Beautiful Virgin Islands

Tuesday, Jun 03, 2025

SCMP releases NFTs featuring news archives from 1997

SCMP releases NFTs featuring news archives from 1997

The series contains the Post’s coverage of 1997’s momentous events, including the handover, the Asian financial crisis and Avian flu outbreak.

The South China Morning Post, a news organisation founded in Hong Kong in 1903, is releasing its first collection of non-fungible tokens (NFT), featuring newspaper archives from 1997, one of the most consequential years in the city’s history.

The collection, named “1997 Premium Series’, is part of the newspaper’s NFT project ARTIFACTs, which aims to be a destination for historical NFTs. The series contains the Post’s coverage of 1997’s momentous events, including the handover ceremony of Hong Kong from British to Chinese rule, the Asian financial crisis, the Avian flu outbreak, and the deaths of Princess Diana and Deng Xiaoping, the late Chinese leader regarded as the “father” of the reforms that opened up China to the rest of the world.

Sales of the series will kick off at 9pm on Monday on ARTIFACT’s official website, where 1,300 “mystery boxes” will be available for purchase, each box containing five random NFTs.

“SCMP has witnessed many pivotal moments in history as Hong Kong’s newspaper of record, and the launch of the ‘1997 Premium Series’ holds major significance as the city marks its 25th anniversary of the handover this year,” said SCMP chief executive officer Gary Liu.

Chief Executive Officer at South China Morning Post, Gary Liu speaks at the RISE tech conference 2019 at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre in Wan Chai.


NFTs are units of data stored on a blockchain that represents the uniqueness and ownership of digital assets. They exploded into mainstream consciousness last year, as people spent millions of dollars snapping up cartoon avatars and digital artworks. Recently, global NFT prices have steadily retreated amid concerns about an easing of pandemic era stimulus and rising geopolitical tensions, but adoption of the digital assets are still growing.

The Post is among a growing number of news organisations around the world that have experimented with the technology, including CNN, Associated Press and The New York Times. In mainland China, state-run Xinhua News Agency also released a collection of its news photos as NFTs.

The Post’s ARTIFACT project, which includes a blockchain metadata standard for historical and archival NFTs, was first launched in July. The project aims to bring together all “guardians of history”, including media publishers, museums, academic institutions, think tanks, cultural organisations, art galleries, auction houses, archivists and governments, to tokenise their assets with the ARTIFACT standard.

It will allow people to “discover, collect, showcase, trade, and reanimate meaningful moments and objects from our collective human experience”, Liu said at the time.

The Post’s NFT collection is built on Flow, a blockchain built by Dapper Labs, the creator of popular NFT series NBA Top Shot. Each “mystery box” is priced at 97 FUSD, a USD-backed stablecoin issued as a fungible token on the Flow network.

Last week, the Post also launched a game on metaverse platform The Sandbox, featuring Hong Kong’s iconic Star Ferry Pier. Star Ferry, one of Hong Kong’s oldest forms of transport, began operations in 1888.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
China Accuses US of Violating Trade Truce
Panama Port Owner Balances US-China Pressures
France Implements Nationwide Outdoor Smoking Ban to Protect Children
German Chancellor Merz Keeps Putin Guessing on Missile Strategy
Mandelson Criticizes UK's 'Fetish' for Abandoning EU Regulations
British Fishing Boat Owner Fined €30,000 by French Authorities
Dutch government falls as far-right leader Wilders quits coalition
Harvard Urges US to Unfreeze Funds for Public Health Research
Businessman Mauled by Lion at Luxury Namibian Lodge
Researchers Consider New Destinations Beyond the U.S.
53-Year-Old Doctor Claims Biological Age of 23
Trump Struggles to Secure Trade Deals With China and Europe
Russia to Return 6,000 Corpses Under Ukraine Prisoner Swap Deal
Microsoft Lays Off Hundreds More Amid Restructuring
Harvey Weinstein’s Publicist Embraces Notoriety
Macron and Meloni Seek Unity Despite Tensions
Trump Administration Accused of Obstructing Deportation Cases
Newark Mayor Sues Over Arrest at Immigration Facility
Center-Left Candidate Projected to Win South Korean Presidency
Trump’s Tariffs Predicted to Stall Global Economic Growth
South Korea’s President-Elect Expected to Take Softer Line on Trump and North Korea
Trump’s China Strategy Remains a Geopolitical Puzzle
Ukraine Executes Long-Range Drone Strikes on Russian Airbases
Conservative Karol Nawrocki wins Poland’s presidential election
Study Identifies Potential Radicalization Risk Among Over One Million Muslims in Germany
Good news: Annalena Baerbock Elected President of the UN General Assembly
Apple Appeals EU Law Over User Data Sharing Requirements
South Africa: "First Black Bank" Collapses after Being Looted by Owners
Poland will now withdraw from the EU migration pact after pro-Trump nationalist wins Election
"That's Disgusting, Don’t Say It Again": The Trump Joke That Made the President Boil
Trump Cancels NASA Nominee Over Democratic Donations
Paris Saint-Germain's Greatest Triumph Is Football’s Lowest Point
OnlyFans for Sale: From Lockdown Lifeline to Eight-Billion-Dollar Empire
Mayor’s Security Officer Implicated | Shocking New Details Emerge in NYC Kidnapping Case
Hegseth Warns of Potential Chinese Military Action Against Taiwan
OPEC+ Agrees to Increase Oil Output for Third Consecutive Month
Jamie Dimon Warns U.S. Bond Market Faces Pressure from Rising Debt
Turkey Detains Istanbul Officials Amid Anti-Corruption Crackdown
Taylor Swift Gains Ownership of Her First Six Albums
Bangkok Ranked World's Top City for Remote Work in 2025
Satirical Sketch Sparks Political Spouse Feud in South Korea
Indonesia Quarry Collapse Leaves Multiple Dead and Missing
South Korean Election Video Pulled Amid Misogyny Outcry
Asian Economies Shift Away from US Dollar Amid Trade Tensions
Netflix Investigates Allegations of On-Set Mistreatment in K-Drama Production
US Defence Chief Reaffirms Strong Ties with Singapore Amid Regional Tensions
Vietnam Faces Strategic Dilemma Over China's Mekong River Projects
Malaysia's First AI Preacher Sparks Debate on Islamic Principles
White House Press Secretary Criticizes Harvard Funding, Advocates for Vocational Training
France to Implement Nationwide Smoking Ban in Outdoor Spaces Frequented by Children
×