the successful debut of its archival digital collectibles

The South China Morning Post will spin off an independent venture to turn historical art, photographs and content into tradeable non-fungible tokens

The new venture will be headed by Gary Liu, who will fully transition into his new role after the appointment of a new CEO for SCMP via a global talent search

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Gary Liu, chief executive of the South China Morning Post, speaks during a Town Hall meeting at the newspaper’s Times Square headquarters in Causeway Bay on October 22, 2021. Photo: Edmond So

Published: 2:04pm, 16 Mar 2022Updated: 5:55pm, 24 Jul 2022

The South China Morning Post (SCMP) has launched its most significant transformation in the digital age, spinning off an independent venture to turn historical art, photographs and content from its 118-year-old archives into tradeable non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

Artifact Labs, the blockchain venture of Hong Kong’s oldest English-language newspaper, will be headed by SCMP chief executive Gary Liu, who will fully transition into his latest role after the appointment of a new CEO at SCMP to take over. Liu will continue in his current role as CEO at SCMP pending a global talent search for his replacement.

The venture follows Monday’s successful debut of the “1997 Premium Series”, the first batch of NFTs featuring archival content in 1,300 “mystery boxes” generated from 1997, a pivotal year in Hong Kong’s history. The first batch sold out within two hours, giving SCMP the momentum to release the second batch of collectibles in April.

The creation of Artifact Labs “is a transformational step for our 118-year-old organisation,” said Joe Tsai, co-founder of Alibaba Group Holding and SCMP chairman. “With his experience running a news organisation and extensive expertise in technology, Gary is the perfect person to lead our new effort in Web3 and explore future growth opportunities for SCMP.”

The “1997 Premium Series” NFTs are part of the NFT project ARTIFACTs by South China Morning Post, featuring archival material from 1997, a pivotal year in Hong Kong’s history. Photo: SCMP

The move to create an independent NFT venture will “accelerate SCMP’s revenue and enterprise value growth while allowing the publishing group to remain on its core mission of delivering fact-based journalism … to millions of readers around the world,” SCMP said in a statement.

Blockchain holds great potential for the media industry, and the spin-off of Artifact Labs shows SCMP’s commitment to applying the technology, Liu said. As an independent entity, Artifact Labs can turn the property and assets of other organisations, including museums and schools, into digital collectibles.

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