Tencent Holdings’ WeChat has suspended various accounts that promote digital collectibles, a term that is commonly used in China to refer to non-fungible tokens (NFTs) that cannot be purchased or traded using cryptocurrencies.
WeChat — China’s biggest and most popular social media platform with a user base of over 1.2 billion — said that the primary reason for the account ban was bitcoin speculation on the sites.
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Public accounts that allow main NFTs trading must demonstrate collaboration with blockchain enterprises registered with China’s Cyberspace Administration, WeChat stated.
The platform’s mini-programs support digital collectibles exclusively as “gifts within the primary market” and as components of digital exhibitions.
WeChat Goes Hard Against NFT Promotion
The transaction and multi-level circulation of digital collections are closed, and if any aggressive activity, such as bypassing is discovered, the account will be suspended or deleted, depending on the severity of the violation, Sina News, a Chinese state-run news agency, reported.
Public accounts that have been suspended are now required to submit a Certificate of Cooperation (COC) with a blockchain enterprise that has been registered and approved by the CCA.
However, some accounts have been suspended because of fraud concerns, the report stated.
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More Public Accounts Targeted
According to a search conducted by the South China Morning Post, at least a dozen WeChat public accounts used for publishing and pushing content to followers have been suspended for the last two weeks.
Several more public accounts have been blocked, including Art Meta Yuanyishu, Yidianshuzang, Earth Zero, One Meta, Guizang Metaverse, Yuanben Space, Huasheng Meta, Nuofangti, Shenda Shuzang and iBox.
However, Tencent Magic Core’s WeChat account was unaffected, raising speculation that only small or medium-sized businesses were targeted.
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Pertinent Papers Required
According to an unnamed source, WeChat had notified NFT marketplaces with accounts on the platform that they needed to present confirmation of their eligibility to engage in the aforementioned commercial operations.
In a statement, the WeChat team explained:
“To combat speculation in virtual currency transactions, the WeChat public platform has standardized and corrected public accounts and small programs for speculation and secondary sales of digital collections.”
China has been a vocal opponent of cryptocurrencies and non-fiat currencies. It was included to the list of countries last year that have prohibited the use of what it calls “virtual digital assets” and their mining.
The government justified the restriction by citing rising electricity use and environmental degradation. Since then, the country’s internet companies have been riding a tsunami of anxiety when it comes to dealing with digital assets.
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