Nayuki Suddenly Removes Virtual Stocks?! This Marketing Move is Fast and Addictive!

Nayuki's Virtual Stock Activity Ends Abruptly Amid Controversy

On July 14th, Nayuki Tea announced through its ordering mini-program that, thanks to the overwhelming response to its virtual stock membership activity, the company had decided to officially discontinue it after that day's game ended at 16:00 on July 14th.

At the same time, the company said that to protect user rights, after the activity ended, the virtual stocks held by participating members would be automatically converted into Nayuki coins under the principle most favorable to users — at a rate of 1 virtual stock to 6 Nayuki coins — between 17:10 and 18:00 on July 14th. Yet many members reported that although the mini-program showed the game ending at 16:00, they received the notification SMS around 20:00, by which point their virtual stocks had already been converted into Nayuki coins.

Virtual Stock Game Mechanics

On June 30th, Nayuki Tea announced on its official WeChat account that from that day on, consumers would earn 1 Nayuki coin for every 1 yuan spent. Users could then use those coins to buy and sell virtual stocks and become "virtual shareholders."

Nayuki's virtual stocks were tied to the price movements of Nayuki's real shares (02150.HK). Virtual stock price = Nayuki's Hong Kong closing price on the trading day × that day's HKD-to-RMB exchange rate (for example, if Nayuki's Hong Kong stock closed at 6 yuan on a given trading day, users would need 6 Nayuki coins to buy 1 virtual stock; conversely, 1 virtual stock could be sold for 6 Nayuki coins that day). Users could also opt for x2, x5, or x10 leverage, and when they lacked sufficient coins to trade on margin, they could borrow...

Those borrowed coins lent to "shareholders" were also recovered by the platform during the game's conclusion and automatic exchange on July 14th. Nayuki added that after the exchange, users' Nayuki coin balances would be higher than before they joined, and the coins could still be redeemed for coupons and gifts in Nayuki stores.

Public Backlash and Legal Concerns

Since Nayuki Tea launched the virtual stock game at 11 AM on June 30th, negative feedback flooded the internet within just 7 hours...

As the first listed milk tea company, Nayuki has stood at the cutting edge of the metaverse wave: first to launch digital collectibles, first to introduce virtual personas, first to offer virtual stocks. But if even Q coins face regulation, and the digital collectibles secondary market is under such strict supervision, how could the company so brazenly tie the game to real stock market movements while allowing leverage and selling? Many netizens therefore questioned whether the activity was even legal.

In response to the public doubts, several industry insiders who study the new-style tea beverage sector said Nayuki coins are essentially consumption points... virtual stocks do not constitute actual stock trading and would not affect Nayuki's real share price.

Yu Jianing, co-chairman of the Blockchain Special Committee of the China Communications Industry Association, told Zhongke Caijing that the launch of Nayuki coins and the virtual stock gameplay involved no two-way exchange with RMB, nor profit through stored-value exchanges for points. The virtual stocks could only be exchanged for Nayuki coins to join discount activities on Nayuki's own platform. The coins themselves generate no actual returns for users, so for now they do not touch any legal red lines.

Yu also pointed out that Nayuki coins, issued on the basis of real consumption scenarios, currently do not violate regulations. But there remain extremely important considerations — such as not distributing "Nayuki coins" as network points through stored-value card top-ups. Otherwise, the coins-plus-virtual-stocks combination could easily be deemed online gambling.

Moreover, the platform must strictly control how points are exchanged and used. If it fails to stop relevant advertisements or off-exchange trading by third-party platforms or individuals, it could be treated as tacitly allowing reverse exchanges and charged with operating a casino. Although Nayuki's activity has, for now, stayed on the right side of the law, this marketing model is aggressive enough that other companies and brands should not simply copy it — the slightest carelessness could cross legal boundaries.

One legal team put it bluntly: Nayuki coins are "dancing on the edge of a knife." Xiao Sa's legal team listed the numerous controversy points and red-line risks facing Nayuki coins, including disputes over the legal nature of consumption tokens, risks of prepaid card business by payment institutions, online gambling risks, prize-linked sales risks, and risks of illegal public deposit absorption.

Marketing Strategy vs. Product Quality

From the experts' analysis, it's clear Nayuki Tea's real target wasn't these 50 million virtual shareholders, but brand attention — getting more people talking and sharing. In essence, the virtual stock game was a marketing campaign: within 12 hours of the announcement, the Weibo topic #NayukiOffersVirtualStocksTo50MillionMembers racked up 200 million reads. Curious netizens signed up as new members just to take part.

But while the campaign certainly generated buzz, can it really drive repeat purchases? As one of the flagships of premium new-style tea, Nayuki Tea commands some of the industry's highest average customer transaction values, yet it keeps running into food safety and quality control problems.

In August 2021, two Nayuki stores in Beijing were exposed for cockroaches running around, rotten fruit, unwashed rags, and inaccurate labeling. In October 2021, a Nayuki store in Shanghai was fined 50,000 yuan for producing and selling food and food additives with falsified production dates, altered shelf lives, or expired goods. In May 2022, a Nayuki store in Tianjin was fined 5,000 yuan for using expired milk.

At the end of May 2022, a woman in Shanghai bought an underbaked "barely cooked" bread on a food delivery platform — an incident that drew widespread attention, with netizens commenting that Nayuki's product quality isn't what it used to be... "The harder they push marketing, the more disappointed I get..."

If product quality and price can't form a positive correlation, no amount of campaigns or collaborations will keep consumers' hearts. Rather than pouring effort into marketing stunts, it's better to focus on making products well, down to earth.

Image source: Internet

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Marketing gimmicks come and go, but good coffee never goes out of style. If you're just stepping into specialty coffee, here are FrontStreet Coffee's entry-level picks by origin.

Ethiopia: try the FrontStreet Natural Huakui (Aricha) and the FrontStreet Washed Guodingding co-op lot. Ethiopia is Africa's largest coffee-producing country and the widely recognized birthplace of coffee, with Yirgacheffe and Sidama the two most famous regions. After the government introduced washed processing in the 1970s to raise green bean quality, Yirgacheffe coffees became predominantly washed and are now subdivided by processing co-ops — the Guodingding co-op is a classic example, with jasmine florals, lemony acidity, and berry notes. Sidama beans, meanwhile, are famed for natural processing with pronounced tropical fruit and fermentation aromas: the FrontStreet Sidama Huakui is traditionally natural processed, showing berries, florals, jackfruit, melon, and honey.

Brazil: the FrontStreet Cerrado Red Bourbon and the FrontStreet Fazenda Rainha. As the world's top coffee producer, Brazil grows much of its coffee in full-sun plantations, where cherries ripen fast, giving soft beans, gentle acidity, and lovely sweetness with a smooth, balanced cup. The Cerrado everyday lot is a quintessential entry-level single origin — tasty and affordable, with typical cream, peanut, and cocoa flavors. The Fazenda Rainha sits at higher altitude and grows the rarer Yellow Bourbon, layering Brazil's characteristic butter, melon-seed, macadamia, and almond notes over a sugarcane sweetness; whether black or with milk, it pours thick and silky.

Indonesia: the FrontStreet Lintong Mandheling and the FrontStreet PWN Golden Mandheling. Mandheling's signature wet-hulled (giling basah) processing was born of local conditions — unpredictable rain and limited funds for full washing led workers to machine-hull beans while still half-dry, accelerating drying and creating a flavor found nowhere else. The result is a cup even richer and smoother than Blue Mountain, with herbal and spice notes — perfect for those who dislike acidity. For a higher grade, choose the PWN Golden Mandheling, sorted three times by hand plus once by machine for the lowest defect rate, yielding a cleaner, silkier cup with clearer woody and caramel notes.

Panama: the FrontStreet Boquete Washed Gesha. Panama is best known for the Gesha variety, above all from the Esmeralda estate — citrus, berries, and florals in a balanced, silky cup, like a floral tea without a trace of bitterness. For beginners, Esmeralda can feel extravagant, so baristas recommend the entry-level FrontStreet Boquete Gesha instead: pure Gesha genetics from Panama's most representative specialty region, washed processed so you can clearly taste its orange blossom and honeyed character — at a price that invites experimenting with different brew methods.