Despite Crypto Crackdown, Chinese State Media Xinhua News Agency Will Issue NFTs

China has been blocking every possible route to digital assets for its citizens. However, it seems that its own state-media Xinhua News Agency will be leveraging the non-fungible tokens (NFTs) as a form of collectibles.

In an announcement on Wednesday, December 22, the Xinhua News Agency said that the collectibles will be minted from some select news photography reports from the year 2021. Furthermore, they will be issued for free via its news app ahead of this week on Friday. Citing the information from the agency, Bloomberg reports:

Xinhua’s “digital news collectibles” will have unique identification and ownership information on a blockchain from Tencent Cloud, and are of “special commemorative significance and collection value”. Tencent and Ant also previously changed the name for NFTs on their platforms to “digital collectibles.”

In the first batch, a total of 11 NFTs will be offered each limited to 10,000. The Xinhua News Agency said that there will also be a special edition. “It’s a unique year-end review,” Xinhua said. “Moreover, it’s digital memory written in the metaverse”.

Media Houses and Their Craze for NFTs

This is not the first time that a media house is leveraging the power of NFTs. Other popular media outlets like the New York Times and TIME Magazine have also previously dabbled into the world of NFTs. The surprising this is that while the Chinese government has been issuing a severe crackdown on the use of any form of crypto assets. The latest report from Bloomberg mentions:

While Chinese authorities haven’t labeled NFTs illegal, it’s a grey area where any participant must tread carefully to avoid unwanted scrutiny. Domestic firms such as Tencent Holdings Ltd. and Ant Group Co. have issued NFTs on their tightly-controlled blockchain platforms. Domestic media had warned of “blind speculation” in NFTs.

However, the thing is that Chinese authorities haven’t labeled NFTs as illegal. Furthermore, it’s a grey area investors should be careful of. Probably, China isn’t going to allow NFTs running on public protocols like Ethereum.