Chinese financial technology giant Ant Group has increased investment in two subsidiaries operating in the blockchain field with a total capital of nearly 500 million USD, showing its great ambition to capture opportunities from blockchain technology, despite the cryptocurrency ban in China.
Ant Digital Technologies, the blockchain subsidiary of Ant Group, confirmed that it has increased the charter capital of Ant Blockchain Technology (Shanghai) Co. from 100 million Yuan to 1.5 billion Yuan (equivalent to 206.4 million USD). At the same time, Ant Chain (Shanghai) Digital Technology Co. capital was also increased from 100 million Yuan to 2.1 billion Yuan (equivalent to 288.9 million USD).
Ant Blockchain Technology (Shanghai) Co., established in December 2018, operates in the fields of software development, hardware retail and information technology services. According to a representative of Ant Digital Technologies, the capital increase for the two subsidiaries is to meet business development needs.
This move comes in the context that China still maintains a ban on cryptocurrency trading from September 2021. However, the country's government is encouraging the development of blockchain technology and the digital economy, creating conditions for large technology corporations such as Alibaba and Tencent to develop their own blockchain platforms.
Ant Group's ambition to reach international level with Ant Chain and ZAN
Ant Group launched its own blockchain brand Ant Chain in July 2020 and Blockchain brand ZAN targeting the international market in September 2023. Ant Digital Technologies also joined the blockchain industry community in Hong Kong, jointly developing a central bank digital currency (CBDC) and asset tokenization.
Ant Group's strong investment in blockchain shows the huge development potential of this technology in China. Experts say that blockchain can be applied in many fields such as supply chain, finance, asset management, etc., contributing to promoting digital transformation in a country of billions of people.
