Alibaba’s financial arm, Ant Group, has quietly launched Jovay, an Ethereum Layer 2 network aimed at bringing real-world assets onto the blockchain.
The announcement has caught the attention of investors and industry watchers, despite Jovay first being unveiled in April at the RWA Real Up conference in Dubai.
Positioned as a “compliance-first, AI-assisted scaling network,” Jovay targets institutional adoption, deliberately launching without a native token.
Jovay is designed to connect real-world asset flows with decentralized finance, using a modular infrastructure that links Web2 systems to Web3 networks.
According to the chain’s block explorer, the network currently holds $50 million in total value locked, completing just 16,766 transactions so far.
Despite this early-stage activity, the platform promises high throughput: testnet trials achieved between 15,700 and 22,000 transactions per second, with a target of 100,000 TPS through node clustering and horizontal scaling.
This would far surpass current Layer 2 leaders, such as Coinbase-backed Base, which processes roughly 93 TPS.
Tokenizing real-world assets has become Ethereum’s fastest-growing segment, with over $12 billion in tokenized treasuries, invoices, and funds, up more than 300% since early 2024.
Jovay introduces a five-stage pipeline: asset registration, structuring, tokenization, issuance, and trading.
Each stage embeds verification checkpoints and off-chain attestations to maintain regulatory oversight.
By integrating AntChain’s enterprise registry with Ethereum, Jovay allows licensed institutions to settle assets with DeFi counterparties instantly, without revealing sensitive internal data.
Abbas Khan, a Founders Success Manager at the Ethereum Foundation, said,
“This isn’t another startup experiment. It’s a signal that the next phase of global finance is being built on Ethereum rails…In China, Alipay isn’t an app; it’s an infrastructure layer for daily life, payments, loans, insurance, identity, mobility, and more. And now, Ant Group is taking that infrastructure onchain.”
With 1.4 billion monthly active users and trillions in annual transaction volume, Alipay’s integration into Jovay could make Ethereum a central infrastructure for global finance.
Reports suggest the Coinbase-backed Base network has generated less than $5 million in blob and settlement fees for Ethereum’s layer-1 validators since 2023, highlighting the efficiency of building atop Ethereum.
For Ant, leveraging a public blockchain translates to cheaper settlements and access to Ethereum’s $100 billion DeFi ecosystem.
Jovay has partnered with Chainlink, integrating the Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol and Data Streams to deliver high-speed, sub-second data transmission and secure cross-chain asset transfers.
This infrastructure ensures real-time market data and reliable tokenization workflows, supporting institutional-grade use cases that require both speed and accuracy.
Ant Group’s move reflects a broader shift among global fintechs, which are increasingly recognising public blockchains like Ethereum as viable infrastructure rather than experimental tools.
By building Jovay on Ethereum instead of a proprietary network, Ant validates public infrastructure for large-scale, regulated financial activity and opens interoperability with Ethereum’s growing ecosystem.
Coinlive views Jovay as an ambitious bridge between traditional finance and Ethereum, but its success will depend on adoption beyond the pilot stage.
While the network promises high throughput, compliance, and enterprise-ready features, the low transaction count so far and the absence of a native token may limit immediate traction.
Jovay’s reliance on Ethereum and Chainlink positions it well for interoperability, but it faces competition from established L2 networks like Base, which already benefit from developer ecosystems and market familiarity.
The project’s real challenge will be translating technical capacity into sustained, large-scale financial activity while proving regulatory robustness across jurisdictions.
HoldCoin is a new play-to-earn game that challenges players to hold a button to earn in-game currency, differentiating itself from competitors with its endurance-based gameplay. However, the project raises concerns due to its anonymous team, suspicious social media activity, and potential red flags about its legitimacy and airdrop promises.
JoyTech entrepreneur Avi Schiffmann, known for creating a COVID-19 tracker in 2020, has introduced a $99 AI-powered necklace to combat loneliness. But is it bordering on creepy and concerning, or is it a stroke of creative genius?
KikyoShiba Eternity’s Web3 launch on Shibarium requires LEASH token staking for exclusive access. The game's integration with Shibarium will burn SHIB tokens, potentially increasing SHIB's value and driving up its price.
WeatherlyMovement, a network of modular move-based blockchains, has launched its public testnet, Parthenon, alongside its integration with Polygon's AggLayer. Movement Labs reports $160M in committed TVL ahead of the mainnet launch later this year. Will you join the movement?
CatherineNeiro is a memecoin inspired by a rescue dog and launched on both Solana and Ethereum. The Solana-based Neiro faced suspicions of a rug pull after its developer made $2.85 million, while the Ethereum version has seen rapid growth but also raised concerns about insider control.
JoyPresidential hopeful Donald Trump recently promoted limited edition Bitcoin-themed sneakers called the "Crypto President High Tops". This release is part of Trump's strategy to appeal to a diverse voter base, including the sneakerhead community.
KikyoAlex Svanevik, CEO of Nansen, launched a Solana memecoin named IQ, which soared to a $6 million market cap before falling to around $1 million. The ease of creating memecoins through platforms like MakeNowMeme and Pump.Fun has led to many scams, emphasising the need for cautious investment.
AnaisChakra, a Bitcoin restaking protocol based on ZK proofs, has teamed up with Binance Web3 Wallet to bring you a Bitcoin pre-staking campaign for Babylon’s Mainnet launch with pre-staking ending on 7 August.
CatherineBinance Labs has invested in Particle Network, a Layer-1 blockchain platform aimed at unifying the fragmented Web3 landscape. With features like universal accounts and liquidity, Particle Network simplifies blockchain interactions, enhancing accessibility and user experience.
WeatherlyNotcoin has launched a new story-driven Telegram game called “Lost Dogs” that will last for 6 weeks. Players vote daily on decisions that shape the story, earn both NOT tokens and the in-game currency, WOOF. So what is your choice?
Kikyo