Fortune drops second-ever NFT cover—one that tells a very different story about crypto

The April/May issue of the magazine will feature a blockchain-themed cover to mark the publication of a special crypto edition that contains the FORTUNE CRYPTO 40, a first-of-its-kind ranking of the most important companies in the industry. As for the cover, which will be on newsstands later this month, you can see from the illustration above that it has a very different vibe from its precursor, which was penned by the artist pplpleasr and celebrated the 2021 bull market.

The new cover, by 32-year-old Panamanian artist Ix Shells (a.k.a. Itzel Yard), has a grittier urban aesthetic and conveys feelings of construction and resilience. The illustration is a monument to the crypto industry’s worst year ever—one punctuated by scandal, price collapse, and regulatory backlash—but also a testament to those who have kept on building through it all. For Ix Shells, who is also a coder and integrates computer themes into her art, the story is a personal one. Unlike many of the drive-by speculators who too often define the industry, she has long made crypto the center of her community and her career.

To mark the occasion, Fortune and Ix Shells are selling an animated version of the cover as an NFT for 24 hours starting this Sunday on Foundation. The parties made the decision to offer the NFT at a democratic price point of 0.1 ETH (around $175) in hopes that the crypto community will come together to own a piece of history and support one of their own. It’s also refreshing that, for the second time, Fortune’s NFT artist is a woman of color—showing yet again the industry is much more than the crypto bros of popular stereotype.

If you’re interested in learning more, you can find details here on Fortune’s Foundation page. Or join us at noon ET today for a Twitter Spaces (@Fortunemagazine) where our NFT reporter Marco Quiroz-Gutierrez will be speaking with Ix Shells about the cover and much more.

Jeff John Roberts
jeff.roberts@fortune.com
@jeffjohnroberts

DECENTRALIZED NEWS

Gemini veterans launched a decentralized platform that lets users acquire tokens backed by U.S. Treasuries, which—in an ironic twist—now deliver a far better yield than DeFi. (Bloomberg)

The leaders behind the buzzy Arbitrum blockchain bowed to popular outrage and reversed a plan to distribute nearly 1 billion newly minted ARB tokens to themselves. (CoinDesk)

A growing number of fad ETFs—which offer theme-based investments like “Gen Z” and “MemeETF”—have shut down, including an ETF backed by NFT collections. (Bloomberg)

A class action firm filed a lawsuit against Binance and minor celebrities, including an NBA player, claiming harm from the sale of unregistered securities. (WSJ)

Elon Musk changed Twitter’s bird logo to the Doge dog, sending the memecoin soaring 20%. (Fortune)

MEME O’ THE MOMENT

Musk fatigue setting in: