Chinese E-commerce Giant Alibaba Launches NFT Auction Site For Artists, Developers

Jae Chia
August 18, 2021
1 min read

The South China Morning Post reported Tuesday (August 17) that Chinese e-commerce heavyweight Alibaba Group has opened a marketplace for trading non-fungible tokens (NFTs) on its auction platform. The market launched this week as a new section on Alibaba Auction.

Alibaba Group has opened a new online market for digital assets traded over a blockchain backed by the Sichuan provincial government, marking another foray into blockchain technology and NFT trade by China’s Big Tech companies. 1/ https://t.co/OPIWp507AM
— Josh Ye 葉嘉栩 (@TheRealJoshYe) August 17, 2021

The NFTs will be issued through the New Copyright Blockchain, a platform run by the Sichuan Blockchain Association Copyright Committee.

The “Blockchain Digital Copyright and Asset-Trade” marketplace

Called the “Blockchain Digital Copyright and Asset-Trade” marketplace, the service will allow artists, musicians, writers and game developers to sell NFTs of their work.

They can be stored and viewed through Bit Universe, an application that is part of the Chinese messaging and social media app WeChat.

An NFT is a unit of data stored on the blockchain, that certifies a digital asset to be unique and therefore not interchangeable. NFTs can be used to represent items such as photos, videos, audio clips, and other types of digital files.

Digital tokens have made a comeback after demand cooled off in the early summer. Trading volumes on NFT platform OpenSea have soared in recent weeks, as more tokens are sold and their worth accelerates.

There are already items listed on Alibaba Auction, and some of these include a painting of a local Sichuan landmark, as well as art based on major franchises such as “Star Wars”, the video game “Wasteland 2”, and “Grand Theft Auto”.

On Alibaba Auction, NFT illustrations of Star Wars and Wasteland 2 are now available. Auction starts next month. (Though we are not sure if these are properly licensed in the first place.)
Then you also have a Nezha portrait and a GTA style poster with scantily clad women. pic.twitter.com/wGYYdST8rc
— Josh Ye 葉嘉栩 (@TheRealJoshYe) August 17, 2021

However, according to SCMP journalist Josh Ye, it is unsure if these NFT illustrations are “properly licensed in the first place.”

NFTs are steadily growing in popularity

Corporations around the world — both big and small, have begun venturing into the NFT space.

SCMP, one of Hong Kong’s leading English-language newspapers, will issue NFTs, according to a white paper released by the company. According to the white paper, SCMP wants to create a “standard for recording accounts of history and historical assets on the blockchain”.

Most recently, Ethereum-based NFT game Axie Infinity has crossed US$1 billion in sales. Furthermore, OpenSea, the world’s largest NFT marketplace, has recently reached a major milestone — surpassing $1 billion in NFT transaction volume.

Featured Image Credit: Ledger Insights

Also Read: Not Just Digital Arts: Here’s A List Of All The Possible Use Cases Of NFTs