China Daily, an English newspaper controlled by the Publicity Department of the Chinese Communist Party, recently announced it will be allocating $390,000 for the launch of an NFT platform and metaverse. The announcement, translated from Chinese to English, specifies four goals for the project:
- The construction of the Central Daily Data collection issuance platform
- The creative development and promotion of domestic NFT collections
- The development of augmented and virtual reality technologies
- The creative construction of a metaverse space
Interested parties have until October 17th to submit their bids. Among the different timelines for the project includes the launch of the platform within three months, the debut of a non-fungible token collection within one month, an AR/VR work within two months, and the metaverse space also within two months.
The blockchain firm that takes on the project can be domestic or foreign, though its mainnet must be able to handle 10,000 transactions per second. That indicates China Daily is going for scalability and may build the NFT marketplace and the metaverse to handle a large number of participants.
The China Daily NFT platform will have pricing, bidding, and limited-time functions, along with multi-currency settlement. Eventually, China Daily may produce NFT collections for foreign marketplaces, including OpenSea, Rarible, SuperRare, and Foundation.
The news indicates that the Chinese government may be changing its tune on Web3 technology, though likely it has no intent to adhere to principles in the space like decentralization and anonymity. While cryptocurrency trading is still banned in the country, blockchain firms operate within its borders, although they are subject to government scrutiny.
The goal behind the China Daily project appears to be to further the dissemination of Chinese culture, which it can do through NFTs and the metaverse.
China Slowly Changes Its Stance on Web3 Tech
Although cryptocurrency trading is still banned in China, it has been changing its tune about Web3 technology — albeit slowly. Here are three stories involving the Communist country and the next iteration of the internet, all from the past eight months.
First, three weeks ago, China approved the use of NFT and metaverse trademarks in the country for the first time. The trademarks include digital files authenticated by NFTs, virtual goods for use in entertainment, and animated characters in digital environments. The move was another sign that the country is warming to Web3 tech.
Next, two months ago, China revealed that it is planning to bring its controversial Social Credit System to the metaverse. The System assesses a citizen’s “trustworthiness” and will be used in the metaverse to track and punish citizens who spread rumors about the country in virtual worlds.
Lastly, eight months ago, China’s “Instagram” integrated NFT technology through a blockchain called Conflux. The integration will allow users of the platform, called Little Red Book, to display NFTs on their profile page. Conflux is a L1 blockchain that aims to bridge Western and Asian communities.
As these stories show, China appears to be rethinking its stance on Web3 tech, although not without concern. It is bringing its heavy-handed policies to the space, which could result in a corrupted version of the freedom loving Web3 space that many of us love. Rarity Sniper will keep an eye out for developments and update this story if needed.