Alibaba Group Holding Ltd – ADR’s (NYSE:BABA) non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace Jingtan has suspended 680 user accounts for using massage guns and computer software to spam purchases on the platform.
What Happened: Some users used massage guns to carry out rapid and continuous “buy” buttons in order to execute NFT purchases, according to a report from Forkast.
Some computer-assisted accounts also created a large number of rapid spam transactions to gain an advantage over those attempting manual clicks.
Jingtan considers these activities “cheating” and in violation of its fair purchasing rules. A representative from the firm told Forkast that the wallets of the suspended users will not be confiscated, but repeat offenders can expect to face “harsher penalties.”
Why It Matters: NFT marketplaces in China continue to see a strong amount of public interest despite the government’s stance on cryptocurrency and virtual assets.
Alibaba and Tencent Holdings Ltd (OTC:TCEHY) have recently rebranded NFT references to “digital collectibles” in light of criticism from state-run media outlets.
As such, the tech giants' NFT platforms do not support private buying and selling of NFTs between individual users.
While a majority of NFTs in the west run on public blockchains like Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH), China builds NFTs on a state-run chain called Blockchain Services Network for Distributed Digital Certificates (BSN-DDS).
Price Action: Alibaba shares traded 0.18% higher during the after-market session at a price of $101.11.
