{"id":9597,"date":"2023-01-06T00:27:39","date_gmt":"2023-01-06T00:27:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cryptoheretostay.com\/?p=9597"},"modified":"2023-01-06T00:27:42","modified_gmt":"2023-01-06T00:27:42","slug":"chinas-nft-market-moutai-metaverse-popular-but-buggy-cointelegraph-magazine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cryptoheretostay.com\/?p=9597","title":{"rendered":"China\u2019s NFT market, Moutai metaverse popular but buggy\u2026 \u2013 Cointelegraph Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"<script type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\namzn_assoc_placement = \"adunit0\";\r\namzn_assoc_tracking_id = \"totafreearti-20\";\r\namzn_assoc_ad_mode = \"search\";\r\namzn_assoc_ad_type = \"smart\";\r\namzn_assoc_marketplace = \"amazon\";\r\namzn_assoc_region = \"US\";\r\namzn_assoc_default_search_phrase = \"crypto\";\r\namzn_assoc_default_category = \"All\";\r\namzn_assoc_search_bar = \"false\";\r\namzn_assoc_title = \"\";\r\namzn_assoc_rows =\"1\";\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"\/\/z-na.amazon-adsystem.com\/widgets\/onejs?MarketPlace=US\"><\/script>\n<p>In a joint effort between the state-owned Chinese Technology Exchange, the state-owned Art Exhibitions China and the corporation Huban Digital Copyrights Ltd, China\u2019s first national NFT marketplace is scheduled to come online this week.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s designed as a secondary market for trading digital collectibles, along with copyrights for digital assets. Perhaps unsurprisingly, it\u2019s built on China\u2019s national Wenbao, or \u201ccultural protection\u201d blockchain, which helps verify the authenticity of artifacts and commercial goods. Currently, only the NFT platform\u2019s landing page is accessible.<\/p>\n<h2>1400 blockchain firms in China<\/h2>\n<p>On Dec. 29, the state-owned China Academy for Information and Communications Technology, or CAICT, disclosed in its national white paper that over 1,400 blockchain firms are operating in the country despite strict regulations. Together, Chinese and U.S. blockchain firms account for 52% of such entities globally. In one example of distributed ledger applications in public service, CAICT researchers wrote:<\/p>\n<p>\u201c[In the] Zhejiang Provincial blockchain electronic invoice platform, [authorities] used blockchain\u2019s multiple access point and decentralized process capabilities, along with technological highlights such as smart contracts, to improve the trust verification across various departments. This led to the digital circulation of electronic invoices; their issuance, receipt, inspection, reimbursement, and improved the information management level and service capabilities of electronic invoices in financial departments.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Similarly, local news outlet Shanghai Securities News reported that the digital yuan central bank digital currency, or e-CNY CBDC, surpassed 104.8 billion Chinese yuan ($15.21 billion) in usage in the province of Zhejiang since its inception in April. Provincial residents have opened 24.14 million e-CNY wallets, and authorities claimed to have distributed 3.5 billion yuan ($510 million) in tax refunds via the e-CNY to residents as an experiment. Despite the results, experts such as former Chinese central banker Xie Peng said that \u201cusage has been low\u201d for the CBDC.\u00a0<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Kunming\u2019s blockchain KPIs\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>On Dec. 30, the City of Kunming published its three-year plan for municipal digital economy development. The report set a 25% annual growth target for the city\u2019s digital economy to surpass 500 billion yuan ($72.58 billion) in two years. In addition, local-level communist party officials must meet collective key performance indicators of incubating at least 20 blockchain-specific applications and encouraging the development of at least 10 \u201cstrongly competitive\u201d and technologically advanced blockchain firms by the end of 2024. \u201cPlease implement [them] fully and completely,\u201d the document states.\u00a0<\/p>\n<h2>Moutai\u2019s metaverse hits 1 million users<\/h2>\n<p><em>The Moutai metaverse experience. Source: 68h5.com<\/em><\/p>\n<p>On Jan. 1, popular Chinese liquor distiller Moutai and internet technology firm WangYi launched their joint metaverse Xunfeng World on the Apple App Store. Developers designed the experience based on the Moutai distilleries in the Guizhou province. Players can interact with one another and distillers to learn the traditional Moutai-making experience.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Just two days later, its registered users surpassed 1 million, with the app ranking No. 1 in the e-commerce category in China. However, the app only had a rating of 2.4\/5 at the time of writing, with users complaining about in-game features, \u201cexcruciating\u201d wait times for Know Your Customer verification, login difficulties and poor customer service. One user wrote:\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere is no customer hotline, there is no customer service, and I don\u2019t even know where to solve the problem. I looked forward to joining from the waitlist, but I could never pass KYC on the day of the app\u2019s release. What\u2019s wrong? I\u2019m literally begging you to take my money so I can play this game, but it seems you don\u2019t want it?\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>Hong Kong crypto scams worsen<\/h2>\n<p><em>Hong Kong cityscape. Source: Pexels<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Currently, Hong Kong residents cannot trade cryptocurrencies unless they are classified as \u201cprofessional investors\u201d or have at least 8 million Hong Kong dollars ($1.02 million) in bankable assets. However, these regulations have done little to curtail the rise of crypto scams.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>A recent Hong Kong police report cited by Rthk.hk revealed that in the first 10 months of 2022, the special administrative region recorded 1,503 cases of investment scams involving total assets of $98.5 million, up 10% from the same period last year.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>About 70% of the scams were classified as involving crypto. One victim, Mr. Lee, reportedly lost 180,000 HKD ($23,000) after being contacted by a representative claiming access to exclusive insider information on the price of SUSHI tokens. Mr. Lee later called the police after his supposed trading account was removed without explanation.\u00a0<\/p>\n<h2>Square Enix all in on blockchain<\/h2>\n<p>In an annual letter published on Jan. 1, Yosuke Matsuda, president of Japanese gaming giant Square Enix, said that the company would shift its business focus to blockchain entertainment. The move follows Square Enix\u2019s announcement on May 3 that it would sell its blockbuster video game franchise Tomb Raider and use the proceeds to invest in new initiatives such as blockchain, though it still retains other popular franchises such as Final Fantasy. Matsuda wrote:\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think it is fair to say that blockchain gained significant recognition as a field in 2022, as evidenced by \u2018Web 3.0\u2019 becoming a firmly established buzzword among businesspeople. However, the year also saw volatility in the cryptocurrency and NFT markets that tracked the dramatic shifts in the macroeconomy described above.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Matsuda also said that aside from monetization, blockchain and NFTs should be \u201cdelivering new experiences and excitement to customers\u201d and that the company had \u201cmultiple blockchain games based on original IPs under development.\u201d In its latest filing, Square Enix reported 163 billion Japanese yen ($1.23 billion) in revenue and 39.4 billion yen ($297 million) in profit for the first six months to Sept. 30.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"author__name\">Zhiyuan Sun<\/h2>\n<p>Zhiyuan sun is a journalist at Cointelegraph focusing on technology-related news. He has several years of experience writing for major financial media outlets such as The Motley Fool, Nasdaq.com and Seeking Alpha.<\/p>\n<p><script type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\namzn_assoc_placement = \"adunit0\";\r\namzn_assoc_tracking_id = \"totafreearti-20\";\r\namzn_assoc_ad_mode = \"search\";\r\namzn_assoc_ad_type = \"smart\";\r\namzn_assoc_marketplace = \"amazon\";\r\namzn_assoc_region = \"US\";\r\namzn_assoc_default_search_phrase = \"bitcoin\";\r\namzn_assoc_default_category = \"All\";\r\namzn_assoc_search_bar = \"false\";\r\namzn_assoc_title = \"\";\r\namzn_assoc_rows =\"1\";\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"\/\/z-na.amazon-adsystem.com\/widgets\/onejs?MarketPlace=US\"><\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/asia-express-chinas-nft-market-moutai-metaverse-popular-but-buggy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In a joint effort between the state-owned Chinese Technology Exchange, the state-owned Art Exhibitions China and the corporation Huban Digital Copyrights Ltd, China\u2019s first national NFT marketplace is scheduled to come online this week. It\u2019s designed as a secondary market for trading digital collectibles, along with copyrights for digital assets. Perhaps unsurprisingly, it\u2019s built on [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9598,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_wp_rev_ctl_limit":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9597","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bitcoin-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cryptoheretostay.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9597","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cryptoheretostay.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cryptoheretostay.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cryptoheretostay.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cryptoheretostay.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9597"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cryptoheretostay.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9597\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9599,"href":"https:\/\/cryptoheretostay.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9597\/revisions\/9599"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cryptoheretostay.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/9598"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cryptoheretostay.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9597"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cryptoheretostay.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9597"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cryptoheretostay.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9597"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}