Tencent to shut Huanhe NFT marketplace: report

Tencent this week will shut down Huanhe, the Chinese tech giant’s non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace that has been operating for less than a year, according to unnamed Tencent sources cited in a report by Shanghai-based technology news outlet Jiemian on Wednesday.

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Fast facts

• Tencent has not responded to Forkast‘s request for confirmation at the time of publication, nor has it made any public comment on the shutdown.

• The report said that junior managers had received notification of the shutdown, while a second Jiemian report cited a Tencent insider saying that the marketplace had stopped collaborating with business partners since early July.

• Huanhe, which began in August 2021, is one of China’s most popular and largest NFT marketplaces, and was Tencent’s foray into the world of NFTs. In the last 30 days, Huanhe issued 158,994 pieces of digital collectibles, according to Chinese NFT data provider Tanhert.

• Huanhe’s terms of use state that it will not be considered a breach of contract if the market closes for technical or regulatory reasons, and that users will have no right to seek redress from Tencent.

• Sales on Huanhe have slowed since June, with seven of the 10 NFT series released in June yet to be sold, according to Forkast’s calculation. Prior to June, NFT collections typically sold out.

• Tencent News’ NFT marketplace shut in July, after it launched in January. Former head of Tencent News, Wang Shimu, left the news division in May and was reassigned to Huanhe, according to local Chinese media.

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