Entering the stablecoin market, JD.com has once again picked up blockchain

Author: Peisen, BlockBeats

On July 24, according to Caixin, JD Coin Chain Technology (Hong Kong) will issue a cryptocurrency stablecoin pegged to the Hong Kong dollar at a 1:1 ratio.

JD Coin Chain Technology (Hong Kong) is a subsidiary of JD Technology Group and is the only potential stablecoin issuer under JD. According to official information, JD stablecoin is a stablecoin based on a public chain and pegged to the Hong Kong dollar (HKD) at a 1:1 ratio, which will be issued on a public blockchain.

Each JD stablecoin can be redeemed at a 1:1 ratio, with reserves composed of highly liquid and trustworthy assets, securely stored in independent accounts held by licensed financial institutions. The integrity of the reserves will be strictly verified through regular disclosures and audit reports. In terms of regulation, JD stablecoin will actively cooperate with global regulatory agencies and comply with existing and evolving legal and regulatory standards.

Coinlink CEO Claims to be "Co-founder of WeChat Pay," What’s His Background?

The CEO of JD Coin Chain Technology, Liu Teddy, has labeled himself as a "co-founder of WeChat Pay" on his LinkedIn profile. However, sources informed BlockBeats that there is no such title as co-founder of WeChat Pay; he may have previously been a product manager or a business leader for WeChat Pay.

According to LinkedIn information, Liu Teddy also serves as the Vice President of JD Technology. He graduated in 2006 from Beijing University of Technology with a degree in Computer Science and Technology and is currently pursuing a PhD in Financial Technology at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University.

From 2010 to 2018, Liu Teddy was a co-founder and product director of WeChat Pay, creating the WeChat Pay product from scratch. On this basis, he was a core product personnel who created the phenomenon of WeChat Red Envelopes. In terms of the "WeChat Pay +" business model, he led operations in over 15 related industries, including catering, cultural tourism, transportation, logistics, retail, and education, such as the QR code ordering solution for the catering industry.

Since 2018, Liu Teddy has served as the head of global mobile payment product operations and the director of the aggregation operations department at Huawei, responsible for global financial solutions, expanding, developing, and implementing mobile financial products in 19 countries and regions overseas, serving over 600 million people, including Kenya's M-Pesa, Bangladesh's B-Kash, Indonesia's T-Cash, Thailand's K Bank, East Africa's largest bank KCB, Ghana's GCB, Pakistan's JAZZCASH, and Myanmar's KBZ Bank. As a co-founder of Myanmar's KBZPay, he drove KBZPay to become the largest payment brand in Myanmar from the ground up.

In May 2022, Liu Teddy became the Vice President of JD Logistics Group, responsible for logistics technology product development. Since 2023, he has served as Vice President of JD Technology, overseeing overseas fintech business. From March 2024, he has been the CEO of JINGDONG Coinlink Technology Hong Kong Limited.

JD Re-engages with Blockchain

This is not JD's first foray into blockchain business.

In May 2016, JD Finance joined the "Financial Blockchain Cooperation Alliance." Although JD entered the blockchain field later than other internet companies, its development momentum is not to be underestimated, focusing on consortium chains.

In May 2017, JD Finance collaborated with UnionPay to build the consortium chain "Zhi Zhen Chain." In the same month, Wanda and China Merchants Bank joined JD's consortium chain. In 2018, JD Finance improved the underlying technology of the ABS cloud platform blockchain, establishing a multi-party independently deployed consortium chain, where each party first deployed independently in a separate environment before networking, while also establishing a business foundation that supports various assets.

At that time, as the highest-grossing retailer in China, JD established the "JD Quality Traceability Anti-Counterfeiting Alliance" in June 2017 with the Ministry of Agriculture, the National Quality Inspection Headquarters, and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology to collaborate on building a blockchain traceability platform. In December of the same year, JD established China's first safe food blockchain traceability alliance. In August 2018, JD's blockchain anti-counterfeiting traceability platform BaaS was officially launched, and the first version of the "JD Blockchain Technology Practice White Paper" was published that same year.

In addition to consortium chains, JD also launched an NFT platform called "Lingxi," which officially went live at the end of 2021, supported by "Zhi Zhen Chain." Initially launched on the JD APP mini-program, the first batch of NFTs was designed based on JD's mascot "Joy."

Main page of Lingxi in JD mini-program, image source: Interface News

At that time, among the tech giants in China laying out NFTs, "Lingxi" formed a three-way competition with Ant Group's "Whale Exploration" and Tencent's "Fantasy Core." However, both "Zhi Zhen Chain" and "Lingxi" have long faded from public view.

On July 18, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority announced the list of participants in the stablecoin issuer "sandbox," which includes JD Coin Chain Technology (Hong Kong). Currently, JD Coin Chain Technology has obtained the Type 1 (Securities Trading), Type 4 (Advising on Securities), and Type 9 (Asset Management) licenses from the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC).

This "sandbox" was launched in March this year as one of the measures by the Monetary Authority to promote the sustainable and responsible development of the stablecoin ecosystem in Hong Kong. The Monetary Authority allows institutions intending to issue stablecoins in Hong Kong to test their operational plans and engage in two-way communication regarding proposed regulatory requirements to establish a purpose-driven and risk-based regulatory framework.

The issuance of stablecoins by JD Coin Chain Technology (Hong Kong) marks JD Technology Group's first entry into the cryptocurrency market. The announcement of stablecoin issuance in Hong Kong, where JD is actively laying out its stablecoin strategy, indicates that JD is still exploring development directions in the blockchain field.

However, due to various influences such as regulation, the development of JD's stablecoin business may not be smooth sailing. Still, this step taken by JD may stimulate other tech companies to revisit blockchain business, thereby bringing more positive signals to the cryptocurrency industry.