Civil, the ConsenSys-backed startup that aimed to decentralize the funding and “vetting” of journalism, is shutting down after four years.
The company built an innovative product, CEO Matthew Illes wrote in a blog post announcing the end of the company. “But ultimately, we failed to sustain ourselves independently.”
The startup’s goal was to create a “self-governing marketplace” for journalism using a blockchain.
In 2017 Civil raised $5M from ConsenSys. The firm had some initial traction, signing up name-brand media firms like The Associated Press and Forbes. But then it had a pair of failed ICOs, and never seemed to regain its footing.
The Civil team will fold into ConsenSys to continue its development of decentralized identity software for Ethereum.