By
Bhushan Akolkar
May 13th, 2024
Collectibles sold on the platform may also be bridged to mainstream platforms such as OpenSea and Rarible.
Chinese government-owned newspaper China Daily has plans to create a metaverse and nonfungible tokens (NFTs) platform. The English-language publication – owned by the Publicity Department of the Chinese Communist Party – has offered 2.813 million yuan ($390,000) to a third-party contractor that can design the NFT platform within its budget.
According to a recent announcement, the newspaper is looking to work with “either a Chinese or foreign” blockchain firm. A prerequisite is that the firm’s mainnet must be able to handle over 10,000 transactions per second.
October 17 has been set as the deadline for submission of applications by interested contractors. They will then have three months to design the platform. The China Daily NFT Platform’s goal is to “improve the spread of the influence of the Chinese Civilization” through technologies such as “metaverse, virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), mixed reality (AR), and Blockchain, irreplaceable digital assets (NFT), big data, cloud computing and other technologies.”
Specifications for the platform include support for pricing, bidding, limited-time functions and multi-currency settlement. The platform must also allow “uploading, displaying, and managing digital collections and supports multimedia forms and multiple collection types.” According to the paper, collectibles sold on the platform may also be bridged to mainstream platforms such as OpenSea and Rarible. It reads:
“In addition to its own platform, based on the project goals and audience groups, domestic and overseas mainstream NFT platforms suitable for issuing digital collections will be selected to issue NFT digital collections. Foreign platforms include but are not limited to OpenSea, Rarible, SuperRare, Foundation, etc.”
Cryptocurrency transactions of all forms have been banned in China since 2021. The country, which started exploring the feasibility of a central bank digital currency (CBDC) in 2014, has been pushing for increased usage of its digital yuan as part of its CBDC pilot. While some blockchain companies are still operational in the country, they are often faced with intense regulatory scrutiny from local authorities.