TIME magazine will hold ether (ETH) on its balance sheet for the first time as part of a deal with crypto investment firm Galaxy Digital to educate readers about the metaverse, according to a press release shared with CoinDesk.
- Under the partnership, the magazine will be launching a TIME 100 Companies list for the metaverse, and issuing a weekly newsletter dubbed Into the Metaverse. The deal is completely financed through ether, which TIME will hold on its balance sheet, company representatives told CoinDesk.
- TIME has been holding bitcoin since April, after being paid in the cryptocurrency for a deal with Grayscale.
- Investment firm Galaxy Digital has spent around $150 million on entertainment projects through its Galaxy Interactive arm, which raised another $325 million in October for further investments in the sector.
- TIME President Keith A. Grossman and Galaxy Digital Communications Director Eva Casanova refused to comment on the size of the deal, but disclosed that it will run for roughly six months.
- The magazine will also host educational resources on the metaverse on a new webpage, called TIME for Learning, which will launch in December under the deal, according to the press release.
- Galaxy Digital will offer its expertise to help explain the metaverse and its potential, such as insights from Galaxy Interactive General Partners Sam Englebardt and Richard Kim, according to the presser.
- The list will “highlight those companies that are having the most impact within the space,” some of which may be blockchain companies, while others could be providing solutions provide solutions “to make experiences within the metaverse more accessible, impactful or successful for businesses and consumers,” Grossman told CoinDesk via email.
- Applications for the list will be open from Thursday until Dec. 31, according to the press release.
- The idea was whiteboarded and refined over the summer to ensure the two could “educate and engage as many people as possible in web3 and the metaverse,” Casanova said via email.
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