WeChat, a Chinese-based chat app, has updated its policy to prohibit access to crypto or NFT-related services on its platform. Under WeChat’s new criteria, accounts engaged in the business, trade, and financing of cryptocurrency and NFTs will be restricted or banned.
NFT Trading Leads to Punishment
The company emphasized that it will prohibit secondary transactions dealing with digital assets found on the blockchain, completely prohibiting NFT trades.
Once such violations are discovered, the WeChat public platform will, the WeChat public platform will, according to the severity of the violations, order the violating official accounts to rectify within a time limit and restrict some functions of the account until the permanent account is banned.
Furthermore, because the assets may be acquired in fiat, there still exists a regulatory gray area regarding NFTs in the nation. Nonetheless, most organizations and platforms have banned secondary trading from avoiding potential regulatory difficulties linked to the financialization of technology. This is not the first time WeChat has taken action against digital assets. In 2019, it updated its payment policy to ban cryptocurrency transactions. The app also requires real-name registration for users who want to conduct digital asset transactions.
The new WeChat guidelines come as China’s President Xi Jinping called for greater adoption of blockchain technology in a speech last week. While Xi’s remarks were widely seen as positive for the crypto industry, the new WeChat rules suggest that China will continue to crack down on cryptocurrency trading. WeChat’s decision is likely to significantly impact the industry because the app has more than one billion users and is a crucial way for people in China to communicate and transact.
China Continues to Tighten on Blockchain Businesses
In May and September 2021, the Chinese government enacted a phased ban on cryptocurrency. However, owing to WeChat’s most recent policy change, it may show that the platform has been ignoring particular crypto activity.
