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Alibaba, Tencent rebrand NFT offerings as ‘digital collectibles’ amid Beijing’s scrutiny of new virtual asset market
- The rebranding moves by Alibaba and Tencent reflect their efforts to steer away from any potential conflict with Beijing, which has cracked down on Big Tech firms
- Chinese state-run media recently warned of a potentially ‘huge bubble’ in the NFT market
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Chinese technology giants Alibaba Group Holding and Tencent Holdings have both renamed their non-fungible token (NFT) offerings as “digital collectibles”, as Beijing casts a wary eye on this new virtual asset market as a potentially huge bubble.
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Alipay, the mobile payments operation of Alibaba financial technology affiliate Ant Group, now calls its latest NFT artworks – including digital paintings or virtual versions of antiques – as digital collectibles, months after launching NFT wallpaper for users’ payment code pages in June. Alibaba is the parent company of the South China Morning Post.
Ant Group “firmly opposes any form of illicit activity conducted in the name of digital collectibles” or “any form of price speculation on digital collectibles”, said a representative of AntChain, the Chinese fintech giant’s blockchain technology platform.
On Alibaba’s digital flea market Xianyu, a search for “NFT” does not show any results. A search for “digital collectibles”, however, turned up about a dozen items for sale.
Meanwhile, on Huanhe – the NFT platform launched by Tencent in August – all of the items on offer are now referred to as digital collectibles.
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SCMP Explains: What are NFTs?
SCMP Explains: What are NFTs?
“We do not tolerate any illegal activities, including those related to cryptocurrencies,” said Tencent in a statement, which also indicated that Huanhe prohibited the transfer of digital products between users.
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