[NEWS] Alibaba subsidiary Ant Group to withdraw from digital asset investments

It has been reported that Ant Group, a major Chinese fintech company, is expected to withdraw from investments in the digital asset field. Bloomberg reported on the 18th.

According to the report, Ant Group has withdrawn from a $100 million fund managed by A&T Capital.

A&T Capital is an investment company established with the support of Ant Group. The fund it manages has invested in Web 3.0-related companies such as Consensys, which develops blockchains, and Mysten Labs, which develops the layer 1 blockchain Sui.

Although the exact reason for Ant Group's withdrawal has not been revealed, some say that it may be due to misconduct by Yu Jun, the founder of A&T Capital and who recently resigned as an executive.

In addition, Ant Group was fined 7.14 billion yuan (approximately 144 billion yen) in July this year for violating multiple laws, including investor protection, which may have influenced its withdrawal.

While there is a growing possibility that the company will withdraw from investments in the digital asset sector, Ant Group is notable for its focus on AI.

Earlier this month, Ant Group announced an AI model specialized for finance. It began trial operation on its insurance and asset management platform. It has two apps, one for consumers and one for those involved in the financial industry, and it appears that they can perform market analysis and extract necessary information.

Although the excitement surrounding AI is calming down, demand is expected to increase and capital inflows will continue. In contrast, in the digital asset sector, including cryptocurrencies, capital inflows have been decreasing due to the worsening market conditions that have continued since last year.

Given this market sentiment, Ant Group may have decided to focus its funds on the AI ​​sector.

Reference:Bloomberg
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