Fifty-fifty though the People'southward Bank of Red china's (PBOC) alarm on metaverse and nonfungible tokens (NFTs) in November, more than a thousand Chinese companies have submitted thousands of metaverse-related trademark applications.

In a summit back in November, Gou Wenjun, the PBOC's AML and Analysis Middle Managing director, warned about the dangers of digital assets. According to Gou, because virtual assets accept no physical basis, they can be used for illegal fiscal activities. Gou cited activities such as "illegal fundraising, pyramid schemes and fraud."

However, ignoring the PBOC's warnings, Chinese companies rushed to register metaverse-related trademarks such as "metaverse satellite" and "metaverse exhibition." Co-ordinate to the Southward Communist china Morning Post, more than 1,360 Chinese companies submitted 8,534 trademark applications related to the metaverse past Sunday.

Nigh of the companies that applied for trademark registrations are tech firms. This includes big companies like Huawei and Hisense. The one-time applied to annals "Meta OS" while the latter applied with several trademarks in various areas like social services, advertising and scientific discipline. Gaming and tech giant Tencent also joined in, having registered almost a hundred metaverse-related trademark applications including "QQ Metaverse," "QQ Music Metaverse" and "Kings Metaverse."

Aside from the PBOC'due south warning, People'due south Daily, the official newspaper of the Chinese Communist Party, also issued a alert about the Metaverse dorsum on Dec. 9. The newspaper warned people who engage in digital nugget purchases that property sales within metaverses carry loftier risks of volatility.

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The trademark applications didn't come as a surprise to many as need for NFTs is on the rise. According to the NFT sales tracker Crypto Slam, NFT sales in the past seven days alone amount to $580.7 meg. Co-ordinate to enquiry past Cointelegraph Consulting, NFT sales are expected to height $17.seven billion in 2022.