Hangzhou, hometown of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, invests in US$1.6 billion blockchain fund
Hangzhou government makes announcement at opening of Blockchain Industrial Park
The government of Hangzhou, the hometown of Alibaba Group Holding, China’s largest e-commerce company, is investing in a 10 billion yuan (US$1.6 billion) blockchain fund.
The Hangzhou government said on Monday, at the opening ceremony of the Blockchain Industrial Park, that it would invest 30 per cent, or 3 billion yuan, in the fund along with Tulan Investment, a venture capital company.
The fund will invest in “quality” blockchain projects, and the park has been designed to attract industry start-ups and professionals. Blockchain technology underpins bitcoin, the virtual currency.
The fund, which claims to be the world’s biggest fund investing in blockchain projects, will be managed by Tulan and INBlockchain, a company founded by virtual currency entrepreneur Li Xiaolai, who is also the chief executive of initial coin offering (ICO) project Press.one.
ICOs, which were banned by China in September last year, are a form of crowd sourcing through which companies exchange their newly created cryptocurrencies – called tokens – for payment in an existing currency, which can be cash or an established cryptocurrency. ICOs have raised alarm bells among regulators globally because of high risks and poor disclosure to investors.
