Leading Chinese e-commerce platform JD launches a portal for non-fungible tokens (NFTs), making it the third internet giant in the country to do so. Meituan refutes a fraudulent virtual currency project using the company’s branding. Inner Mongolia completes its crypto mining sweep. A Beijing court rules a crypto mining contract invalid in a business dispute.
JD gets into NFTs
JD launched an NFT platform called Lingxi on Dec. 17. The platform is accessible through a mini-program on one of JD’s apps. The platform’s inaugural digital collectible is a digital rendering of Joy, the company’s mascot of a white cartoon dog, and is priced at RMB 9.9 ($1.55 apiece) and limited to 2,000 copies. The program is backed by JD Digits Blockchain, the company’s own consortium blockchain. Buyers aren’t allowed to resell or trade digital collectibles in line with China’s rules on preventing digital asset speculation. JD is the third major Chinese tech company to launch an NFT platform, following Tencent and Alibaba affiliate Ant Group. (Jiemian, in Chinese)
Meituan refutes fake virtual currency project
Life-services app Meituan said on Dec. 17 that it had found an unknown group fraudulently using the Meituan brand to sell virtual currencies named “MEITUAN.” The company clarified that it has no virtual currency projects. Meituan Security has acquired evidence of the fraudulent use and is actively working with the relevant authorities to investigate. (Meituan Security, in Chinese)
Mining woes
- Officials in China’s northern Inner Mongolia region announced that they have finished cracking down on all crypto mining projects in the region, Chinese media reported on Monday. The region shut 49 virtual currency mining projects and cleared 186 IP addresses involved in mining during the crackdown. Various Chinese regional governments have been sweeping and closing crypto mining projects in their jurisdictions since this fall, including Yunnan, Sichuan, and Zhejiang. (China Star Market, in Chinese)
- A Beijing district court voided a bitcoin mining contract in a business dispute on Dec. 15, setting a precedent for such caes in the region. In a 2019 contract, a Beijing-based company called Phonf (Fengfu Jiuxin in Chinese) commissioned a Tianjin-based blockchain company called Zhongyan Zhichuang (ZYZC) to mine bitcoin and share mining profits. Phonf is suing ZYZC for owed gains. In the initial trial, the court ruled the contract invalid and dismissed Phonf’s claims for unpaid bitcoin mining gains. (Xinhua News, in Chinese)