Tencent allows NFT refunds, halts further sales on its Huanhe platform

Chinese tech giant Tencent will stop the issuance and sales activities on its NFT platform, Huanhe as scrutiny from regulators mounts in the country.

Explaining the decision, Tencent cites a ‘focus on the company’s core strategic considerations.’

Huanhe will no longer sell NFTs starting Tuesday, 16 August. According to Tencent, the app will remain but will limit the ability to ‘display, download and share’ NFTs they already own for existing customers. If they do not wish to hold or display their NFTs anymore, they can request a refund instead. 

Huanhe, which went live in August last year until its last batch of NFTs were released in early July,  is one of the biggest NFT platforms in China, with new collectibles often sold out instantly upon launch. 

In similar news, leading messaging app as well as mobile news, games and payment systems WeChat, also created by Tencent, was compelled to remove all references to NFTs on Huanhe in October last year after Chinese authorities have issued warnings against NFT speculation.

In March and June this year, WeChat banned a batch of public accounts of NFT platforms, stating the accounts were involved in ‘the issuance, trading and financing of crypto and NFTs’, and therefore ‘violated the national ban on cryptocurrency speculation.’

Photo: The Economic Times