From deepening the Ant Chain to purchasing Ethereum: The Jack Ma faction accelerates its layout in blockchain, what will be the next step?

Author: Ivan Wu on Blockchain

Jack Ma's attempts in the cryptocurrency field revolve around the "Jack Ma system" of cryptocurrency infrastructure layout, with the narrative centered on the technology line of AntChain: starting from enterprise-level consortium chains and industry applications, extending to the ZAN componentized tools and open-source DTVM, and launching the Ethereum-based layer two Jovay (no token issuance) aimed at RWA, forming a deep integration path with the Ethereum ecosystem. After many internet and financial companies briefly experimented with blockchain and subsequently abandoned it, AntChain has become a rare case of sustained commitment.

On the asset side, Yunfeng Financial has reached a strategic cooperation with Ant Digital Technologies and invested in the public chain base Pharos, while on September 2, it cumulatively purchased 10,000 ETH with its own funds and recorded it as an "investment," intending to provide verifiable settlement and reserve assets for compliant scenarios such as RWA and insurance, with the listed company’s treasury bearing the responsibility for technological implementation. The focus on the investment side has correspondingly shifted: the early overseas equity window A&T Capital has significantly slowed down after 2023, with "functional reserves + compliant implementation" becoming the main line, overlapping with the closed loop of "technology --- business --- assets."

Disclaimer: This article does not constitute any investment advice. Readers are advised to strictly comply with the laws and regulations of their location and not to participate in illegal financial activities.

I. AntChain: From Consortium Chain to Web3-oriented "Componentization," Merging Technology and Asset Lines

On September 1, Yunfeng Financial (00376.HK) announced a strategic cooperation with Ant Group's technology commercialization entity Ant Digital Technologies, and simultaneously made a strategic investment in the public chain Pharos, with a clear cooperation direction aimed at "advancing the tokenization of RWA (real-world assets) and Web3 scenarios based on Pharos's high-performance base under compliance." The next day (September 2), Yunfeng Financial further disclosed that it had cumulatively purchased 10,000 ETH (approximately $44 million) in the open market, with funds coming from the company's internal cash reserves, and recorded it as an investment asset; the board also authorized adjustments to the reserve scale "as appropriate based on market, regulatory, and company financial conditions." The announcement also recalled the established direction of "increasing digital currency investment" proposed on July 14.

Looking back to 2020, Ant launched the "AntChain" brand and introduced the integrated hardware and software AntChain Station; official materials state that this solution is used to shorten enterprise blockchain deployment time and improve transaction processing efficiency, serving as the starting point for engineering implementation. Subsequent external materials frequently mentioned indicators such as "large-scale accounts and high concurrency processing capabilities."

Currently, the application layer of AntChain is mainly reflected in cross-border trade scenarios, with Trusple providing performance and financing services for SMEs based on AntChain, collaborating with several international banks to form verifiable processes around orders, payment commitments, and clearing and settlement; in judicial and copyright scenarios, AntChain's digital copyright service platform covers registration, evidence collection, and rights protection processes to enhance the verifiability and tamper-proof attributes of evidence.

In 2023, AntChain launched ZAN in Hong Kong, providing tools such as node services, identity compliance (KYC/AML), contract auditing, and acceleration; in April 2025, it will open-source DTVM (DeTerministic Virtual Machine), which is based on Wasm, maintains EVM ABI compatibility, and introduces deterministic intermediate representation and related development/audit tools to connect with the Ethereum ecosystem, forming a componentization aimed at the public chain ecosystem.

Additionally, public reports mention the promotion of on-chain real-world assets (RWA): multiple media outlets cited sources stating that Ant Digital Technologies is integrating energy infrastructure and other assets onto the chain for rights confirmation, financing, and trading; the relevant scale will be subject to official subsequent disclosures.

These developments parallel the exchange announcements on September 1-2: the continuous release of technology and tool chains (ZAN, DTVM, and their connection with the Ethereum ecosystem), along with the simultaneous advancement of cooperation and asset allocation (strategic investment in Pharos, purchase of ETH, and accounting) provide conditions for subsequent scenario integration based on compliance frameworks.

II. A&T Capital: The Rise and Fall of Jack Ma's Early Overseas Crypto Investment Window

A&T Capital was established in 2021, positioned as an early to growth-stage fund focused on cryptocurrency and blockchain; it completed the fundraising of its first fund of $100 million in February 2022, being identified by multiple media and databases as an important LP of Ant Group, with investment directions concentrated on overseas crypto projects. Its public cases include ConsenSys and Matrixport (with A&T elaborating on the investment logic in ConsenSys's financing round; Matrixport's unicorn round disclosed A&T's participation).

In March 2023, its founding partner left A&T due to an investigation related to "workplace behavior." Bloomberg reported that he had previously served as the investment head at Ant and assisted in establishing A&T to invest in overseas crypto projects; subsequently, multiple media outlets reported that A&T had initiated an independent investigation process. This incident became a watershed for the fund's subsequent rhythm changes. In September 2023, Bloomberg cited sources stating that Ant Group planned to withdraw its $100 million investment in A&T, which was reprinted by several mainstream financial media and regional media, generally interpreted as "retreating from crypto," leading to an "uncertain" future for the fund. This trend coincided with the macro environment of sluggish fundraising in both secondary and primary markets for crypto.

From a data perspective, the new investments by A&T are significantly slowing down in 2024-2025: industry databases show no new investment records for 2025, and the most recently disclosed investments largely remain before mid-2023. Currently, the main line of the "Jack Ma system" has shifted from "overseas equity investment" to undertaking certain risks in "underlying infrastructure + business scenario implementation."

III. AntChain Launches Its Own L2: Jovay — Ethereum-based Layer Two for RWA, No Token Issuance, Compliance Pathway

On April 30, 2025, Ant Digital Technologies launched the Ethereum ecosystem layer two Jovay at the RWA REAL UP summit held in Dubai, officially positioning it as RWA infrastructure for institutional-level fund transactions and as a key component of the "dual-chain one bridge" (AntChain asset chain + AntChain Bridge + L2), aiming to tokenize real assets under a compliance framework and form a verifiable on-chain flow.

Technical Features

The press release disclosed that Jovay focuses on "trusted execution + high throughput + low latency," claiming 100,000 TPS and approximately 100 milliseconds of on-chain response, while emphasizing seamless integration with Layer 1 such as Ethereum to enhance settlement and scalability; these performance indicators are disclosed by the vendor and will need to be verified by subsequent public testing and third-party audits. Some industry reports further state that Jovay adopts a dual proof path of TEE+ZK and hierarchical confirmation to balance compliance verifiability and user experience (as reported by the media, still subject to official and audit results).

R&D and Open Source Stack

One week before the launch of Jovay (April 24), Ant Digital Technologies announced the open-source DTVM (DeTerministic Virtual Machine) technology stack: centered on deterministic execution, equipped with multi-language SDK and AI tools such as SmartCogent, the official statement claims it can achieve up to 30 times efficiency improvement in certain smart contract scenarios and is released under the Apache 2.0 open-source license, aiming for deeper compatibility with the Ethereum ecosystem and reducing institutional-level development and compliance audit costs. The launch event also listed DTVM alongside Jovay as part of the RWA infrastructure combination.

Progress Milestones

On July 15, the Jovay testnet was announced to be online, with the mainnet expected to launch in Q4; the technical documentation emphasizes its focus on "institutional-level use cases (including RWA)" and aims to address the pain points of traditional L2 in terms of performance, security, compliance, and scalability.

"No Token Issuance" Compliance Orientation

Ant has repeatedly emphasized in external communications that Jovay is a fully self-developed Ethereum-based L2 aimed at overseas markets, with no issuance of cryptocurrency/native tokens; this statement was directly quoted by the South China Morning Post in an interview on August 7, along with a timeline indicating the capability to operate with "real funds" in September.

Connection to the Main Line: Key Component of the Closed Loop

From a narrative perspective, Jovay connects AntChain's "enterprise-level engineering capabilities (AntChain Station / industry applications) → Web3 componentization (ZAN, DTVM) → Ethereum-based settlement layer expansion (L2)" into an actionable path; its strategy of "no token issuance + institutional focus + overseas market" aligns with compliance frameworks in places like Hong Kong and Dubai. At the same time, Jovay is officially included in the "dual-chain one bridge" plan, directly linking the AntChain asset chain and cross-chain bridge, providing an end-to-end technical foundation for the issuance, registration, and clearing of RWA, merging with the role of Yunfeng Financial on the asset side in the main strategy of "RWA × Ethereum."

IV. Yunfeng Financial Actions: From Industry Collaboration to Treasury Entry

Yunfeng Financial is closely associated with the "Jack Ma system." Yunfeng Financial Group (HKEX: 00376) is a comprehensive financial technology group listed on the Hong Kong main board, covering brokerage, asset management, insurance, and fintech, headquartered in Hong Kong, and holding relevant financial regulatory licenses. Its predecessor was the Hong Kong brokerage Reorient Group. In 2015, the South China Morning Post disclosed that Jack Ma acquired a 56% stake in Reorient through the Yunfeng system; the same capital subsequently led the company to rename and expand its business (renamed "Yunfeng Financial Group" in 2016). From 2017 to 2018, Yunfeng Financial led the acquisition of MassMutual Asia and completed the transaction in November 2018, later renamed YF Life, establishing a foothold in the life insurance sector.

Two announcements from Yunfeng Group in September indicated that the inclusion of ETH in strategic reserves aims to provide key infrastructure support for its RWA tokenization activities, explore applicable models in the insurance business, and optimize asset structure while reducing reliance on traditional currencies.

In a voluntary announcement on July 14, Yunfeng clearly stated that it would strategically expand into Web3, RWA, digital currencies, ESG net-zero assets, and AI, and mentioned plans to increase investments in digital currencies, exploring application scenarios in conjunction with the insurance business; the funding source is internal resources and will be prudently adjusted according to business and market dynamics. The two September announcements can be seen as a clear implementation of this strategy and asset-side undertaking. At the same time, the company emphasized the high volatility of cryptocurrency prices and the boundaries of information disclosure, warning that if subsequent acquisitions trigger the thresholds of Chapter 14 of the Listing Rules, it will fulfill disclosure obligations in accordance with the law.

Yunfeng Financial's latest official announcement states that its wholly-owned subsidiary Yunfeng Securities Limited has officially received approval from the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) to upgrade its existing Type 1 (securities trading) regulated activity license to provide virtual asset trading services through a comprehensive account arrangement on the SFC-licensed platform.

V. Why Choose Ethereum (ETH) as the First Strategic Reserve?

On September 2, Yunfeng Financial disclosed that it had cumulatively purchased 10,000 ETH in the open market with its own funds and recorded it as an "investment" in its financial statements; the company stated that it would adjust the reserve scale based on market and regulatory conditions. The previous September announcement indicated that the inclusion of ETH aims to provide key infrastructure support for RWA tokenization activities and explore applicable models in the insurance business.

From the perspective of asset characteristics and public research, Fidelity's digital asset report positions Ethereum as a decentralized smart contract platform, emphasizing its auditability, usability, and reliability; the report also points out that the "merge" has led to a contraction in issuance combined with the fee-burning mechanism of EIP-1559, causing ETH's "net cash flow" to return in the form of destruction, dynamically related to network demand. The report also lists the operation method and quantitative data of the destruction mechanism: approximately 4.6 million ETH have been destroyed cumulatively since its implementation in August 2021 (as of June 23, 2025).

Combining the aforementioned disclosures, Yunfeng Financial clarified the handling framework of "usage --- funding --- accounting representation --- continuous disclosure" in the announcement: purchasing with internal funds, classified as an investment in the financial statements, and warning that if it triggers the thresholds of Chapter 14 of the Listing Rules, it will disclose in accordance with the law.

According to the company's statement, the proportion of future investments in digital assets will continue to increase; in addition to ETH, there are plans to explore including mainstream digital assets such as BTC and SOL in the strategic reserve.

On September 17, Yunfeng Financial announced that its blockchain team successfully achieved the tokenization of high-quality FOF shares held by its wholly-owned subsidiary, completing the company's first independently operated real-world asset tokenization project. This project follows the virtual asset regulatory framework of the Hong Kong SFC, aiming to address the pain points of cumbersome traditional fund share transfers and insufficient liquidity.

On September 19, according to the South China Morning Post, Yunfeng Financial Group, supported by Jack Ma, appointed former senior executive of Ant Group Jiang Guofei as the chairman of the Web3 Development Committee. Jiang Guofei previously served as the president of Ant Digital Technology Group, responsible for leading the blockchain projects of the fintech giant.

VI. Speculations on Next Steps

From the disclosed information, the technology line (Ant Digital Technologies Jovay L2, DTVM) and asset line (Yunfeng Financial's inclusion of ETH, layout of Pharos) have established the basic framework of "road --- bridge --- vehicle." The most likely subsequent actions will focus on the following three directions:

(1) On-chain operation with "real money" and compliance pilot. Jovay has launched its testnet on July 15, with the official statement indicating that the mainnet is expected to go live in Q4; at the same time, Ant has clearly stated in an interview on August 7 that Jovay "does not issue tokens" and plans to have the capability to operate with "real funds" in September (this is a planned window, still subject to final launch and audit). This means that recent observable signals will shift from "launch parameters" to "the on-chain flow of the first batch of institutional funds" (such as RWA issuance, clearing and settlement, custody/audit linkage, etc.).

(2) RWA business advancement under the Hong Kong --- Dubai dual hub. In Hong Kong, the SFC has released a roadmap for the virtual asset market and guidelines related to tokenization, providing regulatory levers in licensing, products, and risk control; in Dubai, VARA has established a dedicated virtual asset regulatory system and opened services to overseas entities. Both locations are compliance-friendly hubs, and with Ant launching Jovay in Dubai and establishing a global headquarters in Hong Kong while continuously advancing the Web3 toolchain, there is a high probability of RWA pilot scenarios emerging across borders (such as issuing and registering in one location while settling and circulating in another), with audits and compliance reports serving as acceptance standards.

(3) The "rhythm and boundaries" of treasury management. Yunfeng Financial's announcement on September 2 clearly stated: it has cumulatively purchased 10,000 ETH in the open market (total cost $44 million, including fees), funded by internal cash reserves, recorded as an "investment," and will "closely monitor the market and regulatory conditions and adjust the reserve scale as needed." This means that in the future, rather than short-term price fluctuations, what is more worthy of attention is the subsequent secondary disclosures (increases/decreases in holdings, custody arrangements, accounting treatment standards, etc.); additionally, the announcement also highlights the core risk points of volatility and regulatory uncertainty.

On top of these three clues, there are also two "extensions but falsifiable" observations: first, the exploration of on-chain applications in licensed scenarios such as insurance. The South China Morning Post cited the company's statement that ETH will be used to explore applicable models in insurance and other businesses; if established, the most likely entry point would be the on-chain confirmation of rights and clearing and settlement of policies/assets, with the rhythm depending on the maturity of regulatory and audit collaboration; second, collaboration on the public chain side. Yunfeng and Ant Digital Technologies have disclosed strategic investment/collaboration on Pharos in the announcement on September 1, and if scenarios combining Pharos × Jovay × AntChain emerge later (such as cross-chain asset registration and settlement), they will need to be confirmed by formal announcements from the projects and partners.

"Jack Ma's foray into cryptocurrency" reduces compliance risks on the technology side with "no token issuance L2 + componentized toolchain," establishes verifiable support on the asset side with "listed company treasury accounting for ETH," and constrains behavioral boundaries on the governance side with "exchange announcements and audits." Based on the disclosed and executed situations, this foray can be seen as a cautious, reversible asset allocation experiment, which, if subsequent progress is smooth, may become a replicable paradigm for traditional internet and licensed finance to enter the cryptocurrency infrastructure.

However, on September 11, according to a Caixin exclusive report, due to recent changes in policy direction, Chinese banks and other institutions that previously actively participated in applying for Hong Kong stablecoin licenses may adjust their strategies, and branches of internet giants and state-owned enterprises in Hong Kong engaging in stablecoin and cryptocurrency businesses may face restrictions; the behavior of internet platforms participating in investments in cryptocurrencies and cryptocurrency exchanges abroad will also face limitations, requiring a focus on developing the real economy. Whether Jack Ma's recent proactive actions will change or cool down is worth subsequent attention.