AP launch NFT market for photographs on Polygon

TL;DR Breakdown

• AP joins NFT bandwagon with its polygon NFT market.
• NFT market to trade collections of photojournalist to fund AP’s activities.
• AP already looking at NFT before now.

American news wire agency Associated Press (AP) has jumped on the non-fungible tokens (NFTs) trend as it announced the launch of its own NFT market to sell its award-winning photographs, including Pulitzer Prize-winning images.

The NFT market, which would go live on Monday, January 31st, would host collections that include photojournalism from present and former photographers, along with a selection of “digitally enhanced depictions as its first set of NFT collections.

Each NFT will include detailed metadata showing the time, date, location, equipment and technical settings used for the photograph.

The marketplace will be built by blockchain technology firm Xooa, with NFTs to be minted on the Polygon blockchain.

Collectors will be able to purchase and view various pieces of the news agency’s photojournalism.
“For 175 years, AP’s photographers have recorded the world’s biggest stories through gripping and poignant images that continue to resonate today,” said Dwayne Desaulniers, AP director of blockchain and data licensing, in a press release.
The NFTs will be marked with the original photo’s time, date, location, and equipment used. The AP noted that as a not-for-profit organization, proceeds from the NFT sales would fund its journalism.

The marketplace will support secondary market transactions and purchases using credit card payments and crypto wallets, including MetaMask, with support for Fortmatic, Binance and Coinbase to come.

AP working on NFT market before now

The Associated Press has demonstrated an interest in blockchain in the past. In October, it announced work with oracle network Chainlink to help developers access AP data.
In May 2021, AP auctioned 10 NFTs of “artistic representations” to celebrate its iconic photojournalism over the past 175 years.
Pascal Taillandier, a French journalist, tweeted that AP auctioned its first piece on the NFT marketplace – OpenSea. The entire limited series was dubbed “AP ARTiFACTS: The 175 Collection.

Before AP, in June 2021, CNN launched The Vault, an NFT collection of top news moments from its 41-year history, on the Flow blockchain.

NFTs have seen widespread adoption from media companies and artists eager to monetize digital content in the past.