How NFTs Are Transforming China’s Art Market
Virtual
Niche: Have You Ever Seen Memes in the Mirror?” had everything you’d
expect from the world’s first major crypto art exhibition.Entering a
dimly lit gallery, visitors found collages of anarchic buzzwords; a
selection of works by superstar artist Beeple; as well as a recreation
of Robert Alice’s “Portrait of a Mind” — the first crypto artwork sold
by British auction house Christie’s.To get more
china art news, you can visit shine news official website.
The
only surprise was the location. The show, which ran from March 26 to
April 4, didn’t take place in New York or London, but at the UCCA Center
of Contemporary Art in central Beijing.The hype surrounding crypto art —
digital artworks stored on a blockchain as non-fungible tokens (NFTs) —
has been exploding in the West this year.
In the past, digital
art was hard to monetize, as it’s hard to establish ownership over items
that are so easily reproducible. But by minting an NFT, creators can
make their work fully traceable — and that has quickly turned all kinds
of digital assets into collectibles.
Buyers are spending
eye-watering sums to acquire NFTs of everything from cat memes to
Beeple’s digital collage “5,000 Days,” which sold for $69 million at a
Christie’s auction in March.
Now, China is jumping on the
bandwagon. The country has been slower to embrace the brave new world of
NFTs — not least because the Chinese government imposes tight
restrictions on cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, which are often used to
buy the tokens. But the new market is starting to gain momentum.
Interest
in crypto art is picking up among China-based investors, with “Virtual
Niche” adding to the buzz. Meanwhile, a new generation of digital-savvy
Chinese creators is emerging, and taking the nascent genre in new
directions. The NFT concept first started to spread in China in 2018,
during a breakout moment for the crypto movement. CryptoKitties — a game
in which players breed and trade limited-edition virtual pets — had
become wildly popular around the world, and Chinese netizens also
started creating their own blockchain-based felines.
At the time,
however, China’s own crypto community was still reeling from a sweeping
crackdown on cryptocurrencies launched the previous year. Beijing had
shut down China-based exchanges, banned fundraising through initial coin
offerings, and begun restricting some cryptocurrency mining
projects.The bans were a huge setback for the movement. The Chinese
share of Bitcoin transactions — which had previously been as high as 90%
— plummeted, the talent pool of developers stagnated, and investors
were spooked. Even now, pouring cash into NFTs appears a risky prospect
to many in China, insiders caution.
“It’s still some way from
becoming popular or mainstream,” says Celyn Bricker, a crypto artist who
took part in “Virtual Niche.” “Regulations on crypto make the whole
thing more complex in China, and raise questions about how popular it is
possible for it to become.”
But in China, even a niche can
become a large market. Though no longer dominant, Chinese traders still
play a major role in the Bitcoin market by using foreign exchanges — and
they’re increasingly excited about the potential for NFTs, Bricker
says. There are also signs the hype is spreading beyond the
cryptocurrency community.
“There’s a group of people with tech,
finance, and art backgrounds all suddenly scrabbling to get involved,”
says Bricker. “But it’s hard to put a figure on the growth of NFTs in
China, since it’s all relatively new.”
One high-profile early
backer of NFTs has been Jehan Chu, a Hong Kong-based art collector and
blockchain investor. The former Sotheby’s adviser has acquired crypto
artworks by Robert Alice, placed bids on works by Beeple, and has even
purchased the domain extension .nft.
The Wall