Popula stores complete text of a news article on Ethereum blockchain

Popula, a news site backed by blockchain startup Civil, has stored a news article on the Ethereum blockchain.

Popula editor Maria Bustillos announced last week that she has archived the full text of an article published in September on the Ethereum blockchain and its hash has been stored on the IPFS protocol.

“And there it will remain, beyond the reach of any adversaries of the free press, for as long as the Ethereum blockchain and IPFS persist; a period which I venture to guess will last as long as the current internet, at the very least,” Bustillos said.

“To our knowledge, this is the very first story ever archived by a U.S. publication straight onto the Ethereum blockchain.”

Speaking with CoinDesk, Bustillos underscored the potential of blockchain technology to protect speech rights and press freedom. She said:

“For the first time in human history it might be possible to create absolute receipts, absolute, unassailable, unchangeable, incorruptible records. That would mark an enormous turning point, if people were to value this development at its true value.”

According to the report, the article was stored on the blockchain with help from Civil and the process was carried out using MetaMask. Popula plans to store its every article on the blockchain, usually about 90 days after publication.

“There are kinks still to work out, a viewer to build, and so on,” Bustillos said.