Report: China plans to launch state-backed NFT market for digital assets
Authorities in China plan to launch a non-functional token marketplace to help control speculation in digital assets and provide a stable, state-controlled platform for secondary trading in the country.
The “China Digital Asset Trading Platform” was built in partnership China Technology Exchange, a national institution for trading intellectual property and technological property rights, China Cultural Relics Exchange Center and blockchain developer Hanban Digital Copyright Service Center Co. Ltd., a report by state-controlled media China Daily revealed on Wednesday.
The launch ceremony for the new marketplace is scheduled for January 1, 2023.
The China Technology Exchange Center will provide standards for trading processes and settlement mechanisms for digital assets, including all tradable digital asset registrations, such as rights verification, depository, rights protection monitoring and copyright protection services.
Non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, are a type of crypto-asset that uses blockchain technology to represent ownership of a digital object such as artwork, music, video, documents, or in-game items. They can be bought, sold and traded and as a result have come to have real value and drive market speculation for digital collectibles and intellectual property.
The exchange will facilitate the buying, selling and trading of intellectual, scientific and technological property rights across China using a technology known as the “China Cultural Protection Chain.” The infrastructure was established by the China Cultural Relics Exchange Center with the purpose of becoming a cultural copyright library that would house the NFT transactions.
The new marketplace will become the central marketplace for selling and trading NFTs in China as the country has cracked down on cryptocurrencies. This was the reason behind Chinese internet giant Tencent Holdings’ shutdown of its NFT platform Huanhe in August, one year after its official launch. WeChat, a popular social media platform run by Tencent, also suspended accounts linked to NFTs in March.
Although NFTs can be bought and traded in China, they cannot be bought or sold for cryptocurrencies due to regulatory interference. However, they are still traded in alternative markets for yuan and dollars, and are not referred to as NFTs, but instead as digital collectibles.
