COVID-19 protests in China became NFTs

Two sets of photos and artwork relating to the infrequently seen large protests against China's lockdown measures have debuted on the NFT marketplace OpenSea.

Nonfungible tokens (NFTs) reflecting the recent demonstrations in China against the nation's strict COVID-19 policy have made their way to the OpenSea NFT market.

In November, at least two collections were produced. The first is a Polygon-based collection called Silent Speech, which offers 135 NFTs up for auction beginning at 0.01 Ether and containing photos of demonstrators, signs, graffiti, and even snippets from social media relevant to the ongoing protests.

With a floor price of 10 ETH, or around $11,800, another collection of 36 Ethereum-based NFTs with the title Blank Paper Movement takes a more artistic approach by making the protest graphics appear to be painted.

In the rare and widespread protests that have erupted across China since November 14, starting with citizens of Guangzhou, one of China's largest cities, tearing down police barricades in opposition to COVID-19-related measures, holding a blank sheet of paper has come to symbolize the repression of speech.

On November 24, a fire in a high-rise building in the northwest Chinese city of Urumqi resulted in the deaths of 10 people, which sparked an uptick in protests.