China NFT Weekly: Dating in the Metaverse – Pandaily

Pandaily
Everything about China's Innovation
Digestible news on the latest developments across the fields of Web3, NFTs, blockchain, and metaverse in China and beyond, compiled for you every week by Pandaily.
This week: metaverse dating app Soul eyes Hong Kong IPO, ByteDance continues metaverse investments with the acquisition of VR startup PoliQ, Chinese tech giants vow to end NFT speculation, and more.
Tencent-backed social media and dating app Soul is vying for an IPO in Hong Kong, after abruptly withdrawing its plan to raise $185 million for a listing on the Nasdaq last year. The Financial Times first reported this story.
READ MORE: Tencent-Backed Social Networking App Soul Pulls US IPO Plan
TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, has acquired Chinese virtual reality (VR) startup PoliQ as part of its plan to expand its portfolio in metaverse hardware, content, software and platforms. SCMP first reported this story.
READ MORE: ByteDance Acquired Metaverse Social Startup PoliQ
Babel Finance is hiring US investment banking firm Houlihan Lokey, a specialist in restructuring and distressed mergers and acquisitions, a few weeks after suspending withdrawals amid liquidity issues. CoinDesk and BlockWorks first reported this story.
Chinese tech giants including Tencent Holdings and Ant Group have signed an agreement to stop the secondary trading of NFTs and “self-regulate” their activities in the market. Reuters and TechCrunch first reported this story.
The European Commission, EU lawmakers and member states secured an agreement on what is likely to be the first major regulatory framework for the cryptocurrency industry. Reuters, CNBC, and Cointelegraph first reported this story.
Meta has begun the roll out of an NFT feature on Facebook, just a week after its chief executive, Mark Zuckerberg, had announced the plan. TechCrunch and The Block first reported this story.
That’s it for this week’s newsletter – thanks for reading! As always, we welcome any feedback on how to make this newsletter better. Write to us at [email protected]. See you again next week!
On Tuesday, the Cyberspace Administration of China released the names and record numbers of the eighth batch of registered domestic blockchain information service providers, including 106 new entities.
This week: Alibaba launches metaverse for Chinese Black Friday, Red Date to launch NFT infrastructure in China, Huobi trials NFT platform to expand metaverse ecosystem, and more.
This week: Horizon Ventures led Series A funding for media tech startup Wonder Dynamics, Tencent Music to launch virtual music space TMELAND, Boeing to build its next airplane in the metaverse, and more.
This week: China to create its own NFT industry based on state-backed blockchain infrastructure, Animoca Brands sees private valuation surge to $5 billion, and more.

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