• by Melynda Fuller , March 2, 2018

After growing Collider’s audience from 3 million monthly visitors to almost 12 million over the course of three years, Complex has decided to sell the site to cryptocurrency investor Marc Fernandez and a silent partner for an undisclosed amount.

When Complex bought the entertainment news site in 2015, the intention was to use Collider as a venue for amping up video content as everyone raced to “pivot.” Since then, Complex, once an independent media company and now a joint venture between Verizon and Heasrt, shuttered its print magazine, laying off most of its product team late last year.

Instead, it focused on “youth culture brands,” including sneaker news site Sole collector and video.

But Collider no longer fits into that mold. In a story with The Hollywood Reporter, it’s reported that Complex didn’t sell off Collider because of revenue issues, but because the company wants to bring its attention back to Complex.

Enter, Fernandez.

Fernandez states he wants to “build strong IP” and eventually connect with distribution partners. The site will remain within the Complex advertising and multichannel network, which will help it “from a sales and audience perspective without having the operation expenditures that go with it.”

Without divulging details, Fernandez claims he will harness the power of blockchain technology to incorporate cryptocurrency, like Ethereum, into Collider’s business model.

Currently, Fernandez has moved Collider’s 18 full-time staffers to a warehouse in Burbank outfitted to hold 50, which Fernandez hopes to fill this year.

Much speculation has surrounded the potential of using blockchain technology to create a new, albeit experimental, revenue stream profitable for both outlets and writers with some companies beginning to try it out, even for fighting fake news.

Companies are scrambling to determine what works — subscription and membership programs, events, media partnerships — as outlets like Facebook increase the volatility of the industry with changing algorithms that make it nearly impossible to create a marketing plan.

It’s a bit unsettling to see a seemingly thriving website like Collider taken into the realm of the experimental. But Collider was in the same shaky hands during the last big rush, video. Despite its new funding and home, it thrived.

Maybe Fernandez will be able to crack some sort of code by making Collider even stronger with new, though still murky, technological knowhow.