McDonald's China Launches Its First-Ever NFT Despite Government's Anti-Crypto Stance

The NFT launch also marks the official opening of McDonald's new headquarters building on the west bank of Shanghai.

By Shomik Sen Bhattacharjee | Updated: 12 October 2021 18:42 IST

McDonald's China Launches Its First-Ever NFT Despite Government's Anti-Crypto Stance

Photo Credit: McDonald's

McDonald's Big Mac Rubik’s Cube NFT is built on the Confluux public blockchain

Highlights

McDonald’s China is marking its 31st anniversary with the NFT launch
The NFT's design is inspired by the brand's new office in Shanghai
The launch is odd given the Chinese government's crypto stance

McDonald's China has launched its first Non-Fungible Token (NFT) named Big Mac Rubik's Cube, despite the Chinese government's strong stance on cryptocurrency trading in the country. The launch aims to commemorate McDonald's 31 years of existence in the Chinese mainland.

A report by CoinTelegraph says that McDonald's China unveiled its Big Mac Rubik's Cube NFTs on October 8th and that there are 188 of these to be presented in the form of limited gifts to lucky customers and employees. The NFTs' design is inspired by the three-dimensional structure of McDonald's new office headquarters in Shanghai, China which was inaugurated on the same day.

What is odd though, is that it goes against the Chinese government's tough stance on crypto transactions.

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Built on the Confluux public blockchain and created in collaboration with the digital asset creation firm called Cocafe, a blog post reveals that each of the NFTs is said to be "unique, indivisible, and cannot be tampered with."

This is not a first for a fast-food chain though. In September, rivals, Burger King also launched its NFT campaign named, Keep It Real Meals, which was auctioned on the NFT marketplace, Sweet. Brands like Budweiser and Taco Bell also joined the bandwagon earlier this year. In August, the popular beer brand changed its Twitter display picture to a hand-drawn beer rocket NFT that it bought for 8 Ether, which amounted to about $26,000 (roughly Rs. 19,64,054) at the time. The chain also registered an Ethereum domain name, beer.eth, for 30 Ether, which was approximately $100,000 (roughly Rs. 75,54,055) at the time. Taco Bell also entered the NFT circle earlier this year as it announced the sale of taco-themed GIFs and images on an NFT marketplace Rarible.

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