Web3 Tech in Asia

Herbert Yang on Web3 dApps, crypto innovations, blockchain technology, and World Computer

Herbert Yang, Asia GM of the DFINITY Foundation (the developer of leading L1 blockchain the Internet Computer Protocol, or "ICP"), shares his public talks on cutting edge Web3 technology, the growth of Internet Computer, most exciting dApps, how to build a vibrant ecosystem, and why a decentralized future is worth fighting for digitalsovereignty.herbertyang.xyz

Episodes

  1. 21 MAR

    The Future of Bitcoin Strategic Reserve

    Editor’s Note President Trump's creation of a Bitcoin strategic reserve stirred up a wide spectrum of sentiments in the crypto community. Is the dragon slayer going to become just another dragon? Is this Satoshi Nakamoto’s original intent when he wrote the Bitcoin whitepaper in 2008? How would US government jump through all kinds of hoops to executive this initiative? What’s the impact on the crypto industry? Recently there has been an undercurrent of memecoin nihilism brewing in the community. Is memecoin the end game for crypto? Isn’t this just another form of casino? While Bitcoin goes mainstream and becomes legit, what about other altcoins? Many feel that since neither memecoin nor Bitcoin is suitable for building real products, we may have come to the end of the road for crypto and there is no future for real developers who actually want to build things. I beg to differ. A bear market is the best time for true builders. There are a whole lot of DeFi products that need to be built on Bitcoin L1. Event Details * Date: March 20, 2025 * Length: 1h:19m * Language: Mandarin * Tune-in Audience: 800 * Host: Tracy of Tintinland * Guests: * Ray, Bitomni * Lewis, Chainbase * DZ, Exvulse * Yuxin, GCC * Herbert, DFINITY * Announcement: https://x.com/OurTinTinLand/status/1902564987052421593 * Sign-up: https://lu.ma/8h9bg5x8 You can also listen to the recording of this event as a podcast. Search: “Web3 Tech in Asia” (by Herbert Yang) in your favorite podcast player, such as Castbox, Overcast, Spotify, Youtube, or Apple Podcast, and subscribe to the podcast series for more convenient listening. Thanks for reading Digital Sovereignty Chronicle! This post is public so feel free to share it. Digital Sovereignty Chronicle is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Digital Sovereignty Chronicle at digitalsovereignty.herbertyang.xyz/subscribe

    1h 19m
  2. 9 MAR

    Odin.fun Speaks To The Chinese Community

    Editor’s Note Odin.fun is a memecoin launchpad for BTC’s native Rune tokens. It’s fast, cheap and secure. It’s turned many heads in the BTC community and attracted the attention of many crypto KOLs. Its impressive performance now begs the question - if we can trade memecoins in split seconds for Bitcoin, why do we still need to use memecoin launchpads on other L1 blockchains, such as Solana or Base? This AMA with the Chinese community, featuring Bob Bodily, the founder of Odin.fun, was highly anticipated. There was a rumor circulating in various social media groups, saying there was a bug in Odin.fun, the TVL was overstated and the team ran away. For a few of us, Paul of DFINITY, Louis of Omnity, and myself, who have known Bob for a long time, this was pure FUDDing (fear, uncertainty, and doubt). The most effective way to strike down FUD is for the founder to speak to the community in public directly. After Anna the host started the Twitter Spaces at about 14:45 (UTC+8), very quickly 1400+ users got on and waited for Bob to show up. But after waiting for 15 minutes, Bob still didn’t show up. Anna then said she was told that Bob had to postpone this public AMA and she had no choice but to end the Twitter Spaces. This looked really bad - it would give a lot of oxygen to the rumor that Odin.fun team ran away. I pinged Bob on Telegram and explained to him that his presence would mean a lot to the community and nobody else could calm down an increasingly suspicious community but himself. Bob said he would return. I called Anna and asked her to re-open the AMA right away. Anna re-opened the AMA; the online audience quickly climbed back to a few thousand. In a great relief for the community, Bob came up to the mic and explained that all their assets were safe and the bug had already been fixed by the team hours before. In fact, a few minutes before Bob joined the AMA, he just released a long note on Twitter to explain everything. This AMA was the first time for the Odin.fun founder to speak to the Chinese community, which had been a great early supporter of this memecoin launchpad. At the time of releasing this podcast (roughly 45 hours after the AMA), the panic sale of Odin’s BTC seemed to have subsided and its TVL was stabilized at a new baseline. Never a dull day in crypto. Event Background Date: March 07, 2025 Length: 33m Language: English Tune-in Audience: 28k Host: Anna of Yuku Guests: Bob Bodily of Odin.fun Announcement: https://x.com/lockanna1/status/1897710802838470681 You can also listen to the recording of this event as a podcast. Search: “Web3 Tech in Asia” (by Herbert Yang) in your favorite podcast player, such as Castbox, Overcast, Spotify, Youtube, or Apple Podcast, and subscribe to the podcast series for more convenient listening. Digital Sovereignty Chronicle is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Digital Sovereignty Chronicle at digitalsovereignty.herbertyang.xyz/subscribe

    34 min
  3. 8 MAR

    Introducing ckBTC That Ignited the BTC Community

    Editor’s Note I didn’t speak on this panel other than helping the host Anna share a few relevant links. Paul is my colleague in the DFINITY Foundation from the R&D team. DFINITY is the main developer studio behind L1 blockchain ICP. Louis is the founder of Omnity Network, a leading cross-chain project built on ICP. Both are very experienced technical architects and developers who are widely respected in the crypto community. Anna runs BD for Yuku, a leading metaverse project on ICP. Odin.fun, a memecoin launchpad for BTC Runes has been catching wildfire in the last few days. This AMA is to explain the Chainkey technology that makes Odin.fun fast and secure. It’s always a pleasure listening to Paul and Louis. I learn a ton every time. Event Background Date: March 06, 2025 Length: 1h:15m Language: Mandarin Tune-in Audience: 453 Host: Anna of Yuku Guests: Paul Liu of DFINITY, Louis Liu of Omnity Announcement: https://x.com/lockanna1/status/1897581009404940375 Host’s Questions * Background introduction, opening remarks, and guest self-introduction * What kind of public chain is ICP? What kind of technical characteristics does it have? * The BTC community was shocked by the fast transactions of Odin Fun. What is the reason? * Do other guests have any comments to add? * What kind of technology is Chainkey? What is its purpose and how is it achieved? What are your plans? * Users in the community are very concerned about Odin's decentralization. What is the current degree of decentralization of Odin? * How is the security of users’ assets handled? * Will there be any cooperation between ICP and Odin? * Is there any possibility of combining ICP technology with BTC? Some people say that ICP is the best BTC L2. How do you understand it? You can also listen to the recording of this event as a podcast. Search: “Web3 Tech in Asia” (by Herbert Yang) in your favorite podcast player, such as Castbox, Overcast, Spotify, Youtube, or Apple Podcast, and subscribe to the podcast series for more convenient listening. Digital Sovereignty Chronicle is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Digital Sovereignty Chronicle at digitalsovereignty.herbertyang.xyz/subscribe

    1h 15m

About

Herbert Yang, Asia GM of the DFINITY Foundation (the developer of leading L1 blockchain the Internet Computer Protocol, or "ICP"), shares his public talks on cutting edge Web3 technology, the growth of Internet Computer, most exciting dApps, how to build a vibrant ecosystem, and why a decentralized future is worth fighting for digitalsovereignty.herbertyang.xyz