Tencent (China) Wants To Create A Cryptocurrency Research Group

One of the largest Internet companies from China, Tencent, is planning to create a digital currency research group in order to advance and promote the blockchain technology research projects in the future. The operator of the Chinese social media app WeChat was in the cryptocurrency news in China yesterday, where a report outlined that this research group is now in the works.

In fact, the Chinese media outlet iFeng issued reports on December 23 and noted that Tencent released a statement to its employees stating that the company is currently on the lookout for the new head of its research group.

As such, the yet-to-be-registered cryptocurrency research group will apparently focus on Tencent and its further advancement in the digital payment industry – by using blockchain technology. We contacted the company regarding these new developments but are still waiting for a response as of press time.

What we know so far from the previous news is that Tencent announced a new partnership with the world’s largest diamond mining firm, the Russian Alrosa – as well as the blockchain platform Everledger – in an attempt to launch a new diamond focused retail mining program aimed at the 1 billion WeChat users globally.

This collaboration, as the blockchain news show, are set to improve transparency and consumer trust across the diamond supply chain – and help social media users purchase diamonds with full knowledge of their origin, characteristics and ownership history.

At the start of November, the tax service of Shenzhen reported that more than 10 million blockchain-based invoices had been issued in the tech capital and that it will continue to actively promote the blockchain-enabled electronic billing. In another report, we also talked about how China issuing bonds on blockchain is a move that predicts a smart future and one where China is embracing blockchain in as many fields as possible.

Now, we can see that over 7,600 companies have already used the blockchain-based invoice system developed by Tencent. This comprises to a total value of approximately $1 billion. We can also see that the blockchain invoicing service has been applied in local finance, insurance, retail, hotel catering and parking services.