The Bitcoin Bridge, CoinGeek’s weekly show looking at Bitcoin SV (BSV) projects in the Asia-Pacific region, heads to China this week to talk to DotWallet founder Lin Zheming. Though he’s well-known on this side of the world, his story might be less familiar to those outside China. He’s doing everything he can to change that, with DotWallet (and the other company he founded, Mempool) playing major roles in the Bitcoin BSV ecosystem.
Bitcoin and blockchain have had an… interesting history in China. From the zest for Bitcoin mining that remains strong to this day, to regulators chasing all exchanges out of the country after the 2017-18 “ICO craze,” China has never been far from the Bitcoin news headlines.
So what was that journey like for Lin Zheming? His story should sound familiar to anyone who’s followed this industry for a while. Based in Fujian, he started out as a miner before coming up with his own business idea to take advantage of what the new technology offered.
But—and this is also sadly familiar—his plans for a gaming/gambling business fell victim to congestion and high fees on the BTC network. Many promising ideas were forced into hibernation by the “scaling debate” that dragged on for years and eventually saw Bitcoin split into those who wanted it to create new economies, and those who wanted digital gold they could sell at a higher price to new investors.
What’s the state of Bitcoin in China?
Lin also talks to us about the current state of blockchain in China, and what it’s like to run a Bitcoin company there. As well as regulations, there’s the (again familiar) additional restrictions of the COVID-19 pandemic reaction, and the difficulty of convincing talented software engineers that a Bitcoin career can be stable and lucrative.
DotWallet is doing well, and today is one of the most popular wallet apps in the Bitcoin BSV world. Like its competitors, it has expanded its range of services beyond sending and receiving money—it has linked apps, a token exchange, tokenized BTC and ETH (better than the “real” thing!)
😎"The most used #BitcoinSV wallet worldwide
Support #BSV, #BTC, #ETH wallet management"
#DotWallet Pro has been online in App Store and Google Play now!📱Download the apphttps://t.co/aHMXPAVaGh pic.twitter.com/N2kfGCUmuy
— DotWallet (@wallet_dot) January 18, 2021
People are still exploring what they can do with Bitcoin technology now that Satoshi Nakamoto‘s original protocol rules have been restored. For Bitcoin veterans, it’s like being sent all the way back to 2012 and told to start again. This time, though, Bitcoin technology is far more powerful and is targeting enterprise-tier, big data processors. That also means there’s a lot more exploring to do.
DotWallet launched its “DotWallet for Developers” platform a year ago, and is now making version 2.0 available. That itself has led to a lot of new exploration, and Lin describes his “Bitcoin as a Service”, or “BaaS” model. If you’re a developer looking for technical guidance, or just curious to hear what Bitcoin’s been doing in China lately, check out the full interview on Streamanity—and remember to subscribe to the CoinGeek channel.
“DotWallet for Developers sticks to a developers-centered approach and provides multiple blockchain technological solutions to entrepreneurs. “ #Bitcoin #BSV #DotWallet @RealCoinGeek https://t.co/oN2XNTOLQX
— DotWallet (@wallet_dot) March 1, 2021
Check out previous episodes of The Bitcoin Bridge on Streamanity.
New to blockchain? Check out CoinGeek’s Blockchain for Beginners section, the ultimate resource guide to learn more about blockchain technology.
