March 21, 2024
By Sharan Kaur Phillora
Huawei, a prominent Chinese tech company, made headlines with the introduction of its first batch of non-fungible tokens (NFTs), marking its entry into the burgeoning NFT market. This move places Huawei alongside other leading Chinese tech giants like Tencent, Alibaba, Baidu, NetEase, and JD.com, which have already ventured into the NFT space.
Here’s what we know:
The NFTs, themed around Huawei’s brand mascot, were released as part of a branding campaign by Huawei Cloud. They are built on Huawei’s proprietary blockchain technology, known as the “petal chain.”
Interestingly, despite the launch, Huawei had not previously disclosed plans to enter the NFT platform. The initial airdrop of these NFTs saw significant interest, with the entire batch being sold out shortly after release.
The NFT market in China is growing despite regulatory ambiguities and scrutiny from state media. This scrutiny has led some tech giants to impose restrictions or outright bans on the resale of NFTs.
A report by Guosen Securities highlighted the potential scale of China’s NFT market, suggesting it could reach a value of 29.8 billion yuan ($4.68 billion) if resales were permitted. Without resale capabilities, the market’s value is estimated at around 6 billion yuan ($937 million).
Huawei’s entry into the NFT space signals not just an expansion of its digital ecosystem but also highlights the growing interest and investment in NFT and blockchain technologies among major Chinese technology companies, despite the ongoing debates and regulatory hurdles surrounding digital ownership and the resale of digital assets.
About the author
Sharan Kaur Phillora’s thirst for knowledge has led her to study many different subjects, including NFTs and Blockchain technology – two emerging technologies that will change how we interact with each other in the future. When she isn’t exploring a new idea or concept, she enjoys reading literary masterpieces.
