Shanghai residents turn to NFTs to record Covid lockdown, combat censorship

POPaganda, a non-fungible token (NFT) collection created by Malaysian artist Simon Fong depicting life under Covid-19 lockdown in China's Shanghai, is seen on the website of NFT marketplace OpenSea, in this illustration taken on April 29, 2022. - Reuters

HONG KONG (Reuters): Shanghai residents are turning to the blockchain to preserve memories of the city's month-long Covid-19 lockdown, minting videos, photos and artworks capturing their ordeal as non-fungible tokens to ensure they can be shared and avoid deletion.

Unable to leave their homes for weeks at a time, many of the city's 25 million residents have been unleashing their frustrations online, venting about draconian lockdown curbs and difficulties procuring food, and sharing stories of hardship, such as patients unable to get medical treatment.