Huobi.com’s Li Lin: Bitcoin will be widely accepted worldwide within five years

Following the collapse of MtGox, the world's largest Bitcoin trader last year, its CEO Mark Colpelus was recently arrested by the Japanese police on suspicion of commercial fraud. Bitcoin, which had gradually faded from people's horizons, has become popular again. Perhaps many people are curious about why Bitcoin can be loved so deeply by those who love it? What is its current development status? The reporter interviewed Li Lin, the founder of Huobi.com, the largest Bitcoin trading platform in China. He said that Bitcoin still has a large market space and will be widely accepted worldwide within the next five years.

Bitcoin’s mission is not monetization

Li Lin said that when he started his business, he chose Bitcoin just because he intuitively believed that digital currency would be the future direction. Bitcoin's technology and principles are in line with the characteristics of the entire Internet and globalization era, and will be a trend. Since the development of Bitcoin, some people say that now is the best era and the worst era. On the one hand, Bitcoin's core technology is gaining more and more attention. A study from KPMG shows that Bitcoin and the blockchain technology it uses are one of the most disruptive technologies recognized by global technology leaders. On the other hand, however, the overly rapid industrialization and popularity rate have also become a shackle for Bitcoin.

"From the perspective of startups, this is true. Although Bitcoin is currently in a relatively low period, it also gives startups enough time and space to conduct in-depth research and improve and develop it. But from the perspective of the entire Bitcoin industry, I don't think so." Li Lin believes that the good or bad times are related to one's own expectations, and he has never believed that Bitcoin will become a currency in the future. He explained that Bitcoin has no potential to replace legal tender, nor is it possible to subvert existing legal tender and become a global currency.

Li Lin believes that Bitcoin has two main application scenarios. One is as an investment or collection commodity. In the future, it should challenge gold rather than the US dollar. The other is as a financial instrument and means of payment in some special fields. As early as December 5 last year, five ministries and commissions of the state jointly issued a document, officially stating that Bitcoin cannot exist as a currency, but transactions are legal and people can buy and sell freely. Li Lin said that Bitcoin is currently a very successful global digital asset and digital investment product, and is now in a stage of over-issuance. The price is rising steadily, indicating that its prospects are still very good. "If we look at it this way, it is still a good era for Bitcoin." Li Lin said.

The professionalism of transactions is the core competitiveness of future platforms

As the founder of a leading company in the industry, Li Lin believes that the core of future competition among Bitcoin trading platforms lies in the professionalism of trading and a sound risk control system. He said that the most important thing in the Internet era is service, and the platform should integrate Bitcoin's upstream and downstream applications in addition to trading to optimize the trading experience and enhance the brand image.

Li Lin said that the current Bitcoin market is not very prosperous, but this just provides the platform with enough time to optimize the trading system. "We have spent a lot of effort to upgrade the website and launch the mobile APP. We believe that we should take advantage of the market when it is not very good to do a good job of internal supply and optimize products. Once the market is good, this will improve the user experience and professionalism, and become a competitive advantage." Li Lin believes that in addition to this, it is also very important to create a leading brand image. In his opinion, the top priority is to vigorously promote the brand of Bitcoin itself, convey the concept and idea of ​​Bitcoin to more people, and let more users understand and accept Bitcoin.

The core of finance is risk control, which is also true for Bitcoin trading platforms. Li Lin believes that a big reason for the problems of trading platforms is the problem of platform fund retention. Due to policy influence, Bitcoin platform funds cannot be connected to banks or third-party payment companies for custody at present, so the platform needs to establish a better retention management mechanism and risk control mechanism. However, Li Lin believes that there are still certain risks. Once involved in any case such as anti-money laundering, it will affect the platform funds and freeze the funds, thus affecting liquidity.

Looking forward to the early release of regulatory policies

As a virtual currency, Bitcoin also needs to maintain and improve the trust of users. Li Lin believes that the trust of users mainly comes from two aspects: one is the smooth operation of the platform itself; the other is the credit enhancement and credit endorsement from the government, which is the most critical point for the current Bitcoin industry.

Li Lin believes that, at present, national policies are the biggest limiting factor affecting the development of Bitcoin in China. As for the fact that the ten ministries and commissions issued the Internet Finance Guidance Opinions some time ago without mentioning the regulation of Bitcoin, Li Lin believes that this is expected. He believes that there are three reasons. First, as early as 2013, the five ministries and commissions had already clearly defined Bitcoin. In the definition at that time, Bitcoin did not belong to the financial category, but to the commodity category, so it is normal that it would not be included in the Internet Finance Guidance Opinions. Second, the volume of Bitcoin is relatively small. The current global market value of Bitcoin may not even be as high as the transaction volume of a large P2P platform, so it has not risen to the national strategic level. Third, Bitcoin itself is a new food, and the global regulatory policies for it are still in the exploratory stage, so domestic regulatory units also need to observe. But at the same time, Li Lin believes that the current guidance opinions have certain reference and guiding significance for Bitcoin trading platforms in terms of technology, including anti-money laundering, establishing an industry self-regulatory association, taking relevant security measures, fund custody, etc.

Li Lin gave his own suggestions on future domestic supervision. He believes that Bitcoin can really be treated as an ordinary virtual commodity in China. The supervision plan can actually refer to the supervision plan of the current commodity trading center. Li Lin believes that with the global popularity of Bitcoin, the continuous rise in value, and the gradual addition of government supervision, it may become an investment product or network asset similar to gold but better than gold in the future. It will have more and more users and higher user acceptance. As a trading platform, its mission is to connect Bitcoin to the global currency. Li Lin estimates that within five years, Bitcoin will be widely accepted worldwide, and by then, Bitcoin trading platforms will also usher in a period of great explosion.