The BitFury Group has entered into a US$30 million deal with Hong Kong’s Credit China Fintech and its subsidiaries. The deal includes an investment in the bitcoin startup as well as the establishment of a joint venture focusing on the Chinese market split 80:20 between the group and BitFury.

The collaboration with BitFury will assist Credit China Fintech in adopting bitcoin and blockchain technology and integrating relevant technologies into its various fintech solutions and platforms.

Credit China Fintech specializes in financial services to SMEs and consumers in China through Internet and mobile channels. Its offerings include online third party payments solutions, technology-enabled lending, online financial asset investment and supply chain financial services platforms.

Commenting on the deal, Phang Yew Kiat, vice-chairman and CEO of Credit China Fintech, said:

“Blockchain is a fast emerging technology allowing effective secured value transfer over the Internet. Our collaboration with BitFury will further cement our leadership position in the use of blockchain technologies across our fintech platforms, taking Credit China Fintech to a new level of competitiveness.”

The BitFury Group is a full-service blockchain technology company and one of the largest private infrastructure providers in the ecosystem. The company develops and delivers both the software and hardware solutions necessary for businesses, governments, organizations and individuals to securely move assets across the blockchain.

Last week, BitFury, in collaboration with international law-firm Covington, launched the Global Blockchain Business Council (GBBC) at the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland.

The initiative aims to bring together the world’s leading businesses to educate on the latest innovations and advances in blockchain technology and promote its use across the world.

The founding members of the GBBC are 33 global leaders and innovators who represent 25 countries. These include representatives from MIT Digital Currency from Australia, China M&A Association, the World Bank, as well as Toomas Hendrik Ilves, the former president of Estonia, and Aivaras Abromavičius, the former minister of economy of Ukraine. Credit China Fintech too is a founding member of the GBBC.

“We are deeply grateful to Credit China FinTech for both its forward-looking embrace of technology and its confidence in BitFury,” said Valery Vavilov, CEO and founder of BitFury.

“China is a visionary country and we are honored to have the opportunity to expand the work of our company to this significant part of the world.”

Credit China Fintech is one of the founders of Asia’s Fintech Merger and Acquisition Fund of Funds, a public-private initiative announced in December 2016 that aims to invest up to RMB 10 billion (US$1.4 billion) into mergers and acquisitions in the fintech area and leading enterprises in the sector.