China's Tencent Shuts Down NFT Platform Following Govt Policy
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Tencent Shutters NFT Platform
According to a report from local media, Tencent shut down one of its NFT platforms on July 1 while the other one is struggling to survive.
The report highlighted that the shutdown process began back in May with the company transferring key executives responsible for managing the NFT platform and fully removing the digital collectible section from its Tencent News app by July's first week.
The primary reason for the slowdown in sales and the complete closure of Tencent's digital collectible platform is being blamed on the country's government policy that prohibits buyers from selling their NFTs in private transactions after purchase. Additionally, the lack of a secondary market further makes it impossible to make a profit on these digital collectibles.
Underground NFT Trading Remains Afloat
While Chinese authorities have banned cryptocurrency sales, there is no such outright ban against NFTs. Citizens still sell their NFTs in the underground secondary markets but large tech firms such as Alibaba and Tencent can't afford to do so.
For instance, despite subsequent warnings from the government against NFTs, the number of NFT platforms in the country has grown over five times in four months.