Alibaba Cloud introduces NFT solution, then quickly memory holes it
The firm’s NFT marketplace solution included the infrastructure of “web hosting, digital marketing and content delivery” but is no longer listed on its website despite showing up in Google search results.
Chinese marketplace giant Alibaba Group Holdings, of the cloud business unit, has launched a new non-functional token (NFT) solution and has since deleted all its references online.
The firm’s NFT marketplace solution included the “web hosting, digital marketing and content delivery” infrastructure but is no longer listed on its website, as stated through a now-deleted tweet that also announced the launch on Wednesday.
Alibaba’s website no longer has any press releases or announcements regarding NFT solutions. In the meantime, the link to the Solution web page still appears in Google search results and is now redirected to the Alibaba Cloud Solution index page.
The reason for deleting the social media post and delisting it on its website is still unclear. Although crypto trading and mining are banned in China, the country has a regulatory grey area, including the NFT – officials have frowned on it but have not yet imposed a complete ban.
The shortly-lived NFT-focused resolution was established to offer Alibaba Cloud Elastic Compute Service (ECS) and Auto Scaling for marketplace progress, an SMS-integrated digital marketing service for sellers to connect with buyers, and a Global Delivery Service, Alibaba Cloud Content Delivery Network (CDN) and Server Load Balancer (SLB) skilled of supporting 100,000 queries per second.
The South China Morning Post (SCMP) – which is owned by Alibaba – noted that the solution was for customers outside mainland China, a representative told the publication that the solution was only for Alibaba Cloud’s international website.
The SCMP also specified that Alibaba-affiliated companies such as Ant Group and Tencent Holdings will avoid any potential regulatory pushback in the past by branding their listed NFTs as “digital collectibles.” They are also accessible on private blockchains and can be traded/purchased using Chinese fiat currency.
Alibaba Cloud still has a new metaverse-centric solution listed on its website that offers remote rendering, data analytics and AI, including Blockchain as a Service (BaaS) as part of the personal Alibaba Cloud blockchain.
The company notes that NFTs can be integrated into a Metaverse built into Alibaba’s services under Metaverse Solutions, but the firm does not provide any of that exact infrastructure.
In April, a joint statement issued by the China Banking Association, the China Internet Finance Association, and the Securities Association of China warned the public not to invest in the NFT because of the “hidden risk” of assets. They further noted that traders should not consider NFT as other financial products such as securities, precious metals, and other financial products.
In March, Cointelegraph also reported that Chinese social media giants such as WeChat and WhaleTalk had updated their policies to restrict or remove NFT platforms from their networks, citing a lack of regulatory clarity and fear of official crackdowns. However, Beijing has not yet imposed sanctions on the sector.
