HONG KONG: Chinese internet giant Tencent Holdings’ non-fungible expression (NFT) platform Huanhe will no longer release electronic collectibles to the community, it said on Aug 16, because regulatory scrutiny associated with NFTs mounts in the country.
The Shenzhen-based company said that Huanhe, officially launched earlier last August, will not release new NFTs to users through Tuesday. But the business said that owners associated with existing collectibles it’s still able to hold, screen or request a refund for their possessions.
“Based around the company’s consideration to focus on its core strategy, Huanhe is producing adjustments to the business, ” Tencent said in a statement.
Huanhe is one of the biggest NFT platforms in China, along with new collectibles often sold out instantly on launch.
The particular move marks a major retreat by Tencent from the NFT marketplace, which has come below increased scrutiny from Chinese regulators. Digital collectibles in the form of NFTs have become popular around the world in recent years, in large part thanks to an active if not extremely speculative secondary marketplace.
After state media repeatedly highlighted issues around NFT speculation in the country, technology giants including Tencent and Ant Group in June authorized a pact to prevent the secondary investing of digital collectibles and “self-regulate” their own activities in the market.
The potential shutdown of Huanhe was first reported by Chinese mass media last month. In its statement on Tuesday, Tencent did not intricate on what will happen to the Huanhe brand.
Chinese tech giants have trodden cautiously with their NFT systems within mainland The far east. Most domestic systems mostly avoid the wording NFT, opting to describe them as “digital collectibles” instead in a bid to distance them from cryptocurrencies, which are banned within China. – Reuters