Joseph Tsai, one of the founders of Alibaba (NYSE: BABA), will become Chairman in September, the company announced on Tuesday. Eddie Yongming Wu was named the new CEO as the company reorganizes into multiple units, separating its technology services from retail divisions. Crypto stakeholders are closely watching this move, as Tsai is a vocal proponent of crypto and an active Web3 investor. Tsai first expressed his interest in the Web3 space in December 2021 with a tweet: “I like Crypto.” Since then, he has been an active investor in the space, including in FTX, Polygon, Fast Break Labs, and Artifact Labs. Tsai also owns the Brooklyn Nets, which has seen two of its key players, Kevin Durant and Spencer Dinwiddie, get involved in crypto.
The belief that China is warming up to crypto remains to be seen. Hong Kong has put forward a list of crypto rules to allow for licensed trading of digital assets in the territory, but critics say that these rules are overly restrictive. Banks have been reluctant to get on board, with the Hong Kong Monetary Authority forced to put pressure on some of the largest names in finance to bring on crypto clients. In the rest of the country, there’s an embrace of digital assets on the blockchain – so long as they don’t have crypto.
Alibaba’s move to appoint Joseph Tsai as Chairman could be a signal that the company is positioning itself to embrace the new reality of Web3 and crypto in China if that day comes. It could also just be the company moving around executives and putting one of its founders at the top.