The vice chairman of Alibaba Group says he likes cryptocurrencies. Why does it matter?
Another addition to the camp of digital asset fans is Joe Tsai, executive vice chairman of Chinese multinational Alibaba Group. The day before he said he liked cryptocurrencies. Tsai made his statement on Twitter and quickly caught the attention of Changpen Zhao, CEO of major cryptocurrency exchange Binance. This development shows that even among the high ranking executives of major Chinese corporations, there are people who de facto condemn a total ban on crypto in the country. We tell you more about what’s going on.
As a reminder, the situation with cryptocurrencies in China is really tense right now. It was formed at the end of September, when the country's authorities once again outlawed interaction with digital assets. And while this has happened almost twenty times before, it has now turned out to be more serious.
In particular, cryptocurrency exchanges have taken it upon themselves to stop serving mainland Chinese residents, and niche digital asset-related companies have stopped sending them goods. Consequently, the restrictions are now really being felt.
However, this situation did not scare Tsai away – he decided to support the cryptocurrency industry anyway.
Who supports cryptocurrencies
Tsai is also the owner of the Brooklyn Nets basketball team, which he bought from Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov in 2019 for $2.35 billion. He also owns the New York Liberty of the Women’s Basketball League and the San Diego Seals.
According to Decrypt, Tsai’s tweet was as succinct as possible. Here’s the entrepreneur’s line with which he talked about his hobbies.
I like crypto.
Accordingly, Tsai didn't mention any cryptocurrency projects that caught his eye - nor did he like the features of digital assets. Rather, Joe was primarily referring to the decentralised basis of cryptocurrencies, allowing them to be independent of the decisions of a single body and not rely on the views of officials.
The post was retweeted by Binance CEO Changpen Zhao, who praised Joe’s words. In addition, Tsai’s comment coincided with the signing of a contract between American basketball player Kevin Durant and cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase. The partnership will enable the trading platform to launch an advertising campaign on Durant’s website and launch a charity campaign to support young athletes.
Changpen Zhao’s response to Tsai’s tweet
The details of Tsai’s active involvement in the sports industry are quite important, as in his aforementioned tweet he did not specify which component of the crypto world he likes best – whether it be Bitcoin, decentralised finance or unique NFT tokens, for example. Tsai himself has been an advocate of issuing tokens and NFTs to sports team fans, so we can assume that the new industry trend is definitely to his liking.
Alibaba Group vice chairman Joe Tsai
The endorsement of digital assets by Alibaba’s vice chairman also has political overtones. He is the second most important person in the company after its founder Jack Ma. Here’s how his activities were commented on by news outlets back in 2019.
In China’s tech industry, Ma is seen as a creative force, with Tsai turning his designs into reality.
Alibaba Group founder Jack Ma
Be that as it may, the company has not gone directly against government action. In September, Alibaba announced a ban on the sale of mining equipment on its marketplaces following an order banning crypto in the country. In addition, Alibaba platforms are now unable to sell Bitcoin or altcoins to their customers.
We think Tsai's replica is important in any case. In doing so, he showed that the people of China, among others, see value in decentralised digital assets that may not rely on the decisions of certain officials or bankers. And while coin interaction is not welcomed within the country right now, this will surely change sooner or later. Especially since the niche has a lot of powerful fans who don't forget to mention it.
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