The state-backed Chinese blockchain platform Blockchain Services Network (BSN) plans to roll out infrastructure to support non-cryptocurrency NFTs in late January 2022. This is reported SCMP.
Despite Beijing’s ban on virtual currencies, NFTs “have no legal problems in China” as long as they distance themselves from bitcoin and other digital assets, He Yifan, CEO of Red Date Technology, told the publication. The company provides technical support to BSN.
The infrastructure, called BSN-Distributed Digital Certificate (BSN-DDC), will offer companies and individuals the ability to create their own user portals and applications for managing NFTs. Only the Chinese yuan will be allowed for trade and payment for services.
“In the future, the annual volume of NFTs in China will be in the billions,” Yifan said.
As a rule, NFTs are issued and traded on public blockchains, however, such networks are prohibited in China, since the state requires users to identify users from Internet systems, the top manager noted.
Red Date turned to a solution called “open exclusive chain” – an adapted version that is managed by a designated group. Since its launch in 2018, BSN has “localized” over 20 public blockchains.
The BSN-DDC will integrate 10 networks, including customized versions of Ethereum and Corda, as well as Fisco Bcos from Tencent-backed fintech firm WeBank, according to the head of the company.
He Yifan stressed that minting NFTs on the BSN-DDC platform would be much cheaper than other networks, with an issue as low as 0.05 yuan ($0.7). He said that the project will become profitable at the end of the year if it helps to create 10 million NFTs. According to the company’s forecast, the actual volume will exceed this figure.
The CEO of Red Date noted that NFT technology is more often used for digital works of art, but the biggest market for it is the management of certificates, such as license plates or diplomas of education. It’s a “revolutionary database technology” that can dose access to different parties, he added.
Recall that in September 2021, Chinese state media announced a potential bubble in the NFT sector.
In October, China’s tech giants Ant Group and Tencent changed the name of the asset to “digital collectibles” on their platforms and websites. In early November, companies signed a convention with several government agencies on “self-discipline” in this area.
Chinese authorities have warned that NFTs and the metaverse could turn out to be bubbles, Ponzi schemes, or other types of financial fraud.
