Despite all the limitations on cryptocurrency mining and trading from the government, Alibaba, a Chinese e-commerce giant, has launched a cryptocurrency mining platform.
According to the recent data, Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba is interested in entering the cryptocurrency mining market. It has launched a new cryptocurrency mining platform called ‘P2P Nodes’, which was registered by Alibaba on October 10th in Nanjing, the capital city of Jiangsu province.
The report from Chinese Internet service qq.com about launching the platform was relayed by CnLedger, a Twitter-based local crypto news information provider.
Tencent News: Alibaba launching virtual currency mining platform "P2P Nodes", registered in Nanjing. May incorporate with e-commerce platform in future. (Unconfirmed)https://t.co/w0ZzgKk773
— cnLedger (@cnLedger) January 16, 2018
P2P Nodes is a virtual currency mining platform, which is expected to form a partnership with electricity suppliers.
P2P Nodes also represents an apparent U-turn for Jack Ma, Alibaba founder, who in December declared that the world was “not ready” for engagement with cryptocurrency. Jack Ma expressed his distrust of digital coins on multiple public platforms and said:
“I said honestly, I know very little about it, and I’m totally confused.”
Adding:
“Even if it works, the whole international rules on trade and financing are going to be completely changed.”
But at the same time, he voiced his trust in blockchain technology, saying that Alibaba ”spent a lot of efforts on blockchain technology and development.”
Tencent, another Chinese Internet giant, has also registered a ‘Blockchain-related trademark’ for an entity referred to as ‘Ether Lock’ and ‘Ethernet Lock.’
Chinese internet giant Tencent was found to have registered blockchain-related trademark "Ether Lock" https://t.co/fQKn0rHnMq
— cnLedger (@cnLedger) January 16, 2018
Tencent News also hinted that the business model of this mining operation might be based on third-party, i.e. the company will loan space on the cloud-based platform for its clients to mine cryptocurrency using its high hashrate infrastructure.
There are many regulations aimed at eradicating the last traces of centralized crypto-to-fiat trading in China. Given that the Chinese government minimizes Crypto-mining by curbing electricity usage, putting limitations on land use and introducing new taxes, the news is a surprise.
According to recent reports, the Chinese government might block access to all crypto trading platforms, both domestic and international, to its citizens on the country’s highly censored internet. One of China’s largest cloud-based crypto mining pools – ViaBTC – recently closed its doors, asserting the vague reasons of controlling speculation and protecting its investor interests.
Cryptocurrency markets continue to feel the pressure with Bitcoin losing its value as the result of China’s latest regulatory moves. According to the data from CoinMarketCap, its current value is $10729,70 (it has suffered a 10.74% fall in the last 24 hours).
However, even given all this negative around cryptocurrency, launch of the platform is a bold step made by one of the largest companies in China.
next