• by Melynda Fuller , September 26, 2018

Last week, blockchain journalism startup Civil began the sale of its proprietary CVL tokens. Money attained from their purchase supports the Civil Foundation, the not-for-profit entity that supplies grants to news organizations.

CVL tokens are used by readers to directly support the publications operating on the Civil blockchain-based economy.

To meet its initial coin offer goal, Civil needs to raise $8 million, but the organization has hit some nasty bumps during the first week of its sale. Seven days in, Civil has brought in a little more than $1.2 million, with 87% of that net purchased by a single entity, according to Nieman Journalism Lab. 

Part of the reason? The steps potential buyers are expected to go through to close on their purchase. To fix this, Civil is allowing would-be buyers to purchase CVL tokens directly with cash, hoping that will inspire sales to climb.

If the organization’s goal isn’t reached, those who bought in will get their money back.

Sale of the tokens will now extend to October 15. 

Over the summer, the Civil Media Company saw the launch of several new independent outlets across its platform. Those included The Colorado Sun, which ran a successful Kickstarter campaign that brought in more than $160,000 in funding for its newsroom. The Colorado Sun is run by former Denver Post editors who wanted to bring independent journalism to the city as the Post’s newsroom continues to be stripped. 

In August, Matt Coolidge, a Civil cofounder-head of brand and communications, told Publishing Insider: “We want to unite these people in a network that prioritizes ethical journalism above all, and which promotes a novel new way to support newsrooms. It’s a grand experiment to be sure, but we think it holds tremendous potential. It can only be realized if we can connect with that critical subset of the population that sees Civil as a way to promote a better way forward for a beleaguered industry.”

The mission is a valid one and experimental. Hopefully, the initial fumble during the sales launch won’t prove impede the journalistic ecosystem Civil Media Company and the Civil Foundation hope to create.