A new Chinese blockchain startup fund, dubbed Xiong’An Global Blockchain Innovation Fund, has received backing from the Chinese government for 30% of its total required resources of USD 1.6 billion.
The initiative was announced Monday, with Xu Xiaoping acting as the official advisor for the project. Xiaoping is the founder of venture capital firm Zhenfund, a company previously invested in blockchain projects such as Stream and Lino. The fund will be managed by Li Xiaolai, a well-known blockchain investor and Bitcoin mogul.
The announcement took place at the opening ceremony of a new blockchain industrial park in Hangzhou, a city noted for its support of fintech innovations with technology conglomerate Alibaba headquartered there.
Local news outlet Sohu reported that USD 400 million of the total resources will be provided by the Hangzhou city local government. The remaining funds will be provided by Hangzhou-based venture capital firm Tunlan Investment, the official launchers of the enterprise.
The funds will be invested into promising local blockchain projects, with the new industrial park providing the startup companies with an incubation center.
Blockchain in China
Despite the government’s unfavorable policies on cryptocurrencies, China is a leading actor in the blockchain industry. The Xiong’An Global Blockchain Innovation Fund is the most recent of Chinese government-backed blockchain initiatives.
Also based in Hangzhou is a research body led by the government that recently launched a platform utilizing blockchain technology that provides a service for identity and supply-chain tracking. The platform has been dubbed the Blockchain Registry Open Platform (BROP), officially launched at a fintech summit in Hangzhou on 26 March. The research institute behind BROP operates under the jurisdiction of the People’s Bank of China, the country’s central bank.
A local investment association also backed by the government recently scrapped plans to found a blockchain funding center, allegedly due to internal structural conflicts.
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