Interview with Wang Yuanming on Blockchain Technology, Trends, and Career Advice

Wang Yuanming, chief architect of Starcoin and founder of the BFTF blockchain alliance, shares his background as a former backend and cloud platform engineer and explains why he moved into blockchain, emphasizing the technology’s potential to drive business innovation similar to serverless computing.

He describes the evolution of blockchain from early cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin to platforms such as Ethereum and EOS, noting the shift from pure monetary systems to general‑purpose smart‑contract platforms.

Wang identifies key technical frontiers: challenges for traditional technologies in the blockchain era (e.g., data storage and networking), decentralization requirements like trusted computing and zero‑knowledge proofs, consensus algorithm research, and the need for development frameworks for blockchain applications.

When asked about promising open‑source projects, he clarifies that blockchain development is not as fast‑moving as hype suggests, citing the slow evolution of consensus upgrades such as Bitcoin’s SegWit and the complexity of implementing changes on live chains.

He outlines three practical blockchain use cases: registering, storing, and trading assets on-chain; optimizing existing business processes through transparency and trust; and exploring community organization, incentives, and governance.

Regarding performance, Wang highlights two main directions: improving the blockchain itself (concurrent transaction processing, storage optimization, consensus enhancements, sharding) and layer‑2 solutions that offload work from the base layer while maintaining security.

For engineers entering the field, he advises balancing deep focus with awareness of emerging technologies, reading code, and studying related disciplines such as economics, law, and sociology to broaden perspective.

On investment, he refrains from recommending specific coins, suggesting that technical expertise helps filter out low‑quality projects and that engineers should prioritize learning and contributing to open‑source code over short‑term trading.

The interview is part of the GIAC Global Internet Architecture Conference in Shanghai (Nov 23‑24), where Wang will present a blockchain session alongside experts from Intel, Tencent, Alibaba, Baidu, Ant Financial, Huawei, and others.