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NFTs
TechTech Trends

WeChat suspends a dozen NFT public accounts to clean up crypto speculation and reselling

  • Content from the public accounts, which marketed digital collectibles, is no longer visible or searchable on Tencent’s messaging app
  • Chinese Big Tech companies have ramped up efforts to rein in NFT-related content amid concern from the government about speculation

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The logo for Tencent’s WeChat app is arranged for a photograph on a smartphone in Hong Kong on August 7, 2020. Photo: Bloomberg
Coco Feng
Tencent Holdings’ WeChat, China’s largest social network with more than 1.2 billion users, has frozen multiple accounts that market digital collectibles, the term typically used in China to refer to non-fungible tokens (NFTs) that cannot be bought or sold using cryptocurrencies.

At least a dozen WeChat public accounts, used for publishing and pushing content out to followers, have been suspended for the last two weeks, according to a search by the South China Morning Post.

The accounts include Huasheng Meta and Spirit Leap, which said publicly that they were suspended after “being reported by others”. The shuttered accounts can no longer be found in search results, and existing subscribers accessing the pages are greeted only with a line saying the accounts have “no legal permit or licence to publish, disseminate, or engage in related business activities”.

The crackdown on NFT-related content comes as domestic digital collectibles, which cannot be resold for profit, have gained popularity among some Chinese consumers and investors. The central government has been wary of NFTs, fearing a speculative bubble.

A WeChat representative said in a written statement that the platform recently enforced “regulation and rectification on public accounts and mini programs that speculate on or resell digital collectibles”. Mini programs are lighter versions of mobile apps that run completely within WeChat.

Public accounts can only “display and support the initial sale of digital collectibles”, and operators must “provide proof of cooperation with a blockchain company that has been recognised by the Cyberspace Administration of China”, the person said. “Resale is banned.”

Crypto-related products are strictly regulated in China, and cryptocurrencies are banned. This is why digital collectibles cannot be legally resold, although ownership can be transferred after a specified period of time.

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