Alibaba (NYSE: BABA) said on Tuesday that Joseph Tsai, one of its founders, will step into the role of Chairman come September.
This leadership shuffle, which also saw the company name Eddie Yongming Wu as its new CEO, comes as it reorganizes itself into multiple units, separating its technology services from retail divisions.
But crypto stakeholders bullish on the China narrative – the idea that Beijing is slowly warming up to crypto – might be closely reading the tea leaves on this one as Tsai is a vocal proponent of crypto and an active Web3 investor.
Having someone like this at the top of such a large institution in China might be a signal that Alibaba could be positioning itself to embrace the new reality of Web3, and crypto, in China if that day comes.
At the time, Tsai didn’t elaborate what he meant, but in the year following, he has been an active investor in the space.
Blue Pool Capital, which Tsai uses as his family office, was a minority shareholder in FTX, the South China Morning Post reported in January 2023, participating in two of its fundraising rounds. This wasn’t known at the time and was only revealed in court documents.
At the same time, the belief that China is warming up to crypto remains to be seen.
“Hong Kong’s framework as it exists today is highly unattractive. The market is small and unproven, banking partnerships are non-existent, and products are highly restricted,” Leo Weese, co-founder and President of the Bitcoin Association of Hong Kong, previously told CoinDesk.
Banks have been reluctant to get on board, with the Hong Kong Monetary Authority forced to put pressure on some of the largest names in finance to bring on crypto clients.
In the rest of the country, there’s an embrace of digital assets on the blockchain – so long as they don’t have crypto.
Beijing itself defines Web3 as an internet enhanced by artificial intelligence, blockchain, faster computing chips, and more resilient networks. It’s the third version of the internet, not something synonymous with crypto.
Alibaba might know something we don’t and wants an executive team ready for crypto in China – when that day comes. This could also just be the company moving around executives and putting one of its founders at the top.
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