In a leading development on Monday, January 10, media house giant Associated Press announced that it will be launching a non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace that is built by blockchain technology provider Xooa.
The first set of NFTs from AP will debut this month-end on January 31. Herein, NFT collectors can purchase AP’s contemporary and historic photojournalism. the collection will feature photography of current and former AP journalists. Besides, it will also feature Pulitzer Prize-winning AP images.
Each of these NFTs will include a rich set of the original metadata providing collectors with crucial information of date, time, location as well as equipment and technical settings used for the shot. These NFTs will feature images across specter from climate, space, war, and other images. Speaking of this development, Dwayne Desaulniers, AP director of blockchain and data licensing said:
“For 175 years AP’s photographers have recorded the world’s biggest stories through gripping and poignant images that continue to resonate today. With Xooa’s technology, we are proud to offer these tokenized pieces to a fast-growing global audience of photography NFT collectors.”
The NFT price points will vary. As Associated Press is a not-for-profit news cooperative, all the proceeds shall go towards factual, unbiased AP journalism.
Minting NFTs on the Polygon Blockchain
While blockchain tech provider Xooa will assist towards launching the NFT marketplace, the NFTs will be minted on Ethereum Layer 2 scalability platform Polygon. The low fee and fast transaction processing of Polygon make it an attractive platform for launching NFTs. Zach Danker-Feldman, Xooa’s head of marketplaces said:
“Xooa is proud to work with The Associated Press to launch AP’s NFT marketplace. Xooa’s work with brands around NFTs and metaverse marketplaces provides inherent scarcity and utility for collectors as well as a powerful connection between the virtual world and the real world. In this marketplace deployment, emphasis has been placed on accessibility for all types of collectors to empower them to join a community that shares their interest in stunning photography.”
The NFT collectors will be able to seamlessly buy, sell and trade official AP digital collectibles on this marketplace. Besides, it will also support secondary market transactions like purchases involving the use of crypto wallets like Metamask.
