Tencent secures license to build virtual bank

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It is true that there are 48 hours in a weekend, but Chinese Internet giant Tencent is sure getting their money’s worth this weekend, as the company has had a host of announcements over the last three days. This includes receiving a new license from the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) on Friday, Sina Finance reported.

Tencent CEO Yige Cai announced at the World Blockchain Summit in Wuzhen, China on Friday that they had been given the approval by the SFC to create a virtual bank. As part of the announcement, Cai explained that they would now be looking to build a team that would be in charge of building the blockchain-based banking platform.

“Hong Kong’s new regulations and supervision on digital assets transactions validates the importance of blockchain technology and digital assets, which is good news for the whole industry,” Cai explained that during the speech.

To this point, the SFC has issued 12 such licenses. This includes to Industrial and Commerce Bank of China (ICBC) and two other Hong Kong-based institutional investors.

While this was exciting news in and of itself, there has been a lot going on with Tencent since Friday. This included the announcement that they had acquired a 10% stake in Policybazaar, an insurance aggregator in the country of India. According to a report by Bloomberg News, Tencent acquired the shares at a cost of $150 million.

This continues a growing trend for Tencent, who has invested $2 billion in startup companies in India. Recently, they invested in the Bengaluru-based banking start-up NiYO.

Also on Sunday, it was announced that Tencent is looking to partner with the world’s largest videogame manufacturer, Nintendo. “What we want is to expand from China, and one target is console game players in the U.S. and Europe,” a spokesman for Tencent explained.