Today AntChain announced that it is open sourcing its blockchain interoperability solution AntChain Bridge. AntChain is part of Ant Group which operates Alipay, China’s largest wallet payment app.
It’s an unusual move for the group as the core permissioned AntChain blockchain is one of the few entirely proprietary blockchains. Many blockchains in China are open source, such as FISCO BCOS associated with Huawei and WeChat founder Tencent, Xuperchain from search engine Baidu and retailer JD.com’s JD Chain.
The AntChain Bridge source code has been published on GitHub, and the examples shared enable interoperability with Ethereum-compatible chains using the Solidity smart contract language. According to the company, the solution supports the newly released international standard for cross chain transactions published by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).
“Cross-chain technology is essential to unlocking the full potential of Web3. By connecting different blockchains and use cases across industries with the technology, we will create a more interconnected and open ecosystem that allows for large-scale transferring of digital assets,” said Yan Ying, Technical Director of AntChain.
The step is a recognition by AntChain that blockchain is a multichain world, and AntChain cannot afford to be an island.
One of its biggest splashes with AntChain’s technology is Trusple, a small business trade finance solution that some international banks have adopted.
The company also announced other initiatives, including AntChain OpenLab’s research initiative on blockchain protocols and privacy preserving computing. It says the output will “contribute to an open, secure and highly-efficient Web3 technology ecosystem.” Additionally, it co-launched Web3 Openchain, a software development suite that’s compatible with Ethereum.
“Industrial Web3 and value network are the cornerstones of tomorrow’s Internet,” said Geoff Jiang, President of Digital Technologies Business at Ant Group. “Innovations including cross-chain technology based on international standards will enable the interconnection of different blockchains, help us move from an information network to a value network, and support the development of the digital economy.”
Meanwhile, China continues progressing with its massive home-built blockchain, ChainMaker, which claims to process 240 million transactions per second.