Alibaba’s chairman Jack Ma says that the company is betting on blockchain, but advises against investing in Bitcoin. Ma is the controlling shareholder in Ant Financial, the financial-technology affiliate of Alibaba.
Speaking at a launch event for a new online-payment service for real-time cash transfers between Hong Kong and the Phillippines, Ma told reports “Technology itself isn’t the bubble, but bitcoin likely is,” The Wall Street Journal reports.
Bitcoin was the first use-case for blockchain technology; however, now it has a number of other use cases, including Ant Financial’s new payment service. He says that the company does not currently own any Bitcoin and would likely stay away from adding any to its assets.
Bitcoin has been a particularly volatile type of currency. The cryptocurrency rose in value 1,300% last year to a high near $20,000, before dropping dramatically in price. One Bitcoin is currently worth around $6,180, according to Coinbase.