Chinese conglomerate, Alibaba, is expanding and offering its Blockchain as a Service (BaaS) product to clients in Asia, Europe, and the U.S.
It’s no secret that China isn’t really that fond of cryptocurrencies but blockchain technology is another matter altogether. The country is leading the way when it comes to filing blockchain patents. Even its central bank is fully embracing the technology.
Alibaba Enjoys Global Expansion
Now, according to Asia Times, one of China’s biggest businesses is branching and spreading the blockchain love. Major e-commerce giant, Alibaba, is expanding its Blockchain as a Service (BaaS) product to the rest of Asia, the U.S. and to Europe. It will be launched in 19 regions with the assistance of 52 of the company’s data centers.
Introduced in China in October last year, Alibaba Cloud’s BaaS product offers users a range of services that allow them to build and host their own blockchain-based products. These include apps and smart contracts. The company states that it offers “an enterprise-level platform service based on leading blockchain technologies [that] helps customers build a secure and stable environment for blockchain implementations.”
The Senior Staff Engineer and lead of Alibaba Cloud Blockchain, Yi Li, added that BaaS has a goal to “become a technology partner that enables companies that wish to use blockchain to accelerate their digital transformation”.
IBM Does it Again
The product uses Alibaba’s Ant Blockchain platform in conjunction with IBM’s Hyperledger Fabric technology. IBM has been very busy when it comes to blockchain-based solutions. The tech giant is collaborating with retailers and even federal agencies either directly or through platforms that make use of its innovative technology.
Brian Behlendorf, who is the Executive Director of Hyperledger, showed his excitement at the growth of BaaS saying that this expansion will bring “more exciting innovations to the global blockchain communities”. He added that “2018 is set to be another blockbuster year for the industry”.
We know that blockchain technology is versatile and can be used in a range of industries that rely on record-keeping such as supply chain management and healthcare, which are, in actual fact, what some BaaS-developed apps were created for according to Alibaba.
The company is still improving their services while expanding to the UK. It has opened two new data centers, which, according to Alibaba Cloud’s EMEA general manager, Yeming Wang, will employ “AI-powered and data-driven technology” that will allow the company to offer services ranging from “machine learning capabilities to predictive data analytics”.
So while China is cold on crypto, they’re definitely on fire when it comes to blockchain exploration. However, it’s not yet clear how the country’s latest plan to regulate blockchain will impact on the adoption of its services in the country.
Have you made use of any of Alibaba Cloud’s services? Let us know in the comments below!
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