The video-sharing platform Bilibili has launched an app to partner with its blockchain network Upowerchain, stepping up its metaverse capabilities.
Going live on April 4, the app will enable users to manage digital assets issued via Upowerchain, including viewing individual digital collectibles and obtaining information about assets. Users may also trade digital collectibles via the “gifting” function, which is restricted to digital assets that have already been owned for at least 30 days.
Bilibili has intimated that its blockchain solution largely serves as a jumping off point to develop a more sophisticated web 3.0 experience in future, supporting users to curate interactive communities around gaming or video-sharing experiences in a three-dimensional virtual space. How the new app will fit into this is not yet clear, but Bilibili has already shown its intention to associate digital collectibles with rights that grant owners access to specific virtual functions or experiences, such as in its collaboration with the non-fungible token brand Azuki.
Bilibili previously unveiled its blockchain network Upowerchain in December 2021. A blockchain is a type of database where digital assets can be stored in a highly secure fashion. The technology has diverse uses, with Alibaba and Ant Financial setting out to digitise the agricultural industry and Tencent experimenting with diamond trading all via their own blockchain solutions.
Cryptocurrencies like bitcoin are the most popular form of digital asset to trade outside of China. Inside China, however, they have been banned in an effort to limit financial crime and economic stability. Before the cryptocurrency ban, China’s rich were able to use bitcoin to circumvent the country’s capital controls, which prevent anyone from purchasing more than 50,000 USD worth of foreign currencies a year. Digital collectibles have since become prominent in China’s web 3.0 landscape as an alternative use of blockchain technology.
