According to The Block, Ant Digital Technologies, the blockchain division of Chinese internet finance service company Ant Group, has increased the registered capital of two subsidiary companies.
The fintech giant has confirmed to The Block that Ant Blockchain Technology (Shanghai) Co. Ltd. recently amended its business registration, increasing the registered capital from 100 million Chinese yuan to 1.5 billion Chinese yuan (approximately $206.4 million). The blockchain division was established in December 2018 and its registered business operations include software development, hardware retail, and information technology services.
Another subsidiary of Ant Digital Technologies, AntChain (Shanghai) Digital Technology Co. Ltd., has also increased its registered capital from 100 million Chinese yuan to 2.1 billion Chinese yuan (approximately $288.9 million).
A spokesperson for Ant Digital Technologies stated in an email reply:
Although China banned all cryptocurrency transactions on the mainland in September 2021, the country still maintains an open attitude towards domestic blockchain technology and the digital economy – Chinese tech giants like Alibaba and Tencent are focusing on developing their own consortium chains. For example, Ant Group launched its blockchain brand AntChain in July 2020. In September 2023, Ant Digital Technologies launched its overseas blockchain brand ZAN.
Ant Digital Technologies is also part of a blockchain industry community established in Hong Kong in May, which aims to develop wholesale central bank digital currencies and tokenization.
