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TIME, a major American news magazine and website, will allow its readers to pay for digital subscriptions with cryptocurrencies, the company announced today.
The media giant has partnered with digital asset exchange Crypto.com for the initiative, according to the release. Starting today, subscribers will be able to pay with crypto for a one-time purchase of 18 months of unlimited access to all content on Time.com. This also includes unspecified “subscriber-only events and offerings.”
“As TIME continues to innovate and find new ways to build upon our existing community of 2.3 million subscribers, we are proud to offer this new payment option through our partnership with Crypto.com,” said Keith Grossman, president of TIME, in the announcement.
As an added bonus, users who pay for their subscriptions with Crypto.org Coin (CRO)—the exchange’s native token—will be able to get up to 10% back as part of the “Pay Rewards” program. While not specified in the announcement itself, these cash backs will also be paid out in CRO, according to Crypto.com’s FAQ.
TIME Partners with https://t.co/eeEpcBEOyb to Offer Cryptocurrency as a Form of Payment https://t.co/7c2MGbOrGj pic.twitter.com/jC2WHLdUMG
— #TeamTIME (@TeamTime) April 19, 2021
“We feel very fortunate to partner with TIME. Our mission is to accelerate the world’s transition to cryptocurrency and together with TIME we’ve just taken a major step forward towards reaching our goal,” added Kris Marszalek, co-founder and CEO of Crypto.com, in the announcement.
At launch, the new crypto payment option will be available only in the US and Canada, with global access planned to launch “in the next several months.”
TIME for crypto
TIME is already no stranger to crypto. Just last week, the company announced a partnership with digital investment giant Grayscale that will allow the media company to receive some payments in Bitcoin. Further, TIME has no plans to immediately transfer the crypto into fiat.
Thrilled @Grayscale is partnering w/ @TIME on a new video series coming this summer explaining the #crypto space.
Equally as important, @KeithGrossman & @TIME has agreed to be paid in #Bitcoin - and will hold the $BTC on their balance sheet. A first for our media partnerships!
— Michael Sonnenshein (@Sonnenshein) April 12, 2021
“Thrilled Grayscale is partnering w[ith] TIME on a new video series coming this summer explaining the crypto space,” Grayscale CEO Michael Sonnenshein tweeted, “Equally as important, Keith Grossman & TIME has agreed to be paid in Bitcoin - and will hold the $BTC on their balance sheet. A first for our media partnerships!”
In early March, TIME also dipped its toes in the emerging non-fungible token (NFT) space with a release of four NFTs based on iconic TIME covers. The NFTs were sold for 276 Ethereum in total—worth just over $610,000 at today’s prices.