Major European Publisher Axel Springer Partners with SatoshiPay

Europe’s largest digital publisher Axel Springer SE has partnered with blockchain startup SatoshiPay to enable direct payments using blockchain, investment news agency London South East reports on Jan. 31.

Blockchain micro payment firm SatoshiPay has reportedly started a collaboration with Axel Springer yesterday, Jan. 31, in order to develop a platform enabling readers to pay for content using SatoshiPay Wallet.

According to the article, the new blockchain solution will enable direct payments eliminating third party involvement, and will be integrated into Axel Springer products in order to get experience in user acceptance.

The press release was provided by tech-focused investment firm Blue Star Capital (BLU), which reportedly has a 30 percent stake in SatoshiPay. Blue Star Capital has seen a rise in share price subsequently after the partnership announcement, with its shares having reportedly grown by 20 percent to 0.16 pence ($0.21) on Jan. 31, as reported by British daily tabloid newspaper Morningstar.

Valentin Schöndienst, senior vice president of new business and “Mr. Blockchain” at Axel Springer, said that blockchain tech has the potential to enable a new option for content monetization by reducing transaction costs significantly.

Axel Springer SE is the biggest digital publishing company in Europe, containing a number of media news brands including Business Insider, Rolling Stone and others. The company reportedly generated around 3.3 billion euros ($3.7 billion) in total revenues in the financial year of 2015.

Earlier in January, blockchain tech firm ConsenSys joined a project developing a new revenue-generating news platform by WordPress, the world’s most popular website management system. Through an investment of $350,000, ConsenSys joined leading publishing industry organizations such as Google News, The Lenfest Institute for Journalism and The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.