Alibaba affiliate Ant Financial is expanding its collaboration with open-source blockchain project Hyperledger to develop cross-blockchain technologies, it said Thursday at the Alibaba Cloud’s Apsara Conference in Hangzhou.
Why it matters: The Alibaba fintech affiliate sees blockchain as an important technology supporting its future product and services. The company has been plotting its way to commercializing blockchain technology in recent years.
“Today, with the advancement of technology, blockchain is capable of helping us build a brand new trust mechanism based on cryptographic algorithms. So, going from a platform based on trust to a trust system based on big data to cryptography-based trust is the reason why we see blockchain as a core technology for Ant Financial in the future.”
—Li Jieli, senior director of innovative tech department at Ant Financial
Details: Ant Financial announced today an extension of its partnership with Linux Foundation’s Hyperledger to develop cross-blockchain technologies.
- Ant Financial said it will continue to work with Hyperledger to explore how to connect and integrate different blockchain technologies and ecosystems. Specifically, the two will collaborate with other blockchain companies to develop processes and rules for cross-blockchain technologies.
- On Wednesday, Ant Financial signed a Letter of Intent with the agrochemical division of Bayer AG. The two companies will collaborate to create blockchain-based solutions designed to bring greater transparency to improve food safety and the efficiency of agricultural supply chains.
- Geoff Jiang, vice president and general manager of Ant Financial’s Intelligent Technology Group, said at the conference that the company’s blockchain platform has achieved the capacity to support 1 billion accounts and a daily transaction volume of 1 billion.
Context: The fintech giant launched in February its blockchain subsidiary Ant Blockchain, which focuses on software development, big data, infotech, and technical consulting. The company also has another blockchain subsidiary focusing on fintech research and development and supply chain management.
- In 2018, Alibaba and Ant Financial jointly held the top in a global blockchain patent ranking with 90 patent applications.