Blockchain Firm to Raise $24 Billion for Electric Bus Upgrades in China

Blockchain and AI technology company Seven Stars Cloud Group has scored a major deal to help raise $24 billion to fund large-scale electric bus upgrades for China's biggest full-service operator.

According to a press release published Monday, under an exclusive contract made with the National Transportation Capacity Co Ltd (NTS), Seven Stars Cloud will issue fixed income lease financing-based products through its regulatory complaint blockchain ecosystem, including one campaign based in China and the other open to the global markets.

More specifically, through the China-based and international funding campaigns, Seven Stars Cloud – a public company traded on Nasdaq – plans to raise estimated $8.75 billion and $15 billion over the three-year time period, respectively. While, for the China-based financing, SSC will focus on the sale of fixed income products, for the international markets, SSC will provide both fixed income and asset digitization products.

NTS is China's largest full-service operator for electric buses, according to the release. It also offers sales, lease financing, a charging station network, and real-time data services.

Bruno Wu, chairman and CEO of SSC, said that such a large-scaled and asset-backed contract is "groundbreaking" for blockchain-backed fintech companies around the globe.

He added:

"It will serve as a window to the world on how asset value and liquidity can be unlocked by traditional industries as we take fixed income products into the digital era."

The partnership comes amid China's plan to replace all buses with electric buses by 2021. The market size for the replacements and upgrades to achieve fully-electric bus operations in China is estimated in the announcement at about $145 billion.

Electric bus, Shanghai, image via Shutterstock