The big kahuna of mobile payments, Ant Group, who’s the mastermind behind Alipay (you’ve heard of it, right?), just dropped a bombshell. They’ve whipped up a brand-new sub-brand, going by the catchy name, ZAN. And guess what? It’s all about diving deep into the blockchain pool, catering to both the big guns and the lone rangers of the Web3 world.
Now, here’s the scoop straight from the horse’s mouth – the official announcement dropped on Sept. 8. ZAN ain’t just a one-trick pony. They’ve got a treasure trove of techie toys up their sleeve! From helping Web3 businesses play nice with the law when handling real-world goodies (yeah, those RWAs), to all the nifty checks like electronic ‘Know Your Customer’, ‘Anti-Money Laundering’, and even ‘Know Your Transaction’ – ZAN’s got it all covered for the Web3 crowd.
But wait, there’s more! They’re not just stopping at that. Need a second pair of eyes for your smart contracts? Or maybe a hand with those techy node services? ZAN’s your guy. Heck, they’ll even help you with those fancy calls for crafting decentralized apps (or DApps for the cool kids).
Speaking of cool kids, remember the Hong Kong Web3 bash in April? That’s when HashKey DID, a big-shot in the Web3 identity world, gave ZAN’s electronic KYC a big ol’ thumbs up. The cherry on top? HashKey Group even danced to the ZAN tune, being one of the first partners to join the party.
Now, a little birdie (cough, Bloomberg, cough) told us in July that Ant Group might be thinking of letting ZAN fly solo, away from its main crew. Word on the street is, they’re looking to grab a shiny financial license in China.
Rewinding a bit to 2020 – Ant Group had its eyes on a mind-boggling $226 billion pie, hoping for a record-smashing $30 billion IPO in both Hong Kong and Shanghai. Can you imagine? They were this close to outdoing the whopping $29.4 billion by the Saudi Aramco IPO. But alas, looks like luck wasn’t on their side – China pulled the brakes on that one.
So, in a nutshell? ZAN’s coming in hot, and the Web3 world better be ready for some fireworks! 🎉🚀
