China Mobile Migu releases its first NFT, is it serious?

Original author: Jin Jianzhi - senior lawyer at Shanghai Mankiw Law Firm

On October 1, 2023, Migu’s official public account announced that China Mobile Migu’s first NFT is here! It’s almost 2024, and the issuance of NFTs is actually nothing unusual, but there are still several things in its press release that attracted the attention of Mankiw’s lawyer.

01 What is the origin of China Mobile Migu?

China Mobile Migu is the abbreviation of Migu Culture Technology Co., Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of China Mobile, which was established in 2014. According to China Mobile’s official website, China Mobile Migu is China Mobile’s integrated professional subsidiary responsible for product provision, operation and services in the digital content field. It is the only operating entity of China Mobile’s music, video, reading, games and animation digital business sectors. , consists of five subsidiaries: Migu Music, Migu Video, Migu Digital Media, Migu Interactive Entertainment, and Migu Animation. According to China Mobile, China Mobile Migu is the largest genuine digital content resource library in China.

In short, China Mobile Migu is China Mobile’s biological son in the digital field and the national team. As the national team with the strongest sense of compliance, its attitude towards issuing NFTs is worth studying.

02 What is issued is NFT, not just a digital collection

China Mobile Migu claims that this is the first NFT it has issued, but Mankiw’s lawyer discovered that China Mobile Migu has issued digital collections before, but it still vigorously claims to be the “first NFT”. There must be something different. . Judging from the content conveyed in its press release and supporting materials, the official Chinese corresponding to the NFT to be issued this time is digital rights certificate and is no longer a simple digital collection. That is,The NFT issued this time is a real NFT, the kind with equity, not just a certificate.

What are the specific rights? China Mobile Migu said that it has prepared many benefits and benefits such as Migu videos and sports memberships for users who purchase NFT. By purchasing NFT, they can enjoy multiple freedoms such as watching various sports events and watching TV series. At the same time, users will also receive an exclusive gift package for the Panda Cafe game NFT.

Buy NFT and get app memberships and game gift packages. To be honest, these benefits look very Web 2.0. But is this completely non-Web3.0 benefit a good way to attract Web2.0 users to Web3.0? Only practice will tell us.

03 Not in China, but published on OpenSea?

There are actually quite a few players issuing NFTs in China, and there are also many recognized alliance chains, but why did China Mobile Migu go straight to overseas OpeaSea? Lawyer Mankiw speculated that in addition to the high-end positioning of the national team’s large-scale production and the affordability of GAS fees, there is a high probability that China Mobile Migu still has the idea of ​​​​embracing the NFT secondary market.

As of now, there are no express prohibitions on NFT transactions in China. However, the Decision of the State Council on Cleaning up and Rectifying Various Trading Places to Effectively Prevent Financial Risks (Guofa [2011] No. 38, referred to as Document No. 38) and the State Council Office were issued in November 2011 and July 2012 respectively. Implementation Opinions of the Ministry of Finance on Cleaning up and Rectifying Various Trading Places (Guobanfa [2012] No. 37, referred to as Document No. 37) has always been hanging over the head of the NFT secondary market like the sword of Damocles.

Documents No. 37 and 38, which are normative documents of the State Council, reveal that the domestic regulatory consideration is to prevent the financial risks of NFT. Once the secondary market of NFT is opened, the issuer may be classified as an ICO because the attributes of the NFT cannot be clearly defined. Risk; Along with the issuance and trading of NFT itself, the issuer and trading platform may also be involved in economic crimes related to financial derivatives trading.

However, OpenSea, as an NFT online trading market headquartered in New York, USA, focuses on transactions, buying and selling, and there are no restrictions on NFT transactions. China Mobile Migu released its first NFT on OpenSea, and no one would doubt that it expected or even encouraged users to buy and sell NFTs.

04 Send NFT overseas to domestic APP members?

China Mobile Migu is not the first Chinese company to issue NFT on OpenSea. Some major Internet companies such as Baidu and Bilibili have already issued NFT on OpenSea. However, compared with the user rights and interests of community building that come with the NFT of major Internet companies, China Mobile Migu’s operation of giving membership to domestic App members is truly unique. This is an operation that forcibly spans Web2.0 and Web3.0. Lawyer Mankiw tried to understand that perhaps China Mobile Migu is still targeting Chinese users, because it is difficult to imagine what foreign friends can do with members of domestic video accounts. So the question is, how does China Mobile Migu ensure the redemption of claimed membership rights and game gift packages? Although China Mobile Migu once announced a patent for real-name NFT transaction methods, devices, equipment and storage media, it is said that the patent can indirectly supervise the real-name wallets of anonymous wallets on the public chain by supervising the real-name wallets associated with them. trade. However, Mankiw’s lawyer has reasonable suspicion that the patent may only be enforceable on domestic public chains.

China Mobile Migus press release concluded that this NFT will be dedicated to creating product digital marketing solutions for companies and brands to attract more users in new consumption scenarios. Based on the above analysis, Lawyer Mankiw briefly understood that “attracting more users in new consumption scenarios” may mean pulling Web3.0 users to Web2.0? However, in the current bear market stage, China Mobile Migus eccentric play may have unexpected results.

Lawyer Mankiw is also very much looking forward to Mankiw’s friends on the whitelist telling us how to redeem this NFT’s rights.

Special statement:

This article is an original article by Shanghai Mankiw Law Firm. It only represents the personal views of the author of this article and does not constitute legal consultation or legal opinions on specific matters. If you need to reprint the article, please contact Mankun Law Firm staff: MankunLawFirm