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NetDragon Subsidiary Neopets, Inc. Completes Successful Sale of The Neopets Metaverse Collection NFTs

 

NetDragon Websoft Holdings Limited (“NetDragon” or the “Company”; Hong Kong Stock Code: 777), a global leader in building internet communities, is pleased to announce that Neopets, Inc, owned by its subsidiary JumpStart Games, successfully completed a sale of digitally created NFTs (non-fungible tokens), known as The Neopets Metaverse Collection.

The sale of the NFTs took place from November 12th through November 15th, with the NFTs minted on the Solana blockchain network. In total, 4,233 NFTs were sold in exchange for a total of 8,708 SOLs (Solana network’s native cryptographic tokens). Combined with the ETHs previously purchased in the market, the NetDragon group currently holds over US$40 million worth of cryptocurrencies.

Importantly, the NFT sale garnered very strong interest from both the existing Neopets community as well as the vibrant blockchain enthusiasts’ community, with more than 32,000 followers of our NFT project registered over the last two months on social media channels dedicated to this project. The strong following signals significant demand for digital memorabilia and future developments behind the Neopets brand, which launched its online, virtual world of Neopia and its beloved Neopets characters more than 20 years ago, becoming one of the most popular online games in history.

The proceeds from the NFT sale, combined with additional investments from Neopets and the NetDragon group of companies, will be used to further develop the next generation of games related to the IP across both traditional web and blockchain-based protocols, keeping Neopia thriving as we evolve from web 1.0 to web 3.0.

This successful NFT sale represents the Company’s commitment to be at the forefront of technological change, and also is the first milestone that marked its entry into the metaverse space. Going forward, NetDragon intends to capitalize on the opportunities in the metaverse by leveraging its broad portfolio of metaverse-enabling technologies (including VR, AI, fintech, speech, hologram, etc.), as well as its core competencies in gaming and education, to develop industry-leading products and market to users on a global scale.

netdragon’s-huayu-enters-into-strategic-cooperation-with-chinese-ministry-of-education’s-national-center-for-educational-technology

NetDragon’s Huayu enters into strategic cooperation with Chinese Ministry of Education’s National Center for Educational Technology

 

NetDragon Websoft Holdings Limited (“NetDragon” or the “Company”; Hong Kong Stock Code: 777), a global leader in building internet communities, is pleased to announce that its education subsidiary Huayu has signed a strategic cooperation framework agreement with National Center for Educational Technology (“NCET”), a unit directly affiliated to the Chinese Ministry of Education (MOE). The two parties will work hand-in-hand to create a new model of smart education based on emerging technologies such as virtual reality (VR), artificial intelligence (AI) and big data, and explore the development of education informatization. The signing ceremony was attended by Deputy Party Chief and Secretary of the Discipline Inspection Commission of NCET Li Ping, Deputy Director of NCET Yang Fei, Founder and Chairman of the Board of NetDragon Liu Dejian, and Senior Vice President of NetDragon Yu Biao.

Based on the agreement, Huayu and NCET will carry out strategic cooperation in virtual simulation technology, online learning, AI, gamified learning and other aspects to help develop education informatization at multiple levels. In the future, based on the new online learning model of “New Infrastructure of Education”, both parties will continue to cooperate in developing more innovative educational products and building online learning service systems with the characteristics of intelligence, autonomy, self-help and advancement. These will be introduced to potential regions across China, forming a new teaching model combining online and offline education in the country’s basic education.

At the signing ceremony, Yang Fei, Deputy Director of NCET, said that NCET and Huayu have conducted fruitful cooperation in virtual experiment teaching in primary and secondary schools, and have achieved positive pilot results. Following the signing of the strategic cooperation agreement, NCET will make use of the edge of its national education technology system to create a favourable ecosystem and provide continuous support for education informatization. It will work with Huayu to promote innovation in teaching methods and popularization of education informatization, and tackle the current issue of uneven development of education.

Li Ping, Deputy Party Chief and Secretary of the Discipline Inspection Commission of NCET, expressed gratitude to Huayu for its support and also recognized Huayu’s development and achievements in the field of “Internet+Education”. She hopes this strategic cooperation is a starting point and both parties will go further to broaden the scope of cooperation, increase global influence, empower education with technology, create a bright future of cooperation, and contribute to the balanced development of education.

Liu Dejian, Founder and Chairman of the Board of NetDragon, said that NCET has played an indispensable leadership role in building a curriculum system and making it professional. Huayu, under the leadership of NCET, has utilized its technical edge to create industry-leading virtual experiment teaching products. It is believed that riding on this cooperation opportunity, Huayu will continue to integrate high-quality educational resources and enable the adoption of advanced technologies in the education segment. As such, virtual reality, artificial intelligence and other advanced technologies could be incorporated into the everyday teaching and learning routine, creating a new norm of “3E Education”, in which education can be more “efficient”, more “effective” and more “entertaining”.

In retrospect of the history of cooperation between Huayu and NCET, the joint work in the field of virtual experiment teaching has begun to bear fruit. In January 2020, Huayu and NCET officially signed a cooperation agreement to jointly push forward the development and promotion of a virtual experiment teaching system in primary and secondary schools. The two sides have made use of the national education resource public service platform to build a “Virtual Experiment Teaching Service System”. As the exclusive provider of research and development as well as technical support for the system, Huayu has provided a full suite of technology support and services for the launch and use of the system, supporting the improvement of the level of experiment teaching and laboratory construction of related subjects in primary and secondary schools nationwide. The virtual lab has already had over 3,000 sets of teaching materials and has launched pilot programs in 68 primary and secondary schools in six provinces across China. In the future, it will enter into the experiment classes of more primary and secondary schools.

Yu Biao, Senior Vice President of NetDragon, said that NCET’s virtual experiment program has achieved very positive pilot results across the country and the cooperation between Huayu and NCET has marked a new milestone. The two sides will continue to develop high-quality educational tools, so that virtual experiments can be incorporated into the everyday teaching in primary and secondary schools and create a new norm of intelligent education.

In 2019, “New Infrastructure” was written into the State Council government work report. In recent years, NetDragon’s Huayu has capitalized on the “New Infrastructure of Education” to apply VR, AI, 5G and other emerging information technologies to educational products and create the “future classroom” in the era of digital education. Looking into the future, NetDragon will make an across-the-board effort in promoting innovation in education and teaching methods, introduce education informatization to more areas, and strive to promote equitable and quality education.