The media company FORTUNE and NFT Artist pplpleasr donate 209 Ethereum on the Ethereum Blockchain to support journalistic integrity and independent journalism through the Endaoment platform.

The FORTUNE Journalism PleasrFund, announced by FORTUNE and digital artist pplpleasr, is a decentralized donor-advised fund that runs entirely on the Ethereum blockchain through Endaoment. The PleasrFund is aimed to advance programs that foster interest in journalistic integrity and sound reporting and independent investigative journalism.

The fund was seeded by a contribution of 209.19 ETH after fees of approximately $660,000 when the contribution was made. This amount represents half of the proceeds from FORTUNE and pplpleasr's series of NFTs. This fund is dedicated to serving the public interest, increasing accountability and transparency through journalism, and contributing to critical thinking and well-informed debate.

The auction that took place on August 9, 2021, saw FORTUNE and pplpleasr selling a limited series of NFTs that was based on pplpleasr's artwork for FORTUNE's digital "Crypto at a Turning Point'' package and "Crypto vs Wall Street" print magazine cover of the August/September 2021,

Two hundred fifty-six minted NFTs series of the cover was sold for 1 ETH fixed price each. Three special-edition NFTs based on the cover were auctioned for 23.1, 45, and 105 ETH, respectively.

Alan Murray, CEO of FORTUNE CEO also said, "The FORTUNE Journalism PleasrFund is a natural next step for us as one of the first mainstream outlets to cover decentralized finance and cryptocurrency, and a media company driven by the purpose of making business better for stakeholders. FORTUNE is proud to have had such a successful first foray into the NFT market and support good journalism in the public interest. Our partnership with pplpleasr has had a very pleasing result."

The initial beneficiaries of the fund including Institute for Nonprofit News (INN), The GroundTruth Project, Inc., Reporters Without Borders, and The Committee to Protect Journalist, received nearly $165,000 worth of ETH from the sale of the NFTs. All of these were selected by FORTUNE and pplpleasr in cooperation with Endaoment. In a post of September 21, Fortune lauded the recipients as being “worthy organizations that support a free press and public service journalism.”

Rushali Das

CBW - External Analyst

INDIA