By Shelly Melancon (Switzerland)
In the world of business, very few names are bigger than the Chinese-owned Alibaba Group. The company co-founded by billionaire entrepreneur, Jack Ma, is known for its wide range of holdings in different sectors such as retail and technology. According to recent reports, it seems to be diversifying its assets even more as it made its latest foray into the cryptocurrency space, specifically, non-fungible tokens. This newest venture aims to bridge the gap between copyright holders and people looking to make use of their intellectual property through the use of NFTs.
Star Wars Illustration Featured On The New Platform
The new marketplace, named “Blockchain Digital Copyright and Asset-Trade” is targeted primarily at game developers, writers, musicians and artists as reported by Alibaba-owned, South China Morning Post. NFTs on the marketplace will be placed on the “New Copyright Blockchain” owned by the Sichuan Blockchain Association Copyright Committee. As of today, the marketplace is already live and usable with multiple NFTs available to be auctioned beginning next month. Prospective buyers looking to make a purchase will need to deposit 500 Yuan with each NFT expected to begin bidding at 100 Yuan.
Also read:Notable items already in the auction include an illustration based on the famous movie franchise, Star wars and a painting of Chengdu landmark, West Pearl Tower. Successful auction winners can view their purchases by using the Chinese social network and payment app, WeChat to access the public Bit Universe account.
NFTs Continue To Gain Traction
This latest development is yet another positive for NFTs as they continue to find use in different industries. American-based magazine Fortune made its own NFT sales earlier this month netting a profit of $1.3 million in ETH at the time of the sale. Italian fashion brand, Dolce & Gabbana also made their way into multiple headlines this year as it announced the launch of its new collection on NFTs in the upcoming Alta Moda fashion show later this year. NFT technology has picked up this year as it increasingly permeates multiple spheres. This is reflected in the massive difference in NFT sales between last year and now. According to data by website Dapp Radar, NFTs have reached new highs in 2021 with sales of $2.5 billion in the first half of the year alone, a significant increase from the first half of last year which only saw $13.7 million in sales.
With Alibaba already being a massive presence in commerce, its new NFT platform will serve to boost NFT sales even more and increase crypto use across Asia. What remains to be seen is what effect, if any, the ongoing government regulation in China would have on the budding platform.
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