We talked to Jenny Yang, Founder of Star Consulting, an early startup investor, consultant, growth and marketing strategist for Web 3.0 businesses and a passionate supporter of blockchain technology.
Starting from 2017, Jenny has founded and co-founded a number of media and consulting platforms and has been involved in dozens of investment and incubator programmes and advised startups on business models, global marketing, branding, financing, development strategy, crisis management, and so on. Jenny has also successfully advised dozens of firms with global marketing and branding strategies and enabled them to flourish in no time.
Jenny believes blockchain and Web 3.0 can revolutionize the world in a positive way and she has a special interest in women empowerment and education for the younger generation in this industry. In a conversation with MetaTalks, Jenny revealed her thoughts about the prospects and potential of Defi and Web3.
MT: Are there any unique characteristics of the Chinese crypto community compared to other countries?
Jenny Yang: After being in this industry for more than 5 years, I feel that practitioners in the Chinese Web3 community are very concerned about how to use technology in real life and provide more positive improvements to people’s lives. Many entrepreneurs and start-up founders here are actively looking for such solutions. I always think this is a crucial aspect of the Web3 industry.
MT: How have Chinese crypto enthusiasts reacted to the recent news of a potential return of cryptocurrencies in China?
Jenny Yang: Basically, practitioners in the Chinese Web3 community are very happy to see Hong Kong’s positive attitude towards Web3, and we have also seen many positive signals, such as: many Web3 companies have registered companies, set up offices, and recruited local employees in Hong Kong. I am glad to see that Web3 practitioners in the Chinese market have more room to display their talents.
MT: Do you believe that China and other East Asian countries have the potential to become the homeland of DeFi and Web3 technologies?
Jenny Yang: Yes certainly. East Asian countries, especially China, Japan and South Korea, have been at the forefront of innovation in the field of cutting-edge technology for many years.
There are several reasons to this. The role of friendly local policies in accepting and advancing technological innovation is one key reason. In addition to that, the group of entrepreneurs here is quite active—they see opportunities and act quickly, and adjust strategies in time to achieve their goals. Also we can't talk about tech advancement without talking about the market itself, people in the East Asian market have a high degree of acceptance of new technologies. People love trying new things and exploring new opportunities coming out of those new tech innovations. So the East Asian market has had a great tradition of standing at the forefront of cutting-edge technology for years. The same is true when we talk about DeFi and Web3. If the policy support is in place, I believe East Asia is a homeland for DeFi and Web3.
MT: What do you see as the biggest challenges facing the blockchain industry in China in the next 5 years?
Jenny Yang: After several years of development, the blockchain is constantly penetrating into many walks of life in China. However, in order to truly realize the value of the blockchain, there are still huge challenges. These challenges include technological aspects, as well as policy and legal aspects. But I also feel many challenges that China is facing are also problems universally faced by many countries, so it has little to do with ‘the country’.
Firstly, on the technological side. In order to truly realize the "credibility" of the blockchain, the consensus of the entire network must be achieved, and reaching a consensus within the entire network will inevitably affect the transaction throughput. Thus, this leads to a major challenge for blockchain: the "scalability problem". This is the dilemma blockchain is facing— ‘impossible triangle’. On the premise of ensuring credibility, there is still a long way to go for blockchain technology to overcome the challenge of scalability.
Secondly, Regulation policies on new tech innovations. Technology is a double-edged sword. Blockchain, like the currently hotly debated AI and ChatGPT, what it does sometimes depends on the people who use it. While we’ve seen many companies and industries have been benefited by leveraging Blockchain in their business, at the same time this technology has been used by some scammers as a means of money laundering and illegal transactions. This is not what we want to see, but good news is that many industry leaders have been actively cooperating with regulatory agencies and law enforcement agencies to continuously reduce the occurrence of similar cases, and the situation is improving day by day.
However, regarding regulatory policies, how to balance encouraging innovation and fighting crime still involves a lot of discussions and debates in many countries. Hopefully we will see more regulatory policies that help encourage innovation in the blockchain industry.
MT: In your opinion, what role do you see blockchain technology playing in the future of the Chinese economy?
Jenny Yang: This year, China has fleshed out its pledge to foster the ‘digital economy’, which is increasingly prominent in the overall Chinese economy. Analysts say the digital economy now accounts for around 40 percent of the national economy of China and is expected to take up half by 2025 with policy support.
Blockchain is also considered an important part of the ‘digital economy’. It is widely recognised in China that blockchain has changed the way of connection through a new trust mechanism, bringing about changes in production relations, providing effective technical means for trusted data interaction between different participants and industries, and realizing the transformation from "information Internet" to "value Internet".
Also, the latest "14th Five-Year Plan for Digital Economy Development" mentions "building a trusted service network and application support platform based on blockchain".
The blockchain is an important part of the digital economy, and the digital economy is China's important development strategy next. There is no doubt that the role of the blockchain will be quite huge, and I am very much looking forward to it.