Alibaba’s trading division plans to roll out payments using tokenized deposits, enabling faster international transactions in euros and dollars, including through JPMorgan’s solutions.
Alibaba aims to boost the efficiency of global trade by expanding its B2B operations with the help of artificial intelligence (AI) and FinTech tools, Kuo Zhang, President of Alibaba.com, told CNBC.
The international arm of the Alibaba marketplace is preparing to launch two major initiatives:
- Payments powered by tokenized deposits, allowing significantly faster settlements between buyers and sellers across different countries.
- AI Mode, a service designed to improve supplier and product search across numerous parameters.
Alibaba.com intends to use tokenized deposits for payment operations, digital representations of the euro and the dollar backed by bank balances, enabling much faster and more cost-efficient cross-border payments.
Currently, international settlements between buyers and suppliers from different countries can take several days and require multiple financial intermediaries. According to Kuo Zhang, tokenization will make transfers nearly instantaneous, reduce the number of intermediaries, and allow simultaneous payments across various jurisdictions, including Hong Kong, Singapore, and China.
To support this initiative, Alibaba will partner with JPMorgan, which already introduced its own JPMD deposit token for B2B transactions. The new feature is planned for launch in December. Payments will be processed by AI agents — artificial intelligence will automatically generate contracts between buyers and suppliers based on their correspondence, replacing manual document preparation.
Alibaba.com is also considering the use of stablecoins, but according to the company’s president, the platform will first focus on tokenized fiat currencies. If the initiative proves successful, the range of available digital assets may be expanded.
The second innovation, AI Mode, is an advanced search tool that evaluates suppliers based on specific metrics such as pricing, logistics, production capabilities, and other criteria. From March to October 2025, the number of active suppliers on the platform increased by 50%, with much of the growth coming from manufacturers outside China. Against this backdrop, the company sees rising demand for AI-driven search and aims to reshape the core model of B2B commerce.
Alibaba plans to monetize the service through subscriptions — potential pricing is $20 per month or $99 per year, though final rates aren’t yet confirmed. Last fiscal year, Alibaba.com generated over $3 billion in revenue, and the new AI subscriptions are expected to create an additional revenue stream.
Kuo Zhang emphasized that using AI is becoming essential and will ultimately lead to sweeping changes in global e-commerce.
The broader trend of integrating AI into e-commerce is clearly visible. Recent major initiatives include a joint project by Cloudflare, Visa, Mastercard, and American Express; the launch of Visa Commercial Solutions (VCS) Hub; Google’s creation of the Agent Payments Protocol (AP2); and many others.
