Alibaba, the Chinese e-commerce and tech giant, has quietly launched a cryptocurrency mining platform, Finance Magnates reports, quoting local news agency Tencent News.
“Alibaba has recently launched a virtual currency mining platform “P2P node”, from the terms of the service agreement terms platform, the main operating platform is Alibaba East China Ltd. It is reported that the company on October 10, 2017, has been completed registration, registered in Nanjing,” the report reads, according to a very rough translation.
Finance Magnates quotes another report on the website as saying that “the business model of this mining operation might be based on third-party, i.e. the company will loan space on the cloud-based platform for its clients to mine cryptocurrency using its high hashrate infrastructure.”
It is not clear from the report whether the platform, which is expected to form a partnership with electricity suppliers, has officially begun registering users.
The report was also tweeted by cnLedger, a source of cryptocurrency and blockchain related news in China.
Tencent News: Alibaba launching virtual currency mining platform "P2P Nodes", registered in Nanjing. May incorporate with e-commerce platform in future. (Unconfirmed)https://t.co/w0ZzgKk773
— cnLedger (@cnLedger) January 16, 2018
Alibaba founder Jack Ma said last month that the company was not going to engage with cryptocurrency.
“I don’t think we are ready for that,” he said, adding that the company would focus its efforts on fiat-based fintech innovations such as Alipay. “Bitcoinis not for me.”
The news comes after reports surfaced that the Chinese government might block access to all crypto trading platforms, both domestic and international, to its citizens on the internet.