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Xiaohongshu, dubbed China’s Instagram, tests Web3 waters with investment in US start-up Shil.me
- Xiaohongshu, the Chinese social media platform with 200 million monthly active users, took part in a US$1.2 million pre-seed fundraising round of Shil.me
- Shil.me expects to see digital assets expand beyond visual art and profile pictures, which currently dominate NFTs
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Xiaohongshu, known as China’s answer to Instagram, has invested in a US-based start-up developing a Web3 internet platform built on blockchain, despite Beijing’s hostility towards cryptocurrencies and digital tokens.
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The Chinese social media platform with 200 million monthly active users this week took part in a US$1.2 million pre-seed fundraising round of Shil.me, which plans to build a platform “where people can display, share, transact and manage” non-fungible tokens (NFT) and other Web3 products.
Xiaohongshu declined to comment on the funding or its future plans for Web3.
Unlike Web2, which some criticise for Big Tech’s control of user data, some investors are promoting Web3 as a next-generation version of the internet owned by the users. However, Web3’s future in China is clouded by Beijing’s draconian restrictions on cryptocurrencies like ether. In the field of NFTs, for instance, many Chinese firms have banned trading and even ditched the term for a more neutral phrase, “digital collectibles”, to stay within the regulatory lines.
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SCMP Explains: What are NFTs?
SCMP Explains: What are NFTs?
At the same time, China’s internet service firms have been actively exploring Web3 and the metaverse. Xiaohongshu’s latest investment is a part of the wave.
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