“Within the next five years, all media will be tokenized.”
Six years ago, on stage at the World Association of Newspapers and Publishers (WAN-IFRA) in Singapore, I declared this. Behind me, on the screen, was a confident message: blockchain would be the media's savior.
Looking back at that photo now, I admit it. My prediction at the time was optimistic in terms of timing. Five years later, not all media has been tokenized. But while the timing may have been wrong, the direction wasn't. In fact, it's even more urgent now.
When we first launched PUBLISH in 2018, the market dismissed us as simply an app that rewarded readers with coins. However, the essence of our design relied not on rewards, but on verification. This involved a "Journalist DID (Decentralized Identity)" technology that verifies the identity of journalists, and a "digital notarization" technology that authenticates the originality of articles.
With this vision in mind, we entered the Korean media market, one of the most competitive in the world. Partnering with the Journalists Association of Korea, we authenticated the identities of thousands of journalists using blockchain technology and secured over 70 media outlets as allies. The technical verification process was already complete.
So why didn't we turn the world upside down in 2020?
The technology was ready, but the times were rough. The so-called "crypto winter" hit. Financial infrastructure was weak, and regulations were vague. Coin prices fluctuated by tens of percent overnight, a harsh ordeal for both media outlets and the participants who had invested in our ecosystem. It was like trying to run a powerful engine on unrefined, crude fuel. I painfully remember the ups and downs and the hurt I experienced along the way.
But now, after enduring the long winter and with 2026 just around the corner, the tables have turned.
First, the market has become more orderly. The implementation of the Virtual Asset User Protection Act and the US's move toward legislative support for stablecoins have elevated this market from a speculative arena to an institutional financial institution. Second, the "AI counterattack" has begun. We live in an era where generative AI is churning out fake news that seems real. The technology that mathematically proves "human authorship" is no longer an option but a necessity for survival. "Staked Media," which Silicon Valley is only now beginning to take notice of, is the very model we have been quietly preparing for the past five years.
Now, publishing is taking a second leap forward. While the past model was simply a "read and receive reward" structure, the new model is a "verification and recognition" structure.
We know that there are those who have watched over us through the long period of stagnation. There's only one way to prove that their patience wasn't in vain: to demonstrate through performance that we were right, that our technology has ultimately become the standard essential to this era.
The first attempt proved the technology's potential. The upcoming second attempt will demonstrate the sustainability of the business and the value it provides to those who have trusted us. Winter is over. The future of media is once again being written on blockchain.
Seongmin Kwon, CEO of Publish and founder of TokenPost
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