CoinDesk Analysis Team
CoinDesk
Ant Group highlighted the differences between NFTs and cryptocurrency after its successful sales of digital art.
16,000 copies of NFT-backed app images sold out on Ant Group’s payment platform Alipay within hours on Wednesday.
The sale, however, prompted the Jack Ma-controlled Ant Group to clarify that non-fungible tokens are not cryptocurrencies, Reuters reported. Ant’s swift response appears to be related to China’s intensifying crackdowns on crypto trading and mining.
Alipay and Dunhuang Research Academy jointly released two images based on AntChain, which is Ant’s enterprise blockchain, for the app’s payment page. Each image has 8,000 copies.
The two digital artworks appear to be inspired by murals in the Mogao caves in Gansu province of Northwestern China, which has been listed as a world heritage site by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
The buyers do not own the copyrights of these two images. But the image will appear on their payment page whenever they use Alipay. People were able to purchase the digital artworks by a combination of 9.9 yuan (or $1.52) and ten Alipay reward points, which can be earned by its users from making purchases with the mobile app.
NFT art can be auctioned on Alipay and Ant Group’s enterprise blockchain AntChain said it supports NFT products with its technology, according to the report.
Alipay’s adoption of NFTs could be significant because it provides Chinese buyers with a channel to pay for NFT artwork with local fiat currency renminbi. The artwork on decentralized public chains such as Ethereum would have to be paid with native tokens. That could be difficult for Chinese investors since the country started cracking down on fiat-to-crypto trading in 2017.
All writers’ opinions are their own and do not constitute financial advice in any way whatsoever. Nothing published by CoinDesk constitutes an investment recommendation, nor should any data or Content published by CoinDesk be relied upon for any investment activities. CoinDesk strongly recommends that you perform your own independent research and/or speak with a qualified investment professional before making any financial decisions.
Recommended Content
Editors’ Picks
SEC doubles down on TRON's Justin Sun lawsuit dismissing claims over jurisdiction
The SEC says it has jurisdiction to bring Justin Sun to court as he traveled extensively to the US. Sun asked to dismiss the suit, arguing that the SEC was targeting actions taken outside the US.
XRP fails to break past $0.50, posting 20% weekly losses
XRP trades range-bound below $0.50 for a sixth consecutive day, accumulating 20% losses in the last seven days. Ripple is expected to file its response to the SEC’s remedies-related opening brief by April 22.
ImmutableX extends recovery despite $69 million IMX token unlock
ImmutableX unlocked 34.19 million IMX tokens worth over $69 million early on Friday. IMX circulating supply increased over 2% following the unlock. The Layer 2 blockchain token’s price added nearly 3% to its value on April 19.
Bitcoin Weekly Forecast: BTC post-halving rally could be partially priced in Premium
Bitcoin price briefly slipped below the $60,000 level for the last three days, attracting buyers in this area as the fourth BTC halving is due in a few hours. Is the halving priced in for Bitcoin? Or will the pioneer crypto note more gains in the coming days?
Bitcoin: BTC post-halving rally could be partially priced in Premium
Bitcoin (BTC) price briefly slipped below the $60,000 level for the last three days, attracting buyers in this area as the fourth BTC halving is due in a few hours. Is the halving priced in for Bitcoin? Or will the pioneer crypto note more gains in the coming days?