What is crypto’s media strategy?

Forbes announced this morning that Binance is buying a $200M stake in the publication. Binance previously sued Forbes for defamation, and then voluntarily dropped the suit.

Why should we care?
This deal represents the first foray into mainstream media by a crypto company. At least publicly, Binance has stated that it’s interested in the partnership as a means to introduce blockchain-based technologies to a more traditional finance audience. Forbes could develop NFTs, introduce read-to-earn, and accept subscriptions through Bitcoin, for example. But we should be wary of Binance founder and CEO Changpeng Zhao’s assertion that Forbes will remain “very independent” on the editorial front. In exchange for Binance’s $200M investment, Forbes will add Patrick Hillmann, Binance’s Chief Communications Officer, as well as Bill Chin, Head of Binance’s VC wing, to its board of directors. With that shakeup in mind, Forbes is much less likely to proceed with some of its harder-hitting investigative pieces on the crypto world. In November 2020, in fact, Binance sued Forbes for defamation; the media outlet had accused Binance of intentionally deceiving U.S. regulators and investors—allegations that Binance denied. Forbes’s normalization of crypto through a Binance partnership may make for interesting blockchain-based media innovations; we should nevertheless take stock of how Forbes’ crypto stories might assume a more conciliatory tone over time. If this partnership helps shape a media giant in crypto’s image, then other crypto companies may soon follow suit.