Tencent has been expanding its research into blockchain, with the firm registering a series of patents detailing distributed ledger technology (DLT)-based solutions for fund management, and advertising.
Chinese media outlet Egsea reported the patents on June 18, noting that the filings also included blockchain-based consumer applications, hardware devices, and media storage systems.
The recent filings come as blockchain sees increasing enterprise adoption in the areas of cloud, artificial intelligence and internet-of-things (IoT).
Tencent continues amassing DLT patents
The new filings will extend Tencent’s presumed dominance in the number of blockchain patents held.
In April, media outlet China Banking News reported that Tencent had amassed more patents in 2019 than any other firm, having filed for 718 during last year alone.
With the report estimating that 5,800 patents for blockchain technologies were filed in 2019, Tencent represents 12.4% of all patents filed last year.
Tencent invests heavily in blockchain
In May, Tencent announced that it plans to invest $70 billion into emerging technologies over the next five years, with blockchain named alongside cloud computing, artificial intelligence and IoT as prioritized sectors.
The following week saw Tencent announce its intent to establish a 100-member blockchain alliance by the end of 2020. Tencent hopes the alliance will attract universities, think-tanks, tech companies and industry bodies to research DLT applications and establish industry standards.