CEOs of Alibaba, JD and 58.com Talk About Bitcoin and Blockchain

Just recently, Alibaba founder Jack Ma said that he doesn’t have much interest in bitcoin. In a new series, the CEOs of Chinese e-commerce giants Alibaba, Jingdong Mall (JD) and 58.com shared their insights on bitcoin and the blockchain technology.

Also Read: 62% of Institutional Investors are Buying or Considering Buying Bitcoin

“I Am Not Shameful that I Don’t Know About Bitcoin.”

On November 10 Papa Ma talked about his movie the Art of Attack and Defense (Gong Shou Dao) in the public event “Dialogue with Jack Ma” in Shanghai. An actress whose brother is obsessed with bitcoin asked the billionaire how he looks at the future of bitcoin.

Mr. Ma commented that he tried to understand what values bitcoin can bring to the society, but he is not a big fan of bitcoin.

“We should be cautious about bitcoin. Its underlying technology, however, is really powerful. I pay more attention to a cashless society and the blockchain technology. And I am not shameful that I don’t know about bitcoin.”

Following the initiatives of leading financial institutions and enterprises such as Nasdaq and IBM, Alibaba has become increasingly interested in blockchain technology. Over the past two years, the e-commerce giant has turned to blockchain to boost transparency in the country’s philanthropy sector, to fight food fraud and to secure health data in the medical sector. And this October, CTO of Ant Financial Cheng Li offered a public enunciation of the company’s technological strategy “BASIC” for the first time at the Computing Conference 2017. The acronym BASIC stands for “Blockchain, Artificial Intelligence, Security, Internet of Things and Cloud Computing.”

“If Customers Accept Bitcoin, Then I’m Fine with It.”

As a major competitor to Alibaba, JD joined the race in the blockchain industry in 2016. The second largest e-commerce firm in China has so far utilized blockchain in its big data ecosystem, an asset management system and supply chain.

As early as in 2014, Mr. Liu said at a Chinese financial talk show that bitcoin were used to buy plane tickets in the United States, but he never bought any bitcoin or stocks and had no interest in virtual economy.

The host asked him if Jingdong would accept bitcoin or create JD coin in the future, he replied that:

“It depends on our customers. If they are ok with it, then it’s fine with me.”

It has been three years since Mr. Liu last talked about bitcoin. We can assume that no enterprises in China would try to be a standout and support bitcoin at the moment.

“If I Had My Own Country, I Would Definitely Use Bitcoin.”

Compared with Jack Ma and Liu Qiangdong, Yao Jinbo, CEO of 58.com (NYSE: WUBA) is more supportive of bitcoin. Mr.Yao has been telling people around him to buy bitcoin. But he admitted that he never actually bought any.

“I never bought any bitcoin myself. That’s just sad. Bitcoin is a great technology with great thoughts. Satoshi should be awarded the Nobel Prize in economics. I believe that some countries, especially African countries and small countries will abandon their fiat money and adopt bitcoin in five years. If I had my own country, I would definitely use bitcoin.”

He added that the blockchain technology could be something as big as the Internet. And he is urging the entire company to probe the usages of blockchain technology.

Who do you agree with? Let us know in the comments section below.

Images courtesy of Shutterstock, Guigu Live

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