Analysis: news publishers raised nearly $12M from selling NFTs since March 2021; Time Magazine earned the most with $10M+ and The New York Times made $560K
News publishers analysed by Press Gazette have sold nearly $12m (£9m) worth of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) since March 2021. Tweets: @pressgazette and @pressgazette See also Mediagazer Tweets: @pressgazette : 🔴 The chief executive at one publisher is stepping down from leadership of his famous brand to spin off its NFT venture 🔴 And the president at another is switching his attention wholly to “web3” activities https://pressgazette.co.uk/... @pressgazette : 🔴 But another brand has paused new NFT sales altogether after a social media storm questioned the appropriateness of one of its products 🔴 That halt has left those who had already bought the expensive assets unable to sell them on https://pressgazette.co.uk/... See also Mediagazer
Context & Ripple Effects
Publisher NFT experiments began during the 2021 mania, when total NFT sales hit $2B in Q1 and coverage traced the cryptoart boom back to its artist origins (a brief history of NFTs and cryptoart). Press Gazette's tally of nearly $12M across news publishers since March 2021 shows how unevenly that windfall landed: Time Magazine captured over $10M of it while The New York Times made just $560K.
The timing matters because the floor is dropping out from under the market — daily OpenSea trading volumes fell 80% from their February peak (NFT trading volumes fell 80% in March) — and rights disputes are surfacing, with marketplace Cent halting transactions over users minting content they don't own (Cent halted transactions over unauthorized mints). One publisher has already paused new NFT sales entirely after a social media storm, stranding prior buyers.
First-order effects
- Time Magazine's $10M-plus haul versus The New York Times' $560K shows publisher NFT revenue is heavily concentrated in one brand rather than an industry-wide income stream.
- The publisher that paused new NFT sales after the social media backlash has left earlier buyers holding assets they cannot resell through official channels.
Second-order effects
- Leadership is restructuring around the bet: one publisher chief executive is stepping down from running his famous brand to spin off its NFT venture, while another publisher's president is shifting attention wholly to web3 activities.
- With OpenSea volumes down sharply and rights questions unresolved, publishers still on the sidelines face a narrower window — and a higher reputational bar — before committing their own archives to token sales.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds, publisher NFT programs split into two camps: dedicated spun-off ventures chasing web3 revenue, and paused programs whose stranded buyers become a cautionary case for any archive-tokenization pitch.
- The Cent-style ownership disputes point toward publishers needing explicit licensing frameworks for tokenized content — the same question European museums are navigating as they embrace NFTs as a fundraising tool while most public galleries stay wary.
The trend: News publishers' NFT revenue is consolidating around a handful of early movers even as the broader token market cools, pushing committed players to institutionalize web3 efforts while skeptics pause.