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EDITOR'S NOTE
Following the success of other Chinese state media, CCTV is enjoying a good start in the digital collectible sector through its newly launched platform, YSC. With the authority, public recognition, and credibility on their side, as well as the abundant resources and support within their reach, digital collectible platforms launched by Chinese state media have unique advantages when competing with privately owned platforms. However, along with that also come a number of restrictions, such as the barring of secondary sales, which will affect their final transaction volume.
If you have any feedback or Asia-related crypto news to share for potential coverage, please reach out to Yifan Liu at yifan@jingculturecommerce.com.
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DIGITAL COLLECTIBLES
News about China-based platforms and digital collectible drops
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CHINESE STATE MEDIA ENTER THE DIGITAL COLLECTIBLES SCENE
YSC, the digital collectible platform by China’s state media CCTV.com, saw its first series “Y” and “S” sold out within less than a minute of their release, generating sales revenue of ¥517,600 in only two days. According to CLS.CN, there have been seven digital collectible platforms launched by Chinese state media launching so far, including Xinhua Net, People's Daily, and Guangming Daily. Up to September 20, their platforms have issued 227 digital series, many of which have swiftly sold out.
NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM ON TMALL MOBILE
On September 21, nine museums, including Dunhuang Museum, Gansu Provincial Museum, and Suzhou Museum, debuted 17 digital collections on Tmall’s mobile app, as part of its “Night at the Museum” section. In June, Tmall officially launched a “Digital Collectibles” section in its app, in which more than 60 digital collections have been released so far.
DIGITAL COLLECTIBLES BY UCAS
On September 20, the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (UCAS) welcomed nearly 20,000 new students at a public event by presenting them with special digital collectibles. With science and technology as their theme, these collectibles included the elements of astronomy and spaceflight into their design. Co-branded digital collectibles were also made available to members of the public who completed designed tasks during the event.
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IN THE METAVERSE
What's happening in China's billion-dollar metaverse industry
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Image: Softstar x The Sandbox
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SOFTSTAR IN THE SANDBOX
As announced on September 21, Softstar, the developer of the Legend of Sword and Fairy video game franchise, will buy a piece of virtual land at The Sandbox to build the Softstar MetaPark. This space will showcase the well-known stories and IPs of its flagship franchise. Softstar will also collaborate with the metaverse studio Lululand and the Taiwanese creator community TWCC to create its first Web3 exhibition.
EAST OF THE FORBIDDEN PALACE
The East of the Forbidden Palace (故宫以东) is an interactive app that allows tourists to explore places of interest in eastern Beijing. According to Beijing Daily, the platform is planning to create metaversal spaces based on eastern Beijing relics and its own virtual IP, Qi Dongdong, which is based on the mythical Chinese ancient beast Qilin. More than 20 retail, culture, and tourism firms from Beijing‘s Dongcheng District are currently in talks to participate.
CULTURE & TOURISM OF CHINA METAVERSE
On September 22, the China Cultural Media Group announced the establishment of Culture & Tourism of China Metaverse, under the guidance of China's Ministry of Culture and Tourism. The platform will assist in the digitization of China's cultural and tourism resources. It will also take on tasks to promote China's image, "seize the ideological battleground in the metaverse," and safeguard China's "national cultural security." In addition, it will provide management experience and data support to China's metaverse legislation drafting process.
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ELSEWHERE IN ASIA
How NFTs and the metaverse are taking root across the region
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NOW.DROPS BY NAVER X LINE NEXT
Korean internet giant Naver has partnered with LINE NEXT to launch a NFT platform, NOW.Drops, where K-pop fans can create and customize music NFTs. The platform allows users to clip parts of their favorite music performances from NOW.’s exclusive content and mint them as NFTs. NOW.Drops can be accessed through LINE's e-wallet DOSI, which allows users to log in and pay through their social media accounts.
BLOCKCHAIN WEEK IN BUSAN 2022
Following the success of last year’s NFT Busan 2021, Blockchain Week in Busan (BWB) 2022 will be held in the city of Busan from October 27 to 29. As Busan is actively promoting the Busan Digital Asset Exchange, BWB 2022 aims to establish cooperative governance with major global blockchain cities. In addition, blockchain-themed conferences, company exhibitions, meetups, art exhibitions, auctions, and experience halls will also be included.
OVERSE PLANS METAVERSE J-POP BAND
According to Forecast, Yasushi Akimoto, a Japanese music producer with a successful track record of promoting girl groups AKB48 and Nogizaka46, will serve as the general producer of the local crypto company Overse’s new project — to launch a metaverse J-pop idol band in 2023. Overse has announced that the metaverse project will be financed through an initial exchange offering, and the virtual band will participate in activities from releasing music and holding concerts to utilizing blockchain and NFTs to engage with fans.
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IN THE STATS
The latest data and research into China's Web3 market
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Image: iResearch
CHINA DIGITAL COLLECTION INDUSTRY RESEARCH REPORT 2022: INDUSTRIAL GROWTH AND CUSTOMER PREFERENCES
On September 21, iResearch launched China Digital Collections Industry Research Report 2022, capturing how the total amount and volume of digital collectibles in China has grown significantly in one year. The market size of China's digital collectibles reached 280 million yuan in 2021, with the vast majority generated on the alliance chain and concentrated in the primary market. In addition, the report predicts that the market size will reach 28 billion yuan in 2026 after the opening of the secondary market in the future.
Image: iResearch
When it comes to buyer behaviors, the research pointed out that the pursuit of “new concepts" and the interest in specific IPs have become the two main motivations for Chinese consumers to purchase digital collectibles, while the security and compliance issues of the digital collectible platforms and the quality of the digital collectibles have become their main concerns when choosing what to buy.
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KEY VOICES
Quotable insights from industry players
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Image: CAICT x China Blockchain News
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"Digital collectibles in the future... will play a greater role in related applications such as the metaverse, truly empowering the development of the cultural digital economy. Whether digital collectible platforms can function well is deeply bound to the underlying blockchain infrastructure, which has to provide long-term and stable technical service."
— Ma Chao (马超), Director, the Industrial Internet and Internet of Things Institute of China Academy of Information and Communications Technology (CAICT)
In a September 20 interview with China Blockchain News, Ma pointed out that the China-based digital collectibles still rely on the alliance chain at the present, resulting in a poor user experience. If there is a credible public chain to carry and preserve the value of digital assets, digital collectibles will always exist on the public chain where the consensus on the value of digital assets can be assured, even if the platforms themselves stopped operating.
"Setting industry standards for digital collectibles is essential to the industry's development."
— Zhang Yihui (张奕卉), Deputy Director, The Cloud Computing and Big Data Research Institute of CAICT
On September 20, in the Starfire Chain DNA Empowering Digital Collection Salon, Zhang pointed out that digital collectibles have many benefits not limited to promoting Chinese culture and museum collections and fund-raising. However, the industry is still in the early stage of development, rife with risks, opportunities, and challenges, and standardization is crucially needed. Zhang also noted that CAICT has established the Digital Collection Project Group, hoping that such a public service platform with transparency and opportunities for collaboration might make for healthy and sustainable development.
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