China’s Ant Group Launches Blockchain Services Brand ‘Zan’ for Web3 Developers

China's tech giant Ant Group has launched a sub-brand called Zan, that will help blockchain developers bring out solutions for Web3. While China has maintained a stringent anti-crypto stance for two years now, some tech giants there have taken gradual steps to explore the use-cases of blockchain, which also makes for the underlaying technology that supports cryptocurrencies. Zan comes with a suite of blockchain application development products and services to help Web3 developers.

One of the first solution this brand brings along is a solution to help Web3 firms, managing or issuing manage real-world assets (RWAs), comply with local regulatory requirements.

Its suite of products also comes along with systems and tools around electronic Know Your Customer (KYC), Anti-Money Laundering as well as Know Your Transaction checks for developers to use for their projects.

Hui Zhang, an individual whose previous work history or association details with the Ant Group are unclear, has been appointed as the CEO of Zan.

“Zan is dedicated to investing in research and development of Web3 technologies and products, providing more extensive and reliable technical services to support the community, and working with our partners to accelerate Web3 developments and innovations. Web3 is a technology sector bringing new opportunities,” Zhang said.

While this platform has been publicly announced today, it had been in the works for quite some time. In early 2023, Zan was already piloting its services. During the Hong Kong Web3 Festival this April, Zan was adopted for its offerings by HashKey DID, a Web3 decentralised identity data aggregator.

Launched as an entity in itself, Zan, is expected to help the Chinese parent company to proceed directly to an IPO stage.

In 2020, the Ant Group lost a huge opportunity to open a $30 billion (roughly Rs. 2,50,546 crore) initial public offering (IPO) in Hong Kong and Shanghai. At the time, the company expected to touch the valuation of $226 billion (roughly Rs. 18,76,195 crore) but the IPO was blocked by the Chinese authorities.