Alipay and WeChat Pay reportedly requested that crypto exchange Huobi remove their payment services from its over-the-counter (OTC) trading desk, local media agency Sina reported on Jan. 25. Major Chinese digital payments providers, Alibaba’s Alipay and Tencent’s WeChat Pay, have reportedly sent legal letters to Huobi, claiming that using both their services and logos on the exchange’s OTC market is unauthorized. According to information acquired by Sina, both Alipay and WeChat Pay have not provided Huobi with its payment services, nor given it permission to use their respective trademarks. However, Huobi’s OTC trading platform reportedly allows users to upload QR …

The Pakistan-based subsidiary of global telecommunications giant Telenor has launched a blockchain-powered cross-border remittance service, according to a press release published Jan. 8. Per the announcement, the Pakistan-based Telenor Microfinance Bank (TMB), Valyou — a Malaysian fintech subsidiary of Telenor — and Telenor’s Easypaisa have jointly launched a blockchain-based international remittance service in Pakistan. The service is reportedly powered by blockchain technology developed by Ant Financial’s online payment platform, Alipay. The new service is reportedly geared to significantly increase the speed and efficiency of remittances between Malaysia and Pakistan. Pakistan currently receives about $1 billion in home remittances from Malaysia, …

Hyperledger has onboarded 12 new members, including such major firms as Alibaba Cloud, Citi, and Deutsche Telekom, according to an announcement published on Dec. 11. Launched in 2016, Hyperledger is an open source project created by the Linux Foundation and created to support the development of blockchain-based distributed ledgers. The new members were announced at the Hyperledger Global Forum in Basel, Switzerland. The latest general members that joined the initiative include Alibaba Cloud, a subsidiary of the e-commerce giant; financial services firm Citigroup, Deutsche Telekom, one of the largest telecoms providers in Europe; and European blockchain trading platform we.trade, among …

Alibaba Cloud, the cloud computing arm of China’s e-commerce giant Alibaba Group, is enhancing its Blockchain-as-a-Service (BaaS) offering outside China, the company announced in a press release on Oct. 24. Following the roll out of its BaaS platform in China, Alibaba Cloud will expand its enterprise-level blockchain service to major international markets including Europe, the U.S., and South East Asia. Based on two blockchain network implementations — Hyperledger Fabric and Ant Blockchain — Alibaba Cloud’s BaaS is now targeting global enterprises, enabling them to set up secure and solid ecosystem for blockchain developments, the press release notes. The blockchain solution …

Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba has won a preliminary injunction against Dubai-based Alibabacoin Foundation in a lawsuit over the misleading use of Alibaba in their name, financial website MarketWatch reports Wednesday, Oct. 24. The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York has sided with the Chinese corporation during the trademark infringement case hearing Monday, Oct. 22. Judge James Paul Oetken, as cited by MarketWatch, said that consumer confusion could occur due to the similarity of trademarks; therefore, the Alibabacoin Foundation should not use the confusing "Alibaba" part for its brand anywhere in the U.S. According to the Wall …

Chinese e-commerce conglomerate Alibaba has filed a patent application with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) for a blockchain-based system that allows a third-party administrator to intervene in a smart contract in case of illegal activities. The USPTO published the patent application on Oct. 4. A smart contract is a computer protocol designed to digitally verify or enforce the negotiation or performance of a contract. Smart contracts are self-executing, with the terms of the agreement between the parties being directly written into lines of code. The patent document, which was initially filed in March, describes a blockchain-powered transaction method …

Ant Financial, the financial affiliate of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, is launching a blockchain BaaS (Backend-as-a-Service) platform, local news outlet China Money Network reports September 21. The announcement was reportedly made by Ant Financial vice president Jiang Guoefei at the Ant Technology Exploration Conference (ATEC) in Hangzhou yesterday. The new BaaS platform is being launched in tandem with an enterprise-focused “ant blockchain partner program” that will reportedly enable small- and medium-scale businesses to implement and innovate new blockchain solutions. The announcement aligns with what Gueofei characterized as a move to “open up” Ant’s in-house technologies to the wider commercial sector: …

On Sept. 14, the blockchain investment arm of United States-based e-commerce Bitcoin pioneer Overstock announced that the retailer’s clients can now purchase the cryptocurrency directly from its website. It became possible after its subsidiary Bitsy began a beta launch of its cryptocurrency wallet and exchange, marking another step in Overstock’s rich relationship with Bitcoin. However, although Overstock first allowed its customers to pay with the cryptocurrency back in 2014, the e-commerce industry has yet to experience mass adoption. Meanwhile, Asian players are gathering to make an even greater push. First brick in the wall: Overstock’s initial success In January 2014, …

Jack Ma, the founder of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, has said that blockchain and other advanced technologies still need to prove they can help evolve society in a “greener and more inclusive” direction. His remarks came as part of a keynote delivered at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference in China September 17, as local outlet cnBeta reports. While Ma’s keynote focused on the challenges and common (mis)perceptions surrounding the advent of artificial intelligence (AI) in particular, he reserved a place for blockchain and internet of things (IoT) technology as technological watersheds in the new “data age,” arguing that: “The data …

Tech giants Alibaba and IBM are vying for the top spot on a new list that ranks global entities by the number of blockchain-related patents filed to date, published August 31 by iPR Daily. iPR Daily — a media outlet specializing in intellectual property — says it consolidated data as of August 10 from across China, the EU, America, Japan and South Korea, as well consulting the International Patent System from the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). China’s Alibaba only just seals first place, having filed a total of 90 blockchain-related patent applications, whereas IBM has to date filed a …

China’s anti-crypto onslaught continues, as a prohibition against commercial venues from hosting crypto-related events has been extended to Guangzhou Development District, local media outlet Jiemian reports August 29. Guangzhou Development District is a special economic zone in southern China, close to Hong Kong. The district’s Financial Development Bureau reportedly issued a notice of the new ban August 24, warning of the need to “maintain the security and stability of the financial system.” As reported last week, the move follows an almost identical ban first imposed upon venues in Beijing’s Chaoyang district in mid-August. China’s has this month redoubled its efforts …

Chinese tech giant Baidu has joined Tencent and Alibaba in imposing new anti-crypto measures in line with Beijing’s toughened stance, South China Morning Post (SCMP) reports Monday, August 27. China’s ‘Google,’ Baidu, has closed at least two popular crypto-related chat forums, according to SCMP, with a notice reportedly informing users that the move comes “in accordance with relevant laws, regulations and policies.” Meanwhile, Tencent — the operator of the 1-billion-user social media platform WeChat, has reportedly issued a statement announcing its own ban on crypto trading. The platform has said it will monitor daily transactions in real time and block …