A Chinese-based cloud company, headed by a high-profile media mogul, has moved to acquire an ownership stake in a Delaware-based alternative trading system provider specializing in blockchain.
According to the SEC files, Seven Starts Cloud Groups (SSC), publicly listed on NASDAQ, made a transaction on Dec. 20 to acquire 27 percent of the shares of the Delaware Board of Trade (DBOT), making SSC the largest shareholder in the company, which launched in May 2017 to provide a blockchain-based crowdfunding platform compliant with new legislation seeking to boost the use case.
The deal notably comes two months after Bruno Wu toke over the role of CEO for Seven Starts in October. What draws the attention is perhaps the high profile status of Wu himself. He has gained large public attention in China through his media business the Sun Seven Star Entertainment, as well as his marriage with the Chinese TV personality Yang Lan.
According to the announcement, part of the DBOT’s operations offers an alternative trading platform, which will be used after the transaction to power the SSC’s blockchain-based NextGen X platform. It is said to be a solution that brings liquidity to trading ETF-backed digital assets for countries including the US, UK, Germany, China, Korea, Africa, Singapore, UAE and Japan.
Yet this is another instance of Chinese investors exploring opportunities overseas to tab into the business related to cryptocurrency and blockchain amidst a regulatory uncertainty domestically.
In September this year, Chinese regulators issued a ban on initial coin offerings, which was followed by all domestic exchanges shutting down trading between cryptocurrencies and the Chinese fiat Yuan and moved overseas.
As reported before, once the largest exchanges in China, Huobi and OKCoin both shifted the business model to over-the-counter for crypto-to-crypto trading. While the operations are based in overseas markets such as in Hong Kong, the trading is still available for Chinese retail investors using mobile payment or bank wire services.
Delaware image via Shutterstock
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