How Tech Giants Are Quietly Dominating Blockchain

From Skepticism to Strategic Embrace

When China’s 2017 ICO ban wiped out crypto speculators, something fascinating happened—the country’s internet giants stopped pretending they weren’t building blockchain solutions. As someone who’s analyzed cryptographic whitepapers since the SHA-256 algorithm was considered edgy, I’ve observed three phases of corporate blockchain evolution:

1. The Denial Phase (2015-2017): Remember NetEase CEO Ding Lei publicly distancing himself from Bitcoin while quietly filing blockchain patents? Classic case of “smoke but don’t inhale” corporate strategy.
2. The Infrastructure Phase (2018-2020): When BAT (Baidu-Alibaba-Tencent) collectively invested $3B+ in blockchain R&D without fanfare. Their play? Enterprise-grade BaaS platforms that now power everything from cross-border payments to milk supply chains.
3. The Vertical Domination Phase (2021-Present): Where Ant Group processes more blockchain transactions daily than Ethereum (40+ use cases and counting).

The Silent War of Blockchain-as-a-Service

Here’s where it gets technical—and profitable. While retail investors chased NFT apes, China’s top 50 tech firms made their move:

• 6 companies built core protocols (including Tencent’s TBaaS that now secures tax records for 100M+ users)
• 13 deployed BaaS solutions (because selling shovels beats prospecting for gold)
• 7 dabbled in consumer applications (like JD.com’s anti-counterfeit tracking)

The winner? Undoubtedly Alibaba, whose蚂蚁区块链 handles HK-Pakistan remittances with lower fees than SWIFT. Meanwhile, Baidu’s “digital collectible” experiments (read: glorified ERC-721 tokens) show even giants can misfire.

Why This Matters Beyond China

For institutional clients on my advisory list, these developments reveal three truths:

1. Regulatory clarity drives real adoption faster than any whitepaper
2. Enterprise blockchains will outlast 99% of altcoins
3. The future isn’t decentralized—it’s pragmatically distributed

Next time someone claims “blockchain is dead,” show them Ant Group’s patent portfolio. Then watch them quietly update their LinkedIn bios.