Jihan Wu optimistic about crypto market, says ‘innovations like DeFi are breathtaking’
The overall cryptocurrency market has come a long way since the very beginning. In November, the total crypto market capitalization topped $3 trillion after recording spectacular gains earlier this year.
But then, correction happened. Well, the market is currently sitting at $2.2 billion due to a correction with Bitcoin accounting for just a little over 40% of the dominance.
Anyone surprised?
Jihan Wu discovered bitcoin and recognized its early promise more than a decade ago https://t.co/goo4Ul2cNk
— Forbes (@Forbes) December 23, 2021
Interestingly, in this context, Jihan Wu, the billionaire co-founder of mining giant Bitmain expressed his thoughts in a recent interview with Forbes. According to him, cryptocurrencies were born to be volatile, but their growth over the long term will far outweigh their price fluctuations. He further noted,
“Even if 95% of today’s coins lose all their value and disappear, the remaining 5% will grow massively”
Wu believes the industry will continue to develop unique innovations. Given that it isn’t subjected to the constraints of the traditional financial system. He says that Satoshi Nakamoto’s Bitcoin white paper opened “a new world” of opportunities. As per Wu,
“Innovations like DeFi [decentralized finance] are breathtaking. Technologies like crypto and blockchain have created a new world, allowing fintech entrepreneurs to make big achievements. Eventually, traditional financial institutions and regulators will embrace blockchain technology.”
Curiously, many proponents have portrayed bullish projections for prime cryptocurrency. For instance, MicroStrategy CEO Michael Saylor recently predicted that the price of Bitcoin could reach $600,000.
In fact, Wu has an interesting crypto connection.
Stepping away from the limelight
In 2013, Wu teamed up with Micree Ketuan Zhan to launch Bitmain Technologies, a supplier of specialized hardware known as mining rigs. However, this run wasn’t for long. Wu resigned from Bitmain after nasty infighting with fellow co-founder Micree Zhan.
Later, he founded Matrixport back in 2019. Also, Bitdeer Technologies, a cryptocurrency mining platform that’s already announced plans to list on the Nasdaq at a $4 billion valuation
Jihan Wu said that Matrixport currently manages assets of $10B, with an average monthly transaction volume of $5B. Bitdeer currently operates five mining farms in the United States and Norway and manages more than 100,000 mining machines.
Having said that, it should be noted that it hasn’t been a good year for the mining industry. Especially after the exodus from China. According to the blog published by the state-run Economic Daily, Chinese authorities must crackdown on individuals who are still mining cryptocurrencies and taking advantage of regulatory loopholes. That is to say, cryptocurrency mining can’t really stand a chance in China.
“…mining needs to be cleared to zero like covid-19.”
Not to forget, other parts do provide a getaway for these miners. Notably, Kazakhstan emerged earlier this year as one of the world’s winners to attract Bitcoin miners after China’s crackdown.
