Benzinga | Dec 22, 2021 04:49PM EST

China's Official News Agency Launches NFTs, As Government Clamps Down On Crypto

In a surprising turn of events, a Chinese state-managed news agency plans to launch a non-fungible token (NFT) collection.

What Happened: China's official state-owned media outlet, Xinhua News Agency announced the planned launch of a limited collection with 10,000 copies of 11 photos taken by journalists. The NFTs will be issued for free via its news app at 8 p.m. on Friday, the agency said.

It is a surprising development since earlier this year the Chinese government took strong measures to clamp down on cryptocurrencies in the country. The move led to the shutdown of crypto-related news sites and the migration of many Bitcoin miners. Still, this move is more likely a symptom of the "blockchain, not crypto" stance of the government rather than a change of its opposition to cryptocurrencies.

See Also: IS CRYPTO BANNED IN CHINA?

The report follows Chinese internet giants Tencent Holdings ADR (OTC:TCEHY) and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd - ADR (NYSE:BABA) denying allegations that they were about to launch their own NFT platform in October. Local e-commerce giant JD.com Inc. (NASDAQ:JD) on the other hand released a series of non-fungible tokens on its own blockchain, distributing them for free during the same month.

Related Link: Elon Musk Takes A Dig At NFT Buyers, Suggests They Are Hallucinating