Ant Financial remains ‘optimistic’ on blockchain technology despite PBOC’s cryptocurrencies crackdown
Ant chief strategy officer Chen Long’s remarks come within a month of the Central Bank slapping an outright ban on blockchain-backed initial coin offerings
The chief strategy officer of Ant Financial, an affiliate of Chinese e-commerce juggernaut Alibaba Group, says he remains optimistic on blockchain technology, despite the central bank’s ban on one of its best-known applications – cryptocurrencies.
“Blockchain addresses to the trust issue faced by all financial transactions. Its era is set to come,” Chen Long, told the South China Morning Post on the sidelines of a conference in Beijing on Friday.
The digital ledger technology, best-known behind cryptocurrencies like bitcoin, provides a series of networks of databases that allow participants to create, disseminate and store information in an efficient and secure manner, eliminating the need for a central authority while bringing greater transparency.
Chen’s remarks come within a month of the People’s Bank of China slapping an outright ban on blockchain-backed initial coin offerings (ICOs), where companies raise virtual tokens in exchange for funds or other cryptocurrencies, and expanded the crackdown to all domestic trading platforms of digital assets including bitcoin.
The financial veteran dismissed cryptocurrencies as the primary value of blockchain technology.