NFTs are booming and gaining popularity, Yixin Blockchain Research Institute is laying out empowerment

In the second half of 2020, the digital currency bull market began, causing a frenzy among global blockchain industry practitioners. A small spark has gradually turned into a prairie fire, and blockchain has become an unavoidable topic for various countries and industries.
In the first half of this year, the digital RMB has been gradually developed domestically, with multiple cities launching pilot programs, and more and more enterprises joining the pilot. Digital RMB payment channels frequently appeared in offline shopping scenarios. The central bank's work meeting for the second half of 2021 focused on monetary policy, virtual currencies, digital RMB, and other topics.

At the same time, countries such as the United States, Japan, and Singapore are also trying to regulate the blockchain market through legislation to guide the compliant development of blockchain. In addition, entrepreneurs have joined this feast, with Musk announcing on Twitter that Tesla would accept Bitcoin payments, and subsequently tweeting multiple times about Bitcoin, Dogecoin, etc., sparking discussions about the crypto world across the internet.

In 2021, the NFT industry exploded into the mainstream, becoming the star track following "DeFi." Artist Beeple sold the NFT work "Everydays: The First 5000 Days" for $69 million, igniting a peak in the industry; soon after, Twitter CEO sold his first tweet from 2006 for $3 million, causing another wave in the industry; recently, NFT avatars have swept the crypto circle, with CryptoPunks priced at hundreds of thousands of dollars, astonishing many.

NFT (Non-Fungible Tokens) are unique, indivisible, and programmable tokens issued under the ERC721 standard/protocol. Anything of value can be represented as an NFT on the blockchain, including artworks, copyright, game items, etc. The widespread attention on NFTs began with CryptoKitties in 2018, and now, the application scenarios of NFTs have penetrated various fields such as gaming, music, sports, art, and fashion, with more and more traditional sectors actively embracing NFTs.

1) Uniqueness: The code of an NFT contains information about the attributes of each token, making it different from other tokens. Unlike fungible tokens, each NFT is unique and complete, and cannot be directly exchanged with other assets based on value or function. For example, every BTC is identical and can be directly exchanged for another BTC, while each NFT asset cannot be directly exchanged for other NFT assets.

2) Indivisibility: A BTC can be divided into 0.5 for buying and selling, while an NFT cannot be divided into multiple parts for trading, just like an artwork cannot be sold in parts to multiple people.

3) Programmability: NFTs are realized through smart contracts, and each NFT contains metadata reflecting its own information, such as ownership, scarcity, etc. More complex functions can be programmed into the tokens through smart contracts. Recently, the CryptoKitties and Axie Infinity projects have implemented breeding mechanisms through token programming, enriching the gameplay.

As the trading volume of NFT projects continues to break new highs and transaction amounts keep refreshing limits, various gameplay innovations emerge, attracting a large number of artists, athletes, musicians, and celebrities to release NFTs, while also drawing traditional large companies to compete in the NFT space.

Alibaba and the Dunhuang Academy jointly released two NFT skins, as well as a payment code skin for the anime "Wu Liuqi," both of which were snatched up frantically, even drawing many users who were unclear about what NFTs are into the frenzy;

Tencent launched the NFT trading platform "Huanhe" APP, with a limited release of 300 pieces of "Shisan Yao" audio NFTs priced at 18 yuan, which sold out in less than a second. Tencent Music Entertainment Group (TME) will also launch its first limited "TME Digital Collectibles" this month on QQ Music;

LV Louis Vuitton launched the NFT mobile game "Louis Vuitton" to celebrate the 200th birthday of its founder, allowing players to collect NFT digital artworks in the game. Upon launch, it ranked first in the free game category on Apple iOS.

In addition, Audi released a limited edition NFT art blind box, Marvel launched Spider-Man NFTs, and Coca-Cola collaborated with Tafi to mint wearable virtual equipment NFTs… Traditional large companies are frequently taking action, completely igniting market enthusiasm.

The popularity of NFTs has attracted significant attention from the Yixin Blockchain Research Institute. Whether it is the explosion of DeFi or the emergence of NFTs, it is releasing a signal—blockchain contains infinite possibilities. The Yixin Blockchain Research Institute established IOBC Capital (Institute of Blockchain of Creditease), focusing on finding high-quality blockchain investment projects, empowering the development of the blockchain industry, and accelerating the layout of the blockchain industry.

The Yixin Blockchain Research Institute was upgraded from the Yixin Blockchain Laboratory, and Yixin has taken seven years to "accumulate and then release" for the establishment of the institute, further clarifying four major areas: technology research and development, industry think tank, industry operation, and investment incubation, covering a comprehensive ecosystem of the industrial blockchain.

Technology Research and Development. Its focus is to build new infrastructure to empower the digital development of society.

Industry Operation. Utilizing Yixin's top-tier blockchain underlying technology accumulation, combined with the needs of various partners, blockchain technology will be empowered in various scenarios that integrate physical industries and financial businesses.

Industry Think Tank. The institute will establish an industry think tank by creating high-end blockchain forum summits, publishing industry research reports, organizing academic discussions, and more.

Investment Incubation. Based on the development of the blockchain industry, it will provide incubation platforms for innovative blockchain projects in the form of technical guidance, financial support, and resource sharing, helping the blockchain industry to accumulate and then flourish, developing vigorously.

Based on the development goal of "investment incubation" ecosystem construction, the Yixin Blockchain Research Institute established IOBC Capital, focusing on primary market project investment. The team members have rich investment management experience.

In August of this year, CEInnovation Capital participated in Matrixport's Series C financing. Matrixport is a leading cryptocurrency financial services platform in Asia, providing comprehensive cryptocurrency financial services for individual investors and institutional clients.

In the future, IOBC Capital will also focus on different blockchain tracks, seeking high-quality projects and providing specialized post-investment services:

• Finding quality co-investment institutions
• Assisting project technical development
• Connecting with professional community circles
• Providing high-net-worth client resources
• One-stop marketing strategies

With the establishment of IOBC Capital, a new journey has begun. IOBC Capital will uphold a professional attitude, empower the industry, grow together with the industry, and contribute to the better and faster development of the industry. The future is vast and bright, and we will work together!