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NFTs
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New NFT platform from Visual China, the country’s top photo licensing site, targets overseas users on Ethereum

  • The platform called Vault by 500px uses the Ethereum blockchain to issue NFTs that can be bought using cryptocurrency, which is banned in mainland China
  • VCG’s new platform joins a previously launched domestic digital collectibles platform to help it ‘form dual art markets at home and abroad’

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Visual China Group, China’s largest photo and video licensing service, is testing an NFT platform targeting the overseas market using the Ethereum blockchain. Photo: Captured from Vault by 500px
Coco Feng
Visual China Group (VCG), the country’s largest stock photo and video provider, is testing an overseas platform for non-fungible tokens (NFTs) that supports cryptocurrency, which is strictly banned in mainland China.
The beta version of the platform, named “Vault by 500px”, went live on Wednesday. VCG said the platform uses blockchain to “empower the production, protection and transaction of digital copyrights”, according to a filing to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange.

By mid-day Thursday, Vault showed 15 artworks available for purchase using ether, the cryptocurrency for Ethereum, the most widely used blockchain for NFTs. Vault’s highest priced NFTs were listed for 0.71 ETH (US$1,370).

NFTs on Vault by 500px are on sale for as much as 0.71 ether, or about US$1,370. Photo: Captured from Vault by 500px
NFTs on Vault by 500px are on sale for as much as 0.71 ether, or about US$1,370. Photo: Captured from Vault by 500px

The platform uses the branding of the photography community 500px, which VCG acquired in 2018. That platform has about 500,000 contracted artists with more than 20 million users across 195 countries, according to VCG.

Shares of VCG soared beyond the daily 10 per cent limit to 14.34 yuan (US$2.15) minutes after the market opened on Thursday, after also gaining 10 per cent on Wednesday.

Vault marks another foray into NFTs by the visual media giant. In December, VCG launched a domestic platform called Yuan Shijue, which means “meta visual”. Yuan Shijue supports so-called digital collectibles, the term for NFTs commonly used in mainland China to avoid the technology’s association with cryptocurrency. Digital collectibles must be purchased with yuan and cannot be resold for profit.

By using Ethereum, Vault is a new approach for VCG that the company said will help it “form dual art markets at home and abroad”.

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