August 18, 2022
By Anjali Kochhar
As the regulatory scrutiny of NFTs mounts in the country, Chinese internet giant Tencent Holdings’ non-fungible token (NFT) platform Huanhe will not be releasing digital collectables to the public, the company said in a statement.
But the company said that owners of existing collectables will still be able to hold, display or request a refund for their possessions.
“Based on the company’s consideration to focus on its core strategy, Huanhe is making adjustments to its business,” the company said in a statement.
In recent times, digital collectables in the form of NFTs have gained popularity. After state media repeatedly highlighted issues around NFT speculation in the country, tech giants including Tencent and Ant Group in June signed a pact to stop the secondary trading of digital collectables and “self-regulate” their activities in the market.
The potential shutdown of the company was first reported by media houses last month. The latest statement doesn’t elaborate on what will happen to the Huanhe brand.
Most Chinese tech platforms mostly avoid the wording NFT, opting to describe them as “digital collectibles” instead to distance them from cryptocurrencies, which are banned in China.Companies like Weibo and WeChat began deleting accounts connected to digital collectables sites in March out of concern for a government crackdown. In June, Alibaba introduced an NFT platform but quickly took down all online references.
About the author
Anjali Kochhar covers cryptocurrency stories in India as well as globally. Having been in the field of media and journalism for over three years now, she has developed a sharp news sense and works hard to present information that goes beyond the obvious. She is an avid reader and loves writing on a wide range of subjects.
