Chinese tech giant Tencent has filed a patent for virtual concerts in the metaverse industry. This move comes as Chinese banks and financial regulators kick against metaverse and NFTs.
Tencent files for metaverse patent
According to the Chinese data tracker Qichacha, Tencent applied with the Chinese National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) for the patent. However, even as other Chinese companies are in the race, Tencent is not the first to apply for the Metaverse trademarks.
The People’s Bank of China (PBoC) stood against the Metaverse and NFTs (Nonfungible tokens) back in November 2021. The financial institution stated that it would track them with Anti-Money Laundering tools. Nevertheless, the Chinese technology and video-game colossus lead the charge into the Metaverse despite the cautious reviews. A Chinese media reported that over a thousand Chinese companies had submitted metaverse-related applications for trademarks.
Last October, Tencent distributed a memo to its employees about expanding the business under its subsidiary TiMi Studios. As a result, Tencent held China’s first virtual concert in the Metaverse to mark the New Year on the 31st of December last year. The celebration was tagged TMLAND, and over 1.1 million fans joined the festival. It was a big year for the Chinese giants as it acquired Los Angeles-based animated concert company Wave, which uses motion-capture technology to make virtual concerts realistic.
Wave concerts have been rated high in organising successful shows in the past. Their popularity increased during the pandemic as the company created new ways for music artists to engage with their fans.
Chinese Finance Institutions Call For Regulation
As local regulators are keeping an eye on the issue, it is hard to tell if the ambitions of the Chinese multinational will be affected by their policies. However, Gou Wenjun, director of the Anti-Money Laundering (AML) unit at the PBoC, stated his concerns at a national financial security summit on 26 November about the dangers in the new crypto market trends, including NFTs and the Metaverse. He believed that the crypto assets could be used for illegal purposes if they were not regulated.
Nevertheless, Gou came up with the idea of monitoring the essence and nature of crypto assets and improving their transparency. Doing this will help reduce money laundering and other financial crimes that the use of crypto could encourage.
Secondly, he suggested that China should concentrate on analysing digital currency deals. This idea comes in the wake of the world moving into the digital financial era, and there is a need to control it. Fintech companies and banks that deal with cryptocurrency should verify investors with their real names. He believes that authentication will make it easier to identify false transactions.
Lastly, Gou proposed a partnership with other financial intelligence agencies in China and worldwide to stand against crimes arising from the use of crypto.
According to the official newspaper of the Chinese Communist Party, The People’s Daily, they also worried about the impact of Metaverse back in December. “Regulation should be encouraged to come before innovation”, they said.
No official stand has been taken on regulation by China, despite the growing concerns of the media and state-owned financial institutions.
