People.cn, the online arm of the Communist Party of China’s party newspaper People’s Daily, launched a “digital collectibles” NFT gallery on Tuesday and hinted that it might launch artwork trading, even though authorities in the past have criticized the non-fungible token (NFT) market for its hype and speculative behavior by investors.
Fast facts
- “Digital collectibles” is a phrase now commonly used by companies in China to avoid having to say “NFTs” after Chinese state media began denouncing the international market frenzy over NFTs.
- According to a press release, the Lingjing People’s Art Museum hosted by People.cn will provide artwork services such as copyright protection, digital publishing, artwork digitalization and blockchain certification.
- The press release also hints that the digital collection gallery will launch artwork trading as the next step, saying the gallery “will explore new modes of art transactions and open up new channels for artworks to market.”
- The gallery’s homepage currently exhibits traditional Chinese artworks by famous artists, but without price tags or buy buttons.
- Amid Beijing’s warnings against NFT trading, Chinese tech giants have pledged to resist speculation of digital collectibles, and Alibaba’s blockchain subsidiary AntChain began requiring a 180-day holding period before an NFT buyer may resell an NFT to prevent “malicious hype.”
