Ant Group, the fintech powerhouse behind Alipay, has unveiled Jovay, a new Layer-2 blockchain built on Ethereum designed to bring real-world assets (RWAs) on-chain at an institutional scale.
This new development is one of the most significant shifts yet by a major Chinese company toward public blockchain infrastructure.
The launch positioned Jovay as a “compliance-first, AI-assisted scaling network” developed by Ant Digital, the group’s blockchain division.
Unlike Alipay, which remains under China’s strict financial regulations, Jovay operates independently and focuses on institutional-grade digital finance rather than retail payments or direct crypto trading.
A New Bridge Between Traditional Finance and DeFi
Jovay aims to integrate tokenized assets such as bonds, funds, and invoices into the Ethereum ecosystem, while maintaining regulatory visibility through built-in checkpoints and data attestations.
This architecture ensures that institutions and regulators can interact with on-chain assets under frameworks similar to traditional finance, a key consideration in the Chinese market.
The blockchain’s design uses a dual-prover system, combining zero-knowledge and optimistic proofs to enhance both scalability and transparency. It currently targets up to 100,000 transactions per second, far surpassing most active Ethereum Layer-2 networks.
A Billion-User Gateway to Ethereum?
Ant Group’s move could prove transformative for Ethereum’s institutional adoption. Alipay currently serves over 1.4 billion users worldwide, handling trillions in annual transaction volume. Even if a fraction of that ecosystem interacts with Ethereum through Jovay, it could create one of the most powerful bridges between global finance and decentralized infrastructure.
While Jovay launches without a native token, its focus on real-world asset tokenization and cross-border settlements could expand Ethereum’s role as the backbone of compliant decentralized finance.
A Strategic Shift in Blockchain Adoption
For years, major financial institutions in China and beyond have preferred private or permissioned blockchains such as Hyperledger. Ant Group’s decision to build directly on Ethereum marks a strategic pivot toward public infrastructure, signaling growing confidence in open, interoperable blockchain systems.
The initiative also represents a quiet victory for Ethereum, whose ecosystem of real-world assets has grown to over $12 billion in value this year, according to RWA.xyz. With Jovay’s launch, that number could rise sharply as regulated entities begin to tokenize assets at scale.
