Fintech giant Ant Group ’s non-fungible token (NFT) platform punished 56 accounts for participating in the resale of digital collectibles for profit, highlighting a fundamental difference between the blockchain-based products in mainland China compared with the rest of the world, where they have become speculative investment assets. The platform called Topnod, which was spun off from the digital wallet Alipay, said it firmly opposes the resale in any form of digital collectibles, the term often used instead of NFTs in China to dissociate them from cryptocurrencies, which Beijing has banned. Reselling these collectibles “often carries a risk of fraud and is prone to unhealthy speculation, which is contrary to the positioning of digital collectibles”, Topnod said in a statement on Tuesday. Chinese student loses NFT worth US$548,000 in phishing scam The punished accounts will be prevented from transferring NFTs, the platform said. It did not specify whether the restrictions would be lifted later. Ant’s caution reflects its vulnerability to regulatory pressure, as speculative investment activity could lead to disciplinary action. Beijing has been cracking down financial activity that previously lacked regulatory oversight, especially on fintech platforms like Tencent Holdings ’ WeChat and Alipay, the mobile payments platform operated by Ant, an affiliate of Alibaba Group Holding , owner of the South China Morning Post . The government has also shown an increasing intolerance for any bubblelike activity related to crypto products. Beijing pushed out most cryptocurrency mining in the country last year, amid wildly fluctuating prices. On Topnod, transferring NFTs to a new owner is limited to users who are at least 14 years old and have an authenticated account. An NFT can be gifted only after the first owner has held it for 180 days and cannot be traded for money. For the receiver to transfer it to a third owner, the NFT must be held for at least two years. Topnod has previously punished accounts for other types of behaviour. In January, it said more than 300 accounts were punished for using plug-ins and scripts to snap up digital collectibles. They have been barred from buying new NFTs. Despite the Chinese government’s apparent wariness of the fervour surrounding NFTs, which are unique strings of data authenticated on a blockchain that are typically tied to digital works like art, it has no official stance on the technology. Many of the country’s tech giants have sought to capitalise on the trend while it is hot. In addition to Ant, Tencent and e-commerce firm JD.com have competing NFT platforms . Search engine provider Baidu and smartphone maker Xiaomi also sell digital collectibles. Still, state-backed media have maintained a critical tone. Communist Party mouthpiece People’s Daily published a piece in November questioning NFT investment fever , calling it a “zero-sum game hyped by cryptocurrency investors and capital”. Securities Times , which is managed People’s Daily , warned in a separate piece in September of a potential NFT bubble .