Conversation with Cobo's Senior Vice President Alex: Technology, Compliance, and Distribution, the Triple Play of Stablecoin Mass Adoption

Written by: Deep Tide TechFlow

From the U.S. GENIUS Act to Hong Kong's Stablecoin Regulation, stablecoins are experiencing an unprecedented window of benefits under the new compliance cycle.

Under the enormous success of Circle, stablecoins have become the land of milk and honey described in the Bible, not only capturing the attention of Web3 investors but also attracting traditional Web2 giants like JD.com, Ant Group, and Walmart to enter the scene boldly.

In this hotly contested field, how can one quickly and accurately find their position?

We have noticed that as a fully functional digital asset custody and wallet platform, Cobo launched its stablecoin solution as early as last year. The forward-thinking cultivated over many years in the industry has provided Cobo with a wealth of experience in addressing this issue.

In a conversation with Alex Zuo, Senior Vice President and Head of Payment Business at Cobo, the challenges of stablecoins were succinctly unpacked:

Stablecoin-related businesses heavily rely on interdisciplinary collaboration, requiring solid knowledge in Fin, Tech, and Crypto. However, it is currently difficult for us to find a team that excels in all three areas.

Talking about the role that Cobo plays in this financial infrastructure transformation led by stablecoins, Alex elaborated:

Cobo has always focused on the construction of underlying infrastructure. For stablecoin clients, Cobo can provide comprehensive technical support and has strong compliance advantages. Additionally, Cobo has rich experience in serving listed companies. At the same time, Cobo possesses strong distribution capabilities, enabling it to help stablecoin issuers quickly establish circulation scenarios for stablecoins.

Regarding the opportunities for entrepreneurs in the wave of stablecoins, Alex stated:

Stablecoins will give rise to new demands, tools, and functions in many different scenarios as they move towards mass adoption, which is worth thinking about and exploring.

In this issue, let's follow Alex's perspective to explore the large-scale adoption path of stablecoins in the context of cross-border payments, as well as the immense potential of stablecoins as the future "layer of internet currency."

Cross-border payment customers took the initiative to visit, opening up the evolution of the Cobo stablecoin payment product.

Deep Tide TechFlow: Thank you for your time, and first of all, welcome to introduce yourself.

Alex:

Hello everyone, I am Alex Zuo, Senior Vice President of Cobo and Head of Payment Business.

My earliest professional experience was in the VC field. About ten years ago, I worked at PreAngel, where our partner was Wang Lijie, who started looking at Crypto early on. Then, I joined the Asian fund of Formation 8, where one of the bosses came from the Korean LG Family and invested in Coinone, one of the top three exchanges in Korea, around 2016. It was during this phase that I began to have a deeper engagement with Crypto. By 2018, I started my own venture, working with a few friends, including those from projects previously invested by PreAngel, to establish a rating company called TokenInsight. I was the co-founder and COO at that time, mainly responsible for the company's business and commerce aspects. In 2019, I joined Cobo.

I have been with Cobo for almost six years. At the beginning, I worked in investment-related positions at Cobo, including institutional lending and Cobo Venture. After the FTX crash, the company decided to scale back its investment line and focus on business, so I started to take charge of all BD Sales and domestic Marketing work. Currently, I am responsible for the entire payment and stablecoin-related business.

Deep Tide TechFlow: Many people may not be very familiar with Cobo's business in the payment and stablecoin sector. Could you please introduce Cobo's current stablecoin solutions and the role they play in the overall payment scenario?

Alex:

In fact, we have always focused on the underlying infrastructure construction of the industry, especially wallet-related infrastructure. Five or six years ago, when exchanges were very popular, our clients were mainly trading platforms. As the industry gradually became compliant, asset management platforms, mining companies, and miners became our main service targets. Last year, we shifted our focus to BTCFi, believing that this is an important area.

Since last year, an increasing number of cross-border payment customers have approached us. These companies, whether actively or passively, hold varying amounts of U among their upstream and downstream clients. They face payment issues, such as receiving or transferring money. In this process, they hope we can provide wallet functionalities, which has prompted us to conduct more in-depth research and development in the payment field.

Payment customers are quite different from Crypto native customers. They have a weaker understanding of security and the blockchain, but have higher expectations regarding compliance, product scalability, and the long-term development of future businesses, even considering issues like obtaining licenses in the future. We find it challenging to provide better services to customers based on the previous underlying infrastructure and custody framework, so we have made deeper optimizations, primarily reflected in the following aspects:

First, we have implemented a lot of so-called chain abstraction to allow customers to use our products with a lower threshold. For example, in the cryptocurrency world, paying Gas fees for transferring U is a very natural thing, but for traditional Web2 companies, the barriers are high in both conceptual understanding and practical operation. Therefore, we have lowered the threshold further by using chain abstraction to facilitate transfers and payments based on U.

Second, anti-money laundering and compliance capabilities. Payment customers are very wary of encountering on-chain dirty money and are highly concerned about the compliance of on-chain funds. Therefore, our products have undergone deeper simplification and lowered thresholds. Cobo's biggest advantage is that we are the only company in the world that offers both centralized custody and MPC self-custody. Currently, many customers primarily use MPC, and Cobo can leverage the advantages of centralized custody and MPC self-custody to provide our compliance capabilities in centralized custody to MPC customers, effectively offering on-chain anti-money laundering services and helping them further reduce risks.

In addition, the entire cross-border payment involves three levels: the first level is the wallet that receives stablecoins; the second level is acceptance; the third level is bank accounts. Payment companies may be strong in acceptance and bank accounts, but they still feel apprehensive in this unfamiliar area of integrating digital currencies. We will introduce our partners to connect with these traditional payment institutions. We are also a licensed institution in Hong Kong, with licensed trust accounts to help clients solve problems.

Cobo's advantage lies in its wallet and infrastructure. We hope to build a complete service network around wallet capabilities to lower the threshold for everyone to use stablecoins. Ultimately, we aim to promote the widespread adoption of stablecoins within a compliant framework, enabling more customers to cross the "last mile" without barriers.

Cobo's Unique Value: Technology, Compliance, Distribution, and Experience

Deep Tide TechFlow: Cobo's path seems to be quite different from other stablecoin projects. Cobo first has its own advantages, and then slowly develops its products based on customer needs. So, can I understand it this way that after you finish, customers can use it directly?

Alex:

Because we may be more oriented towards the underlying layer, our current main client base is divided into two major categories.

One type is customers engaged in cross-border payments. These customers may not necessarily issue their own stablecoins, but their upstream and downstream clients have begun to have business needs for stablecoins or digital currency transactions. Therefore, they turn to Cobo, or they may seek an acquirer, or even initially look for an exchange to address transaction-related matters. However, as these cross-border payment companies expand their business scale, past solutions become inadequate, and they will need wallet providers like us to help them generate and manage a series of addresses to connect to multiple acquirers, finding the cheapest way to conduct transactions between fiat and digital currencies in a routing manner. The above describes what we do around cross-border payment scenarios, or what we call the PSP (Payment Service Provider) scenario.

Another relatively large scenario is the issuance and circulation of stablecoins. Many of our clients, including several large internet companies, didn't feel a sense of urgency a few months ago, and were not in a hurry to apply for stablecoin licenses or to wait and see how others are doing. However, recently influenced by Circle's stock performance and JD's proactive attitude, everyone has started to feel that this is a very worthwhile business and has begun to promote related work.

In this process, clients require support from various parties such as law firms, consulting companies, and technical service providers. On one hand, Cobo can provide technical support, such as Mint and Burn for stablecoins, as well as more functions like freezing and blacklisting. On the other hand, clients highly value cooperation with Cobo due to its strong distribution capabilities. We have also integrated with many PSPs, and even our existing clients have reached a transaction volume of three to four hundred billion dollars. Stablecoin clients hope that their stablecoins can be quickly distributed. At this point, our client network can help stablecoin issuers rapidly expand their business scope and quickly establish circulation scenarios for stablecoins, which is also one of our core values.

Deep Tide TechFlow: Many traditional banks claim they can help clients with cryptocurrency settlements. Are they also looking for what you referred to as PSP (Payment Service Provider)? And is Cobo also collaborating with many banks?

Alex:

Our definition of PSP is that they already come with a lot of scenario traffic and have upstream and downstream customers, which is the type of customer we value the most right now.

In the past, when crypto-friendly banks wanted to help clients with cryptocurrency settlements, they generally opted for OTC services because they did not have the license and capability for it. The core function of OTC services is the final exchange.

Cobo aims to help customers gradually build the Crypto system, or the entire payment system, and we believe that such customer service has higher added value.

Deep Tide TechFlow: You just mentioned that Cobo is the only company in the world that offers both centralized custody and MPC self-custody. What are the specific advantages of this? Because for some clients, they might choose to collaborate with two companies (one self-custody company and one MPC company)?

Alex:

More and more customers are choosing the MPC technology system. This self-custody model can also apply for licenses in the future, allowing for greater business expansion. The number of customers opting for centralized custody is indeed decreasing, but customers in the MPC system face many issues, such as private key management and compliance problems. At this point, Cobo's advantages of providing both centralized custody and MPC self-custody become prominent.

First, in some applicable legal systems, centralized custody by Cobo may be required, allowing us to directly empower clients with our licensing capabilities; secondly, in some legal regions, if clients wish to apply for licenses themselves, they can also choose Cobo's MPC solution; additionally, for some clients at the startup stage, if they have not yet established a compliance team, choosing Cobo's MPC solution can also provide them with Cobo's risk control and anti-money laundering capabilities in centralized custody, further reducing the compliance threshold for clients.

In addition, Cobo has grown in this industry for such a long time, and our technological reserves are quite strong. Over the years, we have developed various types of wallets and different underlying wallet solutions. During the payment process, we found that some wallet solutions are not as popular anymore, such as smart contract wallets, or the market has not yet found specific application directions for these wallet solutions. However, in the process of larger-scale expansion, these wallet solutions will still have considerable demand.

Deep Tide TechFlow: What do you think are the main obstacles to stablecoins?

Alex:

I think stablecoin-related businesses are a significant test of interdisciplinary collaboration, as they require a solid knowledge base in Fin, Tech, and Crypto, each of which has different specific demands.

In the Fin domain, the focus is on compliance and a deep understanding of the financial system and various financial practices; in the Tech aspect, attention needs to be paid to product design and how to integrate blockchain technology; while in the Crypto dimension, once you truly own stablecoins, if you only provide exchange services, the profit margin has dropped from the past 0.4% and 0.2% to the current 0.05%, leaving almost no room for maneuver. Therefore, the key lies in how to help users manage assets, appreciate value, and swap through Crypto methods, which requires in-depth Crypto Native knowledge.

In my experience, especially in the stablecoin sector, it is hard to find a team that excels in Fin, Tech, and Crypto all at once; many companies have obvious shortcomings. Therefore, when assessing whether a project can succeed, I believe the key is still to look at the team's ability and overall quality.

Deep Tide TechFlow: Recently, Circle's stock price surged, and with JD.com and Ant Group making high-profile announcements to enter the stablecoin space, how does Cobo define the role it plays in the stablecoin competition?

Alex:

According to my understanding, stablecoin licenses in Hong Kong are still quite scarce, and you can count them on one hand. Currently, there are more than 40 companies that have submitted applications, and law firms have reported that dozens more are interested in applying. The competition is very fierce, with the opponents basically being the largest financial institutions and internet companies in China. Many small and medium-sized institutions do not even qualify to submit applications.

From the perspective of stablecoin issuance, Cobo is currently providing technical support for some large clients, who are partners that we value greatly. Of course, we hope they can succeed in Hong Kong, but even if that doesn't happen, these clients have generally expressed a tendency to seek licensing in various parts of the world, such as Singapore, the Middle East, or Switzerland. For companies determined to delve into this field, business expansion will not be limited to just Hong Kong.

In the process of helping clients, we not only provide issuance tools, but we also help build a foundational wallet system that connects issuers and merchants, similar to how Circle has a merchant system that facilitates the connection between acquirers and merchants, where acquirers can perform Mint and Burn, etc. From a broader perspective, our goal is to become a distribution channel for stablecoins.

Based on my observation, there are currently three main modes of stablecoin distribution:

The first type is the centralized, financially powerful model, represented by companies like Stripe, which builds a global network through its own banks and licenses, centering on itself, with customers relying entirely on its system to complete all interactions.

The second type is decentralized, like Circle. The Circle Payment Network uses a network of certified providers, where parties exchange through a whitelist system. Circle itself does not directly provide real exchange bank accounts but achieves compliance and information transmission through partners.

Cobo is the third model, which is also a more intermediate model: we build a large PSP transfer network at the core layer, connecting exchanges, OTC merchants, and Cobo, and relying on deeply cooperating banks and top market makers to combine on-chain transfers with off-chain bank rapid settlement. For example, after completing a transfer of 1 million USDT on-chain, the funds can be quickly credited within one minute through crypto-friendly banks off-chain; the next layer out consists of small and medium-sized PSPs and exchanges, which use the super market makers at the core layer for acceptance; and the outermost layer consists of small merchants and retail investors.

In this system: the outermost layer of customers needs self-custody wallets more due to regulatory reasons that make it difficult to custody funds in the core layer; middle layer customers need more payment tool support, such as chain abstraction, anti-money laundering functions, etc.; core layer customers rely on an MPC-based transfer system. In this way, if a large number of customers are using Cobo's system, the transfer speed between customers will be faster, safer, and more compliant. This model is similar to the CeDeFi concept proposed by AAVE a few years ago, where institutions have a dedicated pool in DeFi, screening participants through compliant custodians or wallet providers to ensure the safety and traceability of funds.

Our goal is to help clients quickly increase their transaction volume through this network. Cobo currently has a transaction scale of around three to four hundred billion dollars, while many stablecoin issuers in Hong Kong may only have an issuance volume of tens of billions or even hundreds of millions of dollars. If we can provide them with a powerful circulation network to significantly enhance their distribution capabilities and connect stablecoin issuers and clients through the Cobo wallet system, on one hand, issuers can attract users through incentive subsidies, and on the other hand, clients can provide issuers with more application scenarios, ultimately achieving mutual benefits for both parties.

Deep Tide TechFlow: Regarding distribution networks, what changes do you think will occur in the future? Or rather, we have just discussed the existing distribution systems; what new distribution systems do you think will emerge in the future?

Alex:

The Cobo distribution network we are currently advancing relies on banks and leading market makers to gradually distribute stablecoins through a layered logic, which we believe is an effective approach. There is currently no clear answer on how this network will evolve in the future.

In the past, the distribution of stablecoins mainly relied on exchanges, similar to how half of Circle's revenue goes to Coinbase. However, it remains uncertain which scenarios can truly support large-scale circulation of stablecoins in the future. Many people are optimistic that some small countries with relatively weak banking systems (such as those in Latin America and Africa) may be dominated by stablecoins, including using stablecoins as equivalents in cross-border payments, and even without the need for final settlement. However, as stablecoins gradually become compliant, it is still difficult to say whether these scenarios really hold significant potential.

In addition, during our internal team study a couple of days ago, we also discussed that the banking system might undergo fundamental changes in the future. Previously, cross-border bank transfers relied on the Federal Reserve's account system, but in the future, it may shift to a Token system issued by the banks themselves. This model could break existing limitations and even allow certain commercial banks to surpass the Federal Reserve in some aspects. This is a very promising direction for future development. Of course, there are also views that AI-driven payment agents (AI Agents) may become the next trend, but their specific architecture and implementation methods remain unknown.

Deep Tide TechFlow: We just talked about many companies applying for licenses in Hong Kong. In your opinion, what are the barriers for traditional enterprises to venture into stablecoins, whether it is applying for licenses themselves or establishing related cryptocurrency reserves? Also, regarding compliance, what are the specific advantages of Cobo?

Alex:

Currently, the two types of businesses that are most suitable for listed companies are: one is to learn from MicroStrategy and stockpile coins, which many Hong Kong listed companies are doing; the other direction is the licensing of stablecoins.

From the perspective of hoarding coins, the threshold for this business is not high, and it is relatively simple to operate, especially under the current relaxed regulatory conditions. However, the key issues with hoarding coins are twofold: first, when to sell; second, when more and more companies start hoarding coins, this business no longer has scarcity, and the market will not particularly favor your stocks. Therefore, to stand out in this field, one must achieve a leading position or explore the deep connections between coins and stocks. Thus, I believe the difficulty in this direction lies in how to manage operations later.

As for stablecoin licenses, many small companies claim to enter this field, but it is more for the purpose of short-term stock price speculation. We have encountered quite a few such companies, which might have had no interest in this field six months ago and even released announcements without in-depth communication. These companies usually only use this to attract market attention, and in reality, they do not have the genuine execution capability or opportunity to obtain a license.

In Hong Kong and the business system related to listed companies, Cobo's advantages are mainly reflected in two aspects:

First of all, we have extensive experience in servicing publicly listed companies. We provide services to several mining companies listed on NASDAQ, Hong Kong stocks, and more. We have also accumulated experience in collaborating with audit firms, including how to conduct audits and statistics of crypto assets, as well as full-process services in coordinating with consulting companies.

In addition, regarding the stablecoin license and technical solutions, Cobo's advantage lies not only in its technical capabilities but also in the completeness of its solutions. We not only provide issuance but also support distribution, which includes the entire process of merchant wallet management, helping clients quickly get started. This comprehensiveness is a key advantage that distinguishes us from other providers.

Wallets are the missing link for stablecoins, optimistic about stablecoin exchange.

Deep Tide TechFlow: When it comes to large-scale adoption, if we only look at the large-scale adoption of stablecoins, what key infrastructure do you think still needs to be developed? Or which infrastructures can form a strong synergy in promoting the large-scale adoption of stablecoins?

Alex:

First of all, I believe our wallet can form a synergy. From the recent acquisition direction and actions of Stripe, they want merchants and even individual users to be able to directly use self-custody wallets through Privy. This type of wallet can generate addresses via email, allowing for immediate use, and then they will link this system with the acquiring service based on Bridge, achieving quick transfers and management between wallets. From our observations, Stripe is leveraging blockchain technology to quickly reconstruct the core functions of Alipay from back in the day, and currently, what they are acquiring to fill the gap is precisely in the wallet domain.

Similarly, this year many clients have reached out to us and realized that wallets are a crucial missing component in their business, or a segment that is difficult to quickly fill in the short term. Therefore, I am confident in our track.

As for other infrastructure, such as the payment sector, compliance remains a core issue, including on-chain KYB and KYC, and how to deeply integrate with real Web2 data is a common pain point for many clients. For example, when you complete a transfer, it is necessary to protect user privacy while ensuring user reliability; currently, there is no particularly mature solution for these issues.

In addition, how to expand into the asset management field in a compliant and legal manner after payment is also a direction worth exploring. In the past, whether centralized or decentralized asset management companies, there is still a need for further optimization in how to better serve traditional clients.

Finally, I personally have great optimism for the exchange of stablecoins in this sector. According to current trends, whether it's large tech companies in China and the U.S., or in other regions like South Korea, there could be a surge in the issuance of stablecoins. The exchange between these stablecoins may no longer be able to rely on the past model of Curve. How to build an efficient exchange system will be a huge opportunity and is a key focus within our company.

We are now at a critical juncture for stablecoins to achieve widespread adoption.

Deep Tide TechFlow: How large do you think the market space for stablecoins is in the entire competition? What market share do you think Cobo will occupy in the future?

Alex:

Based on the data from centralized custodial wallets and our own internal statistics on the total amount of MPC transfers, we currently hold about a 5% share.

In the future, I believe that our fundamental base should not be lost. As more Chinese, large Chinese payment companies, and Web2 payment giants enter, and as the fast transfer system shared earlier by Cobo is truly established, we should be able to do much more than we can now, and our market share may expand to around 10% - 15%.

The above is an estimate I made from the perspective of transfer volume, but it is difficult to judge how large the stablecoin sector will be. On one hand, it depends on whether future regulatory trends will remain favorable, and on the other hand, it also depends on whether the scenarios involving AI agents can truly materialize. If there are indeed hundreds of millions of AI agents making transfers in the future, the scale could be larger than the current internet. In the short term, what we are first seeing are cross-border payment scenarios. In the future, a large amount of online, on-chain, and even inter-agent business may gradually evolve to settle using stablecoins, making it very challenging to estimate the scale.

Deep Tide TechFlow: Hong Kong, Singapore, Dubai, which do you think is most likely to become a hotbed for the rapid growth of stablecoins?

Alex:

From our perspective, there are some differences in different regions. For example, from the perspective of custodianship: the EU is applying for the MiCA license; Singapore has the DTSP license from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), and then there is a Digital Payment Token (DPT) license under the Major Payment Institution Licence (MPI); Hong Kong does not have clear regulations yet; the US has the BitLicense from New York, which is purely a custodial license; and in the Middle East, Dubai has the VARA license.

From the perspective of issuance: the requirements for issuers in the United States are not high, but issuers need to use compliant custody, or have relatively high requirements for the commercial banks they use; in Europe, I think Switzerland's Crypto Valley is more friendly, but the problem in Europe is that it requires offline asset reserves to be held in commercial banks within Europe itself, and historically, many European commercial banks have gone bankrupt, which many people feel poses a significant risk; the Middle East is relatively friendly, but the biggest problem in the Middle East, especially Dubai, is that its banking system has a lower global recognition; Hong Kong's biggest problem is that there are too few licenses and the review process is too strict; Singapore, although it was the first to introduce stablecoin legislation, has many vague details and uncertainties.

So after a comprehensive comparison, we would recommend trying to apply for licenses in regions such as Switzerland, Singapore, and Dubai. However, the application for a license depends on one's own capabilities. As long as your scenario is large enough, the regulation will be easier. For regulators, their concerns are just a few issues: first, whether the scenario is compliant and legal; second, whether the license will be sold after two years of obtaining it; third, whether the circulation volume is too small to realize the value of the license.

Deep Tide TechFlow: Beyond payments, stablecoins are seen as the next generation of "internet currency layer" in a broader financial market. What are your thoughts on this perspective? What significant effects/impacts do you think stablecoins will unleash? What preparations will Cobo make?

Alex:

I believe that stablecoins will first squeeze the fiscal autonomy of small countries' currencies in the short term, such as Nigeria, which has a very unstable local currency. In the medium to long term, US dollar stablecoins have a huge impact on local currencies, especially in standardized online services and trading scenarios, where dollar-denominated stablecoins become mainstream, causing serious effects on the monetary systems of small countries.

From the perspective of the banking system, it is foreseeable that the medium to long-term competitiveness of many small and medium-sized banks will be weaker, especially among the younger generation. Once everyone starts circulating among themselves and accounts are designed to be based on stablecoins, there may be less need for bank cards since there would be no need to convert money back to the bank in the end.

For centralized exchanges and banks, their core role in the future may focus on compliance, that is, when it is necessary to exchange cryptocurrencies for fiat currencies, these institutions provide compliance guarantees to mitigate counterparty risks. You cannot say they are meaningless, but their value will be diminished.

Cobo has also made multi-layer preparations for this trend, such as fully compliant centralized custody, fully client-compliant self-custody, the establishment of various wallet systems, and further optimization of product functions. In addition, we will still apply for the necessary licenses in various regions to meet the needs of companies relying on our services for licensed institutions. Besides this, we have also discussed whether we should eventually buy a bank ourselves, but the final conclusion is that it is still a bit too early for that.

Overall, many things will indeed migrate to the blockchain. Coinbase has created its own Base chain, which captures this value for itself. We are more committed to becoming a bridge to the blockchain starting from the wallet.

Deep Tide TechFlow: Many people say that stablecoins are a game for institutions. What is your view on this perspective? In your opinion, how can ordinary users better seize the opportunities of stablecoins?

Alex:

Firstly, at this stage, I think several companies in the A-shares market need to remain cautious. Through communication and interaction, some people genuinely want to work hard but lack the capability, while others are purely looking to speculate in the short term.

As for whether stablecoins are a game for institutions, I believe that from the perspective of issuance, this sector will definitely be led by very centralized large organizations. However, for entrepreneurs, if you are optimistic about large-scale adoption and believe that in the future, 20% - 30% of transactions will be settled in stablecoins, then this will also generate many new demands, tools, and functionalities in various scenarios that are worth considering and exploring.

I believe that we are at a critical juncture for truly moving towards mass adoption, which also brings a multitude of new entrepreneurial opportunities. In the past, the industry focused more on reconstructing traditional financial functions on-chain, while the current trend is to shift on-chain innovations to models that traditional finance can accept, while balancing compliance with the flexibility of blockchain.

For example, many people think that U Card is a bad business, but the core issue of U Card, apart from compliance, lies more in poor user experience. Most existing U Cards are debit cards, where you can only use what you deposit. If the problem of on-chain credit or the on-chaining of traditional credit can be truly solved, it will bring a huge breakthrough in user experience for U Card. In addition, there is also a significant exploratory space for the evolution of traditional trust structures and insurance systems on the blockchain.

I am actually more optimistic than many people about the current market. In the past, many projects simply issued tokens and created a prototype, but the old model of issuing tokens and listing them on exchanges is no longer viable. At this point in time, real customers have entered the market, and products need to be more mature and aligned with actual needs. For example, if Coinbase's account system can really connect with Shopify, Amazon, Walmart, etc. next year, and everyone has their own on-chain wallet and assets, then the products must be simplified and made more accessible to the public. This is a whole new starting point.

Finally, I believe that CeDeFi is a direction worth exploring. In the past, Ce referred to centralized exchanges, but now Ce is more inclined towards technology platforms. The key lies in how to balance liquidity and compliance, meeting regulatory requirements while also serving a broader user base, which contains tremendous entrepreneurial opportunities.