Ant Group launches a new blockchain brand for Web3 developers

The new entity, ZAN, will help the mother company shake off its affiliations with Web3 and proceed to the IPO.

Ant Group, the owner of the world’s largest mobile payment platform Alipay, revealed its new sub-brand under the name ZAN. The brand will focus on blockchain development and services for both institutional and individual Web3 developers. 

The official press release, published on Sept. 8, cites a wide scope of technical products and services, which ZAN will offer to its clients. It starts with a solution to help Web3 companies issue and manage real-world assets (RWAs) in compliance with local regulatory requirements. Then it covers a series of technical products, including electronic Know-Your-Customer (eKYC), Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Know-Your-Transactions (KYT) for Web3.

ZAN will also provide Smart Contract Reviews (SCR) and Node Services including Remote Procedure Calls (RPC) for building dApps.

Related: Digital Fortress, Part 1: How to safeguard digital assets in Web3

Earlier this year, during the Hong Kong Web3 Festival, a Web3 decentralized identity data aggregator HashKey DID announced its adoption of ZAN eKYC. HashKey Group participated in ZAN’s brand launch ceremony as one of its first partners.

In July, media reported that the Ant Group is looking to exclude its blockchain branch from a main entity, which will be applying for a financial holding license in China. 

In 2020, Ant Group aimed for a $226 billion valuation with a $30 billion IPO in Hong Kong and Shanghai. If it had succeeded, this IPO would have been the biggest ever, beating records like the $29.4 billion raised by the Saudi Aramco IPO. But back then this plan was blocked by the Chinese government. Now the company prepares to to go public on Hong Kong exchange.

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