FACT CHECK: Did The New York Times Publish This Article About Non-Fungible Tokens?

Elias AtienzaNovember 11, 2021

An image shared on Instagram allegedly shows a New York Times article titled “NFTs Are the Top Expense for Low-Income Men in 2021.”

Verdict: False

There is no evidence The New York Times published the article.

Fact Check:

A non-fungible token (NFT) is a “digital asset that links ownership to unique physical or digital items,” according to Business Insider. NFTs are stored on a blockchain, a public digital “ledger” of transactions stored on internet-connected computers around the world, BBC News reported.

The viral image falsely alleges in an Instagram post that The New York Times published an article about NFTs being the “top expense” for “low-income” men this year. The subheadline of the purported article reads, “Early tax reporting shows 68% of men making under 23k spent most of their money on NFTs this year.”

There is no record of The New York Times publishing the article in the Instagram post. The image attempts to suggest it was published as part of the newspaper’s “The Shift” column, but a review of “The Shift” articles dating back to 2017 shows no matching headline. Nor can it be found anywhere else on The New York Times’ website. The outlet also hasn’t shared any articles with that headline on its verified social media accounts.

“The New York Times did not write or publish the headline in that screenshot,” Jordan Cohen, the executive director of communications for the publication, told Check Your Fact in an email. (RELATED: Did The New York Times Publish An Article Claiming Donald Trump Died?)

National media outlets such as CNN, Fox News, ABC News, CBS News and NBC News also haven’t reported that “early tax reporting” showed 68 percent of men earning under $23,000 a year spent “most of their money” on NFTs this year.

This isn’t the first time social media users have shared a fake New York Times article. Check Your Fact has previously debunked claims that The New York Times published an article reporting former President Donald Trump died in 2020 and an opinion article suggesting the 2020 election had been “stolen.”