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EDITOR'S NOTE
The growth of the digital collectible and metaverse sectors in China continues apace, but the rest of the Asian region is not sitting out either. As Non-Fungible's NFT Market Quarterly Report for Q1 2022 found, countries in Southeast Asia, namely Singapore, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and the Philippines, make up the bulk of global NFT interest, just as creators and entrepreneurs in these nations continue to find innovative ways in and through Web3. For that reason, we're excited to commence tracking how NFTs and the metaverse are taking root in Asia beyond China, beginning with this edition.
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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Image: Compiled by JCC based on cbcnag
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THE FUTURE OF TENCENT MUSIC'S TME PLATFORM
Since June 30, drops and transactions on Tencent Music's TME Digital Collection have been at a standstill. This week, in response to the rumors, an insider at Tencent said that the company is currently in the process of evaluating and planning its future steps, and that users’ concerns will be properly handled. Some industry analysts believed that the downturn in TME Digital Collection’s sales was caused by factors ranging from the crypto winter, increased competition, and stricter regulations.
TOPHOLDER X WEIBO
This week, Chinese digital collectibles platform TopHolder, in collaboration with Weibo, officially launched a digital collectible profile picture function. The platform will distribute 100 customized digital collectible profile pictures to 100 Weibo influencers from various fields, in its initial exploration of how digital tokens can be applied in in a social channel.
TERRACOTTA FIGURINES OF TANG DYNASTY LADIES BY XI’AN MUSEUM
On September 15, in collaboration with the Alibaba-backed Youwu Digital Collection Platform, Xi’an Museum debuted a series of collectibles featuring the Terracotta figurines of Tang Dynasty ladies. This new series will be a part of Youwu’s Chinese Treasure series, and the qualified buyers will be rewarded with “You Tickets,” which will grant them VIP privileges and new experiences in the future.
FUN FACTORY STAND-UP COMEDY RISING TALENT PFP SERIES
Fun Factory has announced the release of the Fun Factory Stand-Up Comedy Rising Talent PFP series. Inspired by 10 emerging artists, these AI-generated tokens integrate pop art and pixelated aesthetics. Each PFP comes with benefits like advance ticketing in "Fun Factory’s self-owned space” and the opportunity to receive a mysterious gift bag. As the new episodes of Rock & Roast Season 5 are broadcast every Tuesday, 1,000 PFPs will also be released on Fun Factory’s WeChat mini-program every week.
CCTV.COM LAUNCHED DIGITAL COLLECTION PLATFORM YSC
YSC, a digital collectible platform incubated by CCTV.com, was officially launched on September 16. As stated by CCTV, this platform will focus on three sections, namely famous Chinese IPs and brands, historical moments, and Chinese landmarks; art toys and digital cultural creative products; and cultural institutions and cultural heritage.
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IN THE METAVERSE
What's happening in China's billion-dollar metaverse industry
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Image: Moth Orchid Mansion
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MOTH ORCHID MANSION BY SHUCANG.CN X REAL WORLD
Chinese digital collectibles platform Shucang.cn and metaverse platform Real World have jointly launched the virtual world, Moth Orchid Mansion. The first batch of 300 "residents" are those who already hold the corresponding collectibles, and they will be gifted a VR set that allows them to explore the mansion. Owners of the estate can interact with items in the estate, display their digital collectibles, and invite other owners to tour their virtual space. Each estate is completely private unless its owner permits others to enter.
THE CHINA METAVERSE INDUSTRY TALENTS SUMMIT
On September 10, the China Metaverse Industry Talents Summit was hosted in Xiamen, together with the establishment of a federation to nurture local digital talents. The summit also released a white paper on China's metaverse and digitized economy talents, stating that there is a talent shortage amounting to 11 million across 12 fields, including wearable equipment, chips, artificial intelligence, and blockchain.
CHINA'S METAVERSE ECONOMY TO HIT $27 BILLION IN MARKET VALUE
In a recent research report, J.P. Morgan highlighted the metaverse potential of Tencent, NetEase, and Bilibili, citing their strong gaming business and close relationships with major global metaverse developers. The report projects China's gaming market will grow to $131 billion from the current $44 billion in its most optimistic scenario, with the total market in China for business services and software in the metaverse estimated at $27 billion.
WEB3, DEFINED BY CNCTST
The China National Committee for Terminology in Science and Technology (CNCTST) has officially determined the translation and definition of various Web3 terms. “Metaverse” has been defined as "a virtual world built by digital technology that is reflective of or extends beyond and capable of interacting with the real world”; “avatar” is defined as "a digital substitute of the user in the metaverse, whose image and actions are controllable”; and “digital human" is defined as "digitized figures, created by digital technology, that resemble the appearance of humans”.
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ELSEWHERE IN ASIA
How NFTs and the metaverse are taking root across the region
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Image: SHIP by Art Tokyo Global
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SHIP BY ART TOKYO GLOBAL
Singapore digital art company Art Tokyo Global has announced the completion of SHIP, billed as the world's first immersive NFT art film. Featuring 221 NFT artworks across 14 scenes, in addition to interactive elements, the film showcases the work of over 80 emerging and established Asian artists. The global premiere of this film has been scheduled for late November 2022 in Singapore, and a worldwide public release is scheduled for early 2023 in cinemas and across streaming platforms.
SOUTH KOREA'S MSIT REVEALS PLANS TO ENACT SPECIAL METAVERSE LAWS
South Korea's Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT) has announced new metaverse regulations at a government briefing on September 14. According to the ministry, the new rules will encourage widespread adoption of the metaverse, while moving away from imposing traditional video gaming laws on the new virtual environments.
NFT STAMPS BY POS MALAYSIA BERHAD
For Malaysia Day on September 16, the country's leading postal service Pos Malaysia Berhad launched EMPATBELAS Setem Ku NFT stamps in collaboration with APOM. These stamps feature 14 designers from 14 Malaysian states, and makes Pos Malaysia the second postal service company in Southeast Asia to issue its NFT stamps, following Thailand.
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IN THE STATS
The latest data and research into China's Web3 market
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Image: Compiled by JCC based on the data from CLS.cn and Star Mine
25 CHINESE FIRMS LISTED ON A-SHARE ARE INVOLVED IN DIGITAL COLLECTIBLES
According to financial news outlet CLS.cn, there are currently 25 Chinese firms listed on A-share that are involved in the digital collectible sector, 12 of which have their own platforms. However, only 3 of these firms (Qujiang Culture Tourism, Zhejiang Furun, and Visual China Group) have disclosed the related revenue information.
Image provider Visual China Group had the highest collectibles revenue in H1 2022, reaching $2.16 million (15.1 million RMB). Overall, however, digital collectible revenue currently accounts for a pretty negligible percentage of the total revenue of the listed companies. Some analysts believe that the reason for the low number of disclosures is that many companies merely want to receive investors' attention by claiming to be in the business of digital collectibles.
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KEY VOICES
Quotable insights from industry players
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"The listed companies hardly invest enough effort into the digital collectible business, let alone treat it as a core business."
— Gao Zelong (高泽龙), Deputy Secretary General, The China Private Technology Industrialists Association Yuan Universe Working Committee
As Gao highlighted a recent interview, the Chinese listed companies involved with digital collectibles can be mainly divided into two categories: those with real business needs and those that are simply leveraging digital collectibles as speculative assets. He pointed out that there are still many problems in this industry, such as the small scale of the overall market, the uncertainty of government policies, and the risks of supporting illegal businesses, which have sparked caution among listed companies.
"NFTs are now entering the ‘Soul On-Chaining’ era."
— Lang Yu (朗豫), Agreement Leader, Maze NFT
During the offline salon Web3 builder held at the Future Blockchain Innovation Center in Hangzhou on September 15, Lang explained the three stages that the NFT industry has gone through since 2017: from the “Asset On-Chaining” stage, when the public chain era and smart contracts were born; to the “Avatar On-Chaining” stage, which came with chain reform; to the “Soul On-Chaining” stage, the current exploration of which will continue expanding the influence of NFTs.
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