Cryptocurrency-focused media startup BlockTV has shut down operations as a result of financial strains of the COVID-19 disaster, based on two forme
Cryptocurrency-focused media startup BlockTV has shut down operations as a result of financial strains of the COVID-19 disaster, based on two former workers.
Following an preliminary spherical of layoffs in March, all remaining members of the 35-person Tel Aviv-based agency have been laid off.
“The COVID-19 disaster affected us strongly and we needed to shut down BLOCKTV,” BlockTV COO Noa Tamir advised CoinDesk in a LinkedIn message. “We’re very proud with the model we constructed and with all of the recent content material and information we delivered to the Blockchain and Crypto neighborhood. Hopefully we’ll have the ability to convey BLOCKTV again to life sooner or later.”
The information group was launched in 2019 with backing from controversial crypto entrepreneur Moshe Hogeg. Final November, BlockTV tried to boost $2 million through the sale of its BLTV token on crypto change Bittrex, based on The Block. Much like Courageous’s Primary Consideration Token (BAT), the token incentivized readers, publishers and journalists to collaborate in income sharing, the startup detailed in a weblog put up.
The token sale didn’t assist the startup throughout the disaster, nevertheless.
“Sadly, they have been compelled to successfully shut store with the coronavirus lockdowns,” stated former BlockTV senior analyst and anchor Asher Westropp-Evans. “As with so many, it was onerous to maintain operations operating easily below such strenuous situations.”
Having a “skeleton crew” following the March layoffs finally didn’t work out, Westropp-Evans added.
BlockTV initially listed its token for a pre-sale worth of $0.01. At press time, knowledge supplier CoinGecko listed BLTV at $0.003, down some 70% since November.
It’s not the one crypto media startup to have dabbled in tokenization. Decrypt introduced the launch of its personal token at EthCC in Paris in early March 2020.
“Within the surroundings of the early COVID-19 days when every thing appeared to be in freefall, individuals weren’t wanting to tackle further [investment] into tokens. In order that wasn’t going to assist a short-term squeeze,” Westropp-Evans stated.
Previous to the pandemic, BlockTV had deliberate on launching a studio in New York Metropolis in Q1 2020 to enhance its lineup of broadcast-news-style studies. The startup continued to concern content material intermittently by the spring months, as seen on its Twitter feed.
The information comes every week after Civil, a blockchain-based publishing platform backed by ConsenSys, introduced its official closure.
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