TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — International luxury brands are offering exclusive NFTs (non-fungible tokens) to coincide with China’s Singles’ Day (Nov. 11).

Burberry, Coach, and Longines are all celebrating the biggest day of China’s retail calendar by creating the tokens as part of a push to enter the country’s shopping metaverse, according to a report by Business Insider.

NFTs are digital assets that denote ownership of unique physical or digital items (typically artworks, music, videos, and other content) located on a decentralized blockchain that guards against counterfeiting.

Last month, Alibaba’s Tmall e-commerce platform launched a “Double 11 Metaverse Art Exhibition” which coupled the NFTs with purchases of physical products.

Burberry, for example, gifted customers with an interactive animated deer NFT for buying one of 1,000 special edition scarves. They sold out at US$453 (NT$12,612) a piece on Oct. 20, the day they were listed.

Despite these Singles’ Day promotional offerings, the future of NFTs in the world’s second-largest economy looks precarious. In September, Chinese regulators announced a ban on all cryptocurrency transactions. NFTs are typically exchanged via cryptocurrency.

In response to the new crackdown, Alibaba and Tencent both rebranded NFTs on their platforms as “digital collectibles” (數位收藏品) last month, according to the South China Morning Post.

The effects of regulatory pressure have cooled China’s annual shopping frenzy and led to a change of tone by Alibaba, which stated this year that it will focus on sustainability, supporting charities, and inclusivity. These concepts seem to align with Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s (習近平) new push for “common prosperity” that supposedly aims to tackle the country’s growing inequality and conspicuous consumption.

Source: Adobe/Oksana Trygub

South Korea’s top financial regulator says that non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are not cryptoassets – and will likely exclude them from capital gains taxation.

The status of NFTs has recently fallen under scrutiny from MPs who have variously accused the government of being overly strict and lenient with its controversial crypto tax policies. A number of lawmakers have stated that it makes no sense that, for instance, bitcoin (BTC) investors will have to pay 20% capital gains tax on profits of USD 2,100 and above from January 1, 2022, while NFT traders will not need to pay a penny on their own profits.

But citing recently updated Financial Action Task Force (FATF) guidelines, a spokesperson for the South Korean Financial Services Commission (FSC) was quoted by Fn News as stating:

“In light of the updated FATF guidelines, we have interpreted that ordinary NFTs are not virtual assets and are thus not subject to regulation. The [South Korean] financial authorities are not taking a different position on this.”

The comments might mean that the FSC has no intention of taxing NFT-related transactions.

Furthermore, the same official said that “the FATF’s position is that NFTs that are used as payment or investment tools can be regulated as virtual assets.”

The FSC spokesperson added that NFT issuers who released hundreds of thousands of tokens at once could also see their coins “regulated like virtual assets.”

The FSC also appeared keen to leave itself some wriggle room for what the media outlet called later “reinterpretation,” adding that in some cases, NFTs could “be considered as virtual assets in the future.”

And the regulator suggested that countries around the world were free to interpret the FATF guidelines as they wished – and create their own policies on NFTs.

But in the case of NFTs, the FSC stated, the fact that the tokens make use of blockchain protocols would not dictate regulatory policy.

The spokesperson stated that as NFTs [typically] use the Ethereum (ETH) protocol’s EIP-721 Non-fungible Token Standard, “it is ridiculous to discuss whether a technology is a virtual asset or not.”

In a separate report from the same outlet, the FSC noted that it was currently considering how it would seek to define NFTs in the text of the Virtual Assets Business Rights Act – a piece of legislation that would grant a new legitimacy to crypto providers, but could also seek to add new regulations.

Analysts in South Korea say they believe the draft legislation could be ready to pass before the National Assembly before the year is out.

Sydney, Australia, November 9th, 2021 — With the blockchain gaming metaverse proving to be more than just a buzzword for gamers, Gachyi Land, the first gacha-launchpad ecosystem gears towards its premiere NFT launch, slated to debut on the 22nd of November 2021.

This launch opens up the runway for Gachyi Land as they get the ball rolling for a series of other launches on the Gachyi launchpad. Commenting on the significance of this event, the founding partner of Gachyi Land, Harly Zappino has expressed his excitement: 

“Life is too short to slave away on tasks that you despise doing and unfortunately that is how our society is currently structured. The digital world is our future. Let’s make it fun, let’s make it colorful, and let’s provide real-world value to those who want to interact with it!”

Dubbed the Goo Goo series, the first NFT series dropped on Gachyi Land will feature generative artwork with different traits that include body, eyes, mouth, accessories, background, and clouds, among other features. Certain unusual and rare characteristics may entitle their owners to special privileges.

The series finds its footing in folklore inspired by the Gachyi Goddess before she became entirely fossilized. According to Gachyi Land Lore, she created the Goo Goos and ensured that all of her wisdom was handed down to guide them through the RPG (role-playing game).

While the Goo Goo series does not include playable RPG characters, owners will be able to access significant in-game benefits. Slime Tales from Gachyi Land’s second NFT series will implement RPG characters with a Dungeons and Dragons class system that has the ability to breed dual class characters.

Gachyi Land: Introducing the first NFT gacha-launchpad ecosystem

Coming up as a first mover, Gachyi Land will be the first gacha-launchpad to issue NFTs (on its website) as a full-fledged utility across its entire ecosystem. Each NFT issued on the Gachyi NFT Launchpad will serve a purpose within the ecosystem. They will either have in-game functionality such as boosts or exclusive pre-sale access, or their utility can be built into future games.

Besides their own designed NFTs, other projects with similar themes to Gachyi Land, such as those with kawaii and mystical creatures type of themes, will be able to participate in its utility-centric ecosystem. Expanding the entire ecosystem, other projects’ NFTs can be integrated into Gachyi Land’s mini-party games or Play-To-Earn MMORPG.

The NFTs will be deployed on the Polygon blockchain based on the ERC-721 token standard, priced in MATIC. They will be  encapsulated and released through interactive Gachapon Machines (a.k.a Gacha-Launchpad). The minting process aims to give the buyers a whole new experience playing with e-Gachapon machines coupled with lo-fi music, great visuals and stunning animation. Each series will feature a maximum of 5 NFTs available on the Launchpad, giving buyers a sneak peak of what could be minted.

Incubating a disruptive NFT gaming ecosystem to empower artists

Gachyi Land is on a mission to empower small artists to use Gachyi Land’s resources to unleash their creativity on the world, to give them the exposure and recognition they deserve. Most artists have yet to take advantage of the unlimited opportunities available in the NFT domain while others may have misconceptions about it. To address this challenge, Gachyi is stepping in to provide artists with the platform, community, technology, and tools they need to exhibit their work and explore the potential within the digital landscape.

“Gachyi Land will be a solution to this and will be a part of a greater movement to fundamentally change the way humanity thinks and interacts with the world. In our virtual world, what defines you are the choices you make and the way you choose to interact. Not labels, not gender, not titles and certainly not the way you look!” states Zappino.

About Gachyi Land

Gachyi Land is building an ecosystem that consists of an NFT Launchpad and Play-To-Earn MMORPG. NFTS issued on their platform will be incorporated within the ecosystem to serve either an in-game functionality such as boosts or exclusive pre-sale access, or their utility can be built into future games.

With its disruptive Play2Earn MMORPG, Gachyi is providing artists with the platform, community, technology, and tools they need to unleash their creativity and gain the exposure they deserve. NFTs will be minted via Gachyi’s interactive gachapon machines on the Polygon blockchain based on the ERC-721 token standard, priced in MATIC.