Media Companies Are Looking for C-Suiters Who Know Bitcoin

In late March, 98-year-old Time magazine posted a job opening for a new chief financial officer, with one notable qualification: “comfort with Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies.” In four weeks, more than 600 people had applied on the digital currency job board Crypto Jobs. When it comes to grappling with cryptocurrency, some media companies are dipping their toe in. Others, like Time, are doing a full cannonball, recognizing the opportunities for media companies, such as differentiating from the duopoly and driving more ad revenue. Time is one of the few accepting payments from ad clients and subscribers in Bitcoin. In March, it auctioned off a number of digital covers minted as nonfungible tokens (NFTs), generating nearly $1.5 million. In the next month, it will tie NFTs into digital subscriptions. Other publishers charmed by the $342 million monthly trading market of NFTs (according to Dapp Radar’s February 2021 Industry Report), including The New York Times, The Atlantic and Playboy, which have auctioned digital content as NFTs in the last month, mostly donating the proceeds to charitable organizations. As with all shiny newfangled tech, the challenge is figuring out its longevity. The New York Times and The Atlantic declined to comment for this article. “The most uncertain aspect of NFTs is how they will be valued by consumers over the long term; all that’s needed is for people to think it’s valuable,” said Zach Seward, CEO of Quartz, which auctioned an NFT news article for $1,800 in late March and donated proceeds. “That said, we’re scratching the surface of the possibilities for the direction of media,” he added, pointing to blockchain smart contracts making syndication and licensing businesses more seamless for publishers. Crypto-focused publisher Decrypt accepts various cryptocurrencies as payment from its advertisers. It’s also using tokenomics, the process of how crypto works in the broader ecosystem, in its business model. Most recently, advertisers can sponsor coins used to reward audiences for engaging with content, and audiences can redeem those coins for NFTs. By getting closer to its audience, Decrypt is more sheltered from the headwinds of the digital ad market, such as Google and Facebook taking most of the digital advertising growth, and the deprecation of third-party cookies, leading to depressed ad rates in the open exchange. “Publishers should be much more willing to invest in [crypto] and understand this world because of the potential to create revenue,” said Matt Hussey, co-founder of Decrypt. “For advertisers, there’s a conservative sense of this space, but should they embrace it, they will find opportunities to deliver much better returns on campaigns.” That uncertainty hasn’t dampened the crypto tulip mania, though. “The crypto bull run will probably continue to the end of the year,” said Colton Sakamoto, co-founder of Crypto Jobs, which has roughly 300 active crypto-related roles on its job board. Since its January launch, Crypto Jobs has facilitated 30,000 job applications, but Time is the only media entity searching for crypto experience on it. Other executive search firms interviewed said that crypto doesn’t currently come up in conversations to place C-suite level executives. “What the CFO job description really highlights is a mindset more so than a skill set,” said Keith Grossman, president at Time. “Smart, qualified individuals with the right mindset will easily be able to learn the space.” Environmental costs stunt mainstream adoption of crypto and NFTs, as well as processing payments, known as gas fees. These fluctuate depending on the demand but are the same no matter what you spend, making smaller-ticket items paid for annually, like a subscription, potentially prohibitive. On May 5, for example, the gas fee for the popular blockchain Ethereum was around $13, compared to $32 a couple weeks before. One year ago, in the early throes of pandemic-induced market disruption, it was 12 cents. Specifying newer skill sets in a job post can attract an interesting set of candidates. In this case, a traditional media company like Time is looking for execs on the bleeding edge of tech to help with its transformation, placing it nearer to carmaker Tesla and business intelligence firm MicroStrategy, which have both swapped billions in cash for Bitcoin in recent months. “Predicting the market is a fool's errand,” said Daniel Payne, a fin-tech lawyer at law firm Murphy & McGonigle. That said, NFTs will likely follow other socioeconomic product rollouts. Early users translate to a bubble that pops, leading the value of the market to decline precipitously until speculators exit the market before it gradually builds to an equilibrium over time. “This model is well-documented in many markets,” Payne said. “The only question is the time frame over which that cycle happens.” Companies that decide to accept cryptos like Bitcoin aren't likely to see many customers use the currency now. But it's a marketing win, and they'll be ready if—or when—crypto goes mainstream. “That is no longer a long shot,” said Payne.

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Why More Media Companies Are Looking for C-Suiters Who Understand Bitcoin

The NFT market in February was $342 million

Lucinda Southern

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