Citizens of Shanghai, China’s most populated metropolis, have been using blockchain technology to save memories of the continuing Covid-19 lockdown in their city.
Non-fungible Tokens (NFTs) are used to store images, movies, and voice audio, and they are sold and purchased using cryptocurrency. According to Reuters, this is owing to the fact that these tokens are built on blockchain technology and hence cannot be erased.
The whole city of Shanghai has been under lockdown since the beginning of April owing to an increase in cases of the Covid-19 Omicron variant. Municipal authorities reported 2,500 additional incidents on March 27, prompting the state’s eastern portion to be closed off.
The same procedures were soon applied in the western area. However, on April 3, the state administration decided that it was preferable to shut down the whole city.
As a result of this directive, there have been food shortages and a lack of medical supplies, prompting many residents of China’s economic capital to take to social media to express their outrage.
According to reports, Chinese censorship officers have begun removing these postings, referring to them as “rumours.” Although many Shanghai residents continue to submit information on social media sites, others have moved on to a more effective method of getting their opinions known as NFTs. By issuing tokens with information on the current lockdown, these memories become indelible, or as some would say, permanent.
These NFTs are minted and made available to buy on different NFT markets. The 22nd of April was a key point in this continuing battle, when Chinese internet censors worked overnight to block the spread of a video titled “The Voice of April.” The movie lasted six minutes and included a collection of audio recordings from unhappy Shanghai residents about the continuing Covid-19 pandemic.
As of Monday, over 700 NFTs collected from the short video were available for purchase on OpenSea, the largest NFT site, along with other NFTs relating to the Shanghai lockdown.
Along with people, famous Chinese companies have been attracted to the NFT market’s potential. Antgroup, an Alibaba subsidiary, and Tencent are two Chinese companies that have built networks for minting NFTs. So far, NFTs demand has been high in China, with Lead Leo projecting that Chinese NFTs sales volume would reach $4.57 billion by 2026.
