Inside Asian Gaming

IAG DEC 2021年12月 亞博匯 100 ALL-IN DIGITAL DIGITAL COLLECTIBLES The undoubted media sensation of 2021 has been the ascendency of digital collectibles, or non- fungible tokens (NFTs), as marketing vehicles for brand engagement. From a technical perspective, these digital tokens comprise of a unique unit of data stored on a digital ledger that certifies the authenticity of the token. Interest in NFTs among collectors soared in the third quarter this year, generating US$10.67 billion in worldwide trading volume, an increase of 704% on the second quarter of 2021. Ant Group, Tencent and JD.com have all launched digital collectible market places for the China market: Alibaba’s digital collectible auction site, Guang Jian, was launched earlier this year to display and sell e-sports, digital copyright, digital arts and digital trading card collectibles. For Mid- Autumn Festival, Alibaba released digital collectible mooncakes that were available for RMB1, built on the Alibaba blockchain platform, AntChain, and sold through its e-commerce platform, Taobao. Ant Group’s Alipay has also issued digital collectibles in honor of the Asian Games 2022, featuring a 3D digital torch for the Games and again supported by the AntChain platform. Rival Tencent also operates a digital collectibles trading platform, Huanhe, which is based on the company’s Zhixin chain. The route for these digital assets has not been clear-cut in the China market, however, following statements in September this year issued by the