ConsenSys invests $5M in Civil

On Wednesday, the New York City-based decentralized newsmaking platform, Civil, announced to have raised $5 million in funding. The firm plans on setting aside half of the funds as capital, while utilizing the other half to develop its services.

The huge investment was made by the global blockchain venture studio, ConsenSys. Joseph Lubin, founder of ConsenSys, said, “decentralizing technologies have enormous potential to unlock new business models and reinvigorate the digital media landscape, putting power back in the hands of journalists and readers. Built on the Ethereum platform, the most advanced manifestation of blockchain technology, Civil will provide opportunities for journalists to build reputations and take home value, as well as for users to access trustworthy, high-quality information.”

Civil offers a self-sustaining marketplace that aims to facilitate direct interaction between readers and journalists by using Ethereum's ERC20 standard to ensure transparency throughout the system. Using Civil’s cryptocurrency, CVL, readers can directly sponsor preferred newsrooms as well as individual journalists, stories, and researches. They can also subscribe to publications hosted by Civil.

Journalists, in the same way, will be allowed to collaboratively run their own publications and will be given protection against censorship and intellectual property disputes. The firm further aims to increase efficiency by minimizing misinformation, using incentives to encourage collaborative editing and fact-checking. It will also be ensured that fair, objective, and professional standards are met throughout the network.

“By providing the economic incentives and governance structures for newsmakers — writers, editors, photographers, fact-checkers — to self-organize, Civil offers a new business model for journalism, our goal is to create a self-sustaining global marketplace for journalism that is free from advertising, fake news, and outside influence,” explains Civil founder, Matthew Iles.

Lubin states, “as a leader driving the development of the Ethereum ecosystem worldwide, ConsenSys is proud to support Civil, which is not only a natural, innovative, excellent use of the technology, but also backed up by a strong team and aligned with our mission to drive change which puts economic, social and political systems on firmer, healthier foundations.”

Civil is expected to launch the new platform in early 2018. Additionally, it will also initiate a token sale to boost its capital and raise funds for its other projects, such as Popula, which will be an alternative news and culture publication.