[balola]

Its gigantic valuation most likely will face a harsh test, one that the fragile domestic market can hardly afford, a risk that worries the administration who has been desperately propping it up that also hopes it can fund China's tech self-reliance. Such listings didn't bode well in the past, with SMIC being the lastest example.

At its core, Ant is more of a lending company, re-distributing money it got from banks at much higher interest rates (typically 15%, some banks offer personal credit loans at around 4%) and leverage. Tho it insists on it's high-tech, in order to boost valuation and avoid financial regulation, but how many more debt can the population pile on itself?

Sidenote: Its business model profits from people that traditional banks snubed, mostly from lower social classes.

[fakedang]

In India, we called them moneylenders and it carries a jail term to engage in such activities. Good to see Wall Street and the West lap up such usurious companies.