NFT project blocks Chinese Twitter comments, citing the need for 'North American expansion'

NFT artist SHHAN previously told users to “switch to English” in the community chat, which they largely ignored.

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NFT project blocks Chinese Twitter comments, citing the need for 'North American expansion'

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In a tweet dated Dec. 11, SHHAN, creator of the black cats nonfungible token (NFT) collection Mimic Shhans, explained to users why he was blocking Chinese language posts on community social pages. The move came after users condemned the new measures as discriminatory. According to SHHAN, who is based in South Korea but created a Chinese post to address the issue specifically:

"It is because I previously announced on Twitter and Discord that my team is trying to enter the North American market. Therefore, I recommended everyone use English when responding to Twitter posts. Why do this? Because when I spoke with North American holders [of our NFTs], they told us comments on the Mimic Twitter page are almost exclusively in Chinese, so it was very hard for them to feel the culture of the Mimic community."

SHHAN elaborated that he previously posted in the community Discord recommending users speak English but that "the vast majority of people did not appear to follow it." The artist said he saw the European and North American consumer markets as vital for the upcoming Shhan Metaverse, dubbed "Shhanverse," and wished users "turned to the more internationalized English language to talk about the project."

Launched in October, Mimic Shhans features "playful black cat" NFTs dressed in various costumes and are minted on the Ethereum blockchain. SHHAN revealed that the collection is very popular in China, with most NFT holders based in the country. The project has 2,001 holders on OpenSea, with 285 Ether (ETH) in volume traded since inception.