As global capital markets accelerate their embrace of blockchain and digital assets, a strategic cooperation integrating cutting-edge technology with financial innovation is quietly reshaping the industry landscape. On September 1st, YUNFENG FIN (00376) announced a strategic cooperation agreement with Ant Digital Technology (the technology commercialization arm of Ant Group) and declared a strategic investment in Pharos, a next-generation Layer1 blockchain focused on Real World Assets (RWA) tokenization.
On one side stands a "Hong Kong-based financial full-license player" holding comprehensive licenses in securities, asset management, insurance, and new energy carbon assets. On the other side is a technology giant whose AntChain has maintained the top position in China's BaaS market share for four consecutive years. When traditional finance's "concrete and steel" meets blockchain's "code foundation," YUNFENG FIN and Ant Digital Technology have jointly chosen to use the Pharos blockchain as their blueprint, aiming to establish a milestone called "New Financial Infrastructure" in the institutional-grade RWA landscape.
As the core platform for Ant Group's external technology output, Ant Digital Technology continues to deepen its expertise in blockchain, privacy computing, and artificial intelligence. Its self-developed blockchain platform AntChain operates over 50 nodes globally and has accumulated more than 2,000 blockchain-related patent applications, ranking among the world's top performers. In the RWA sector, Ant Digital Technology doesn't simply provide technical tools but is committed to building infrastructure for the complete lifecycle of "asset on-chain - ownership confirmation - circulation - regulation."
Ant Digital Technology has previously completed practices in new energy RWA and computing power RWA. In August 2024, under the guidance of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, Ant Digital Technology supported mainland-listed new energy company Longshine in successfully completing cross-border RWA financing, becoming China's first new energy RWA project.
YUNFENG FIN, co-founded by Jack Ma and backed by the Alibaba ecosystem and global financial networks, has long been committed to fintech and innovative investment. As an innovative fintech group listed on the Hong Kong Main Board, YUNFENG FIN holds Hong Kong Type 1 (securities trading), Type 4 (securities advisory), Type 6 (corporate finance), and Type 9 (asset management) licenses, enabling seamless connection between RWA token issuance and secondary market trading. In its main business composition, insurance business revenue accounted for 97.50% in H1 2025.
RWA is viewed as the "third wave of blockchain revolution" following cryptocurrencies and DeFi. McKinsey reports predict that by 2030, the global RWA market could exceed $16 trillion in scale.
The partnership between Ant Digital Technology and YUNFENG FIN is not merely simple technology procurement or project outsourcing, but rather deep strategic synergy: YUNFENG FIN provides professional capabilities and compliance frameworks on the asset side, Ant Digital Technology contributes underlying technical support and security architecture, while the Pharos blockchain serves as neutral, open infrastructure carrying asset registration, ownership confirmation, trading, and settlement.
The essence of their cooperation is the deep coupling of "Ant Digital Technology's technical foundation" with "YUNFENG FIN's scenario portals," achieving a closed loop of technological empowerment and commercial implementation through the Pharos blockchain. This ecosystem closed loop not only improves asset digitization efficiency but also builds unprecedented trust mechanisms through cryptography and smart contracts, reducing intermediary costs while enhancing transparency and auditability.
Once this closed loop forms, it can connect value channels between real assets and the digital world, releasing the liquidity of undervalued physical assets. For example, fragmenting and standardizing new energy infrastructure, supply chain receivables, and carbon assets through blockchain technology lowers participation barriers for retail investors while providing institutions with cross-market asset allocation tools.
From a market landscape perspective, this cooperation will enhance Hong Kong's competitiveness as a global RWA center. YUNFENG FIN, leveraging Hong Kong's status as an international financial center combined with Ant Digital Technology's technical capabilities, can attract more quality assets to be issued in Hong Kong, providing global investors with richer investment choices and further consolidating Hong Kong's leading position in digital finance.
If before 2020, Ant changed consumers' wallets with mobile payments; from 2020-2024, AntChain transformed supply chain finance with trust technology; then starting in 2025, the partnership between Ant Digital Technology and YUNFENG FIN will use RWA to redefine the boundaries of assets, capital, and regulation. Hong Kong, this international financial center, also has its first opportunity to become the new "anchor" for global capital in the Web3 era.