Interview with CEO of Xinhuo Technology, Wang Xiaoqi: From Huobi, HashKey to Xinhuo Technology, What's Next?

Author | Wu Shuo Blockchain

This interview revolves around Qiyi (Weng Xiaoqi), the new CEO of Xinhuo Technology, his professional journey, his judgment on the trend of regulatory compliance in the crypto industry, Xinhuo Technology's new phase strategy (private banking-level digital asset management for high-net-worth clients and a special layout for "Treasury/DAT" in the US stock market), and his observations on this round of market cycles and the migration of capital pricing power. The key points include: regulatory compliance and integration with traditional finance are seen as the long-term main line; Xinhuo Technology plans to enter high-net-worth clients with high accessibility and full-chain services; at the same time, it is planning to set up a large-scale special fund to participate in the US "Treasury/DAT" trend.

Disclaimer: The content of this article is solely the personal opinion of the interviewee, not representing Wu Shuo's views, and does not endorse any token. Wu Shuo and Xinhuo Technology have no interest relationship. Readers should strictly abide by local laws and regulations and not participate in illegal financial activities.

For the complete video and audio, please search for "Wu Shuo" on mainstream audio platforms such as Xiaoyuzhou and YT.

One, Guest Introduction: Qiyi (Weng Xiaoqi) from Huobi, HashKey to Xinhuo's New Stage Positioning

Colin: Hello everyone, in this episode of the podcast, we have invited Qiyi (Weng Xiaoqi). He previously served as CEO of Huobi Global, then as COO of the group and CEO of the exchange business unit at HashKey, experienced multiple industry fluctuations, and now has come to a new business platform. This is Qiyi's first interview after joining Xinhuo Technology, and he will share his future development plan with you. First, please make a self-introduction, because some listeners may still be unfamiliar with your background.

Qiyi: Hello everyone, first of all, thank you for Colin's invitation. I am Weng Xiaoqi, my English name is Livio. I graduated from the School of Software Engineering at Tsinghua University, and I am the junior of Li Lin. The more familiar resume is that I started serving as CEO of Huobi Global in 2018, experiencing the cycle from 2018-2021; in 2023, I went to HashKey Exchange as CEO, responsible for the establishment and implementation of the exchange.

I continued working in management positions and left in 2024. Since the beginning of this year, we have had a lot of communication with Li Lin. At that time, Xinhuo was lacking overall management for a period, and its business was relatively behind. Li Lin invited me to take Xinhuo, a listed company, as a startup platform, and continue to re-launch the business we are familiar with related to trading. We both believe this is an exciting direction. Last month, I joined Xinhuo through a private placement, and from August 26th, I was officially appointed as the CEO of Xinhuo Technology. I'm happy to have the opportunity to communicate with you in this new identity. Thank you.

Colin: Okay, everyone has roughly understood Livio's resume. Qiyi, can you talk in more detail about: your experience and insights since entering the cryptocurrency industry? Including the different feelings between Huobi and HashKey — from when they were comparable in size to Binance, to participating in creating the most compliant exchanges in Greater China / Hong Kong, and now joining a Hong Kong-listed company, where the current coin and stock markets are also very hot. Experiencing these different stages, what are the interesting reflections or different feelings in each stage?

Qiyi: My personal connection with cryptocurrency began early. In 2013, I did arbitrage between Huobi and OK, and at that time, the price difference on the order book was very large. I officially entered the industry after that, and during those years, I maintained close contact but did not join directly. In 2018, I joined Huobi, and the main theme of my work was to lead various compliance constructions. For example, at that time, Hainan once planned to "list" virtual currency exchanges, and we often competed with Binance and OK in the same track.

At that stage, the entire industry craved compliance and transparency, hoping to become a "regular army." Many exchanges made a lot of efforts for this. We also laid out listed companies with Li Lin at that time — Xinhuo Technology should be one of the earliest crypto stocks globally (in 2018). The core logic at that time was to take compliance as a path and complete the layout in advance. At the same time, Xiao Feng was preparing for a licensed exchange in Hong Kong from 2018-2019. By 2022, HashKey's license was established, and then the transaction team was formally set up. Overall, if summarized in one sentence, it is "compliance": this is a reflection of the crypto industry's move towards compliance under the circumstances of the era.

From 2018, people wanted to do compliance, but there was no way. By 2022, Hong Kong had a formal license, and we began to officially invest in the operation of the Hong Kong licensed exchange, building the most important link in this ecosystem. Then until now, in fact, we have seen ETFs in recent years, which are actually a simplified trading vehicle. In the past two years, they have become the largest channel for net asset inflows. From a strategic perspective, the impact of ETFs on the global market is no less than that of the three major exchanges.

Then recently, like DAT, the "Treasury model," it is another simpler way. Because many people have not yet developed the habit of buying ETFs, but individual stocks are something that most investors around the world have touched. So DAT, which we call, such as MicroStrategy, and recently popular BitMine, Hong Kong's Boya Interactive, Japan's Metaplanet — the coins they focus on are different, but overall, they all belong to the same category: the Treasury model DAT. These DATs have become a simpler and lighter way, allowing traditional investors to allocate crypto assets.

So in fact, from my experience in the industry to now, if condensed, it is "compliance". This is a big trend; the integration of traditional finance and the crypto industry has brought a huge amount of new capital. In recent years, whether in the United States or Hong Kong, we can see various licenses being pushed forward, and the global compliance process. I believe everyone is deeply aware of this. In the future, under the guidance of the compliance process, the entire industry will still have great changes, producing a huge amount of incremental opportunities. This also brings a lot of imagination space for Xinhuo and our subsequent work.

Two, History of Xinhuo Technology: One of the Earliest Crypto Stocks

Colin: Understand. Regarding the historical context of Xinhuo Technology, can Livio help us sort it out? I don't know much about it, and it seems to have tried different directions at different stages.

Qiyi: Actually, I don't know much either. We'll start from the origin. In 2018, the Huobi Group decided to transition to compliance, and the first step was to take Xinhuo Technology as an important target. At that time, the company was called "Tongcheng Holdings." We also invested a lot of costs (which have been publicly disclosed), and sent different management teams to participate in managing Xinhuo. Xinhuo is not only one of the earliest crypto stocks in the world, but it may even be the first Hong Kong licensed asset management platform in the world that can fully invest in virtual assets.

Owing to various reasons, including the subsequent development of Huobi and equity disposal, the team changed several times; the incoming team could not expand the business influence due to various factors, so its history is very long. Current —— accurately speaking, previous —— CEO Du Jun, because of his extensive personal business, including investment funds, media, incubators, SaaS, etc., Xinhuo is just a part of his vast investment portfolio, leading to a period where it was only "named CEO." In this round of adjustment, Du Jun was transferred from Executive Director to Non-Executive Director, but remains one of the major shareholders, and will continue to promote the development of Xinhuo.

I have always had a good relationship with him. Since 2018, we have been both mentors and friends. In a way, my official entry into the industry was inspired by Du Jun's industry exchange meeting. At that meeting, I began to systematically contact practitioners and their views on the industry. Later, we will still cooperate to promote the development of Xinhuo, but with different divisions —— I will focus more on business front-line promotion, while he will inject resources and assist in making the company better as a shareholder and non-executive director. Having a full-time CEO to manage the company for the main shareholder makes him more confident. We have had good collaboration in the past, and recently had several meetings, and we are confident about the subsequent management team and management system.

Colin: Understand, but from the shareholder structure, Li Tong or his family office should still be the largest shareholder of Xinhuo Technology, right?

Qiyi: Yes, Avenir is Li Tong's family office, and it is an emerging industry company derived from Li Tong's family office. Xinhuo and Avenir are in a sense sibling companies, both within Li Tong's investment portfolio, and maintain strategic coordination in many businesses, including asset management and custody; at the same time, they are also important customers of Xinhuo. From the perspective of the Avenir Group, there are many businesses that can be carried out in Xinhuo.

Three, Personal Motivation and Return: After Dealing with Family Emergencies, Returning to the Frontline, Receiving Support to Join Xinhuo

Colin: In fact, many people in the industry know Li Lin. But in the past two years, he has been relatively low-key, and some readers or new entrants may not know who he is or be unfamiliar with his resume. Briefly introduce: he is the founder of Huobi, later stepped down, sold Huobi to Sun Yuchen. Afterwards, Li Lin mainly conducted overall asset management and other businesses through his family office Avenir.

I want to ask a question: we have also discussed before, you originally planned to rest for a while after leaving HashKey. Eventually, was it Li Lin who persuaded you to take over "Xinhuo"? What was the opportunity? Also, it seems that Li Lin has gradually shifted from his previous low-key approach to being more proactive in asset management and other businesses, and returning to the listed company to continue pushing relevant layouts. What is his thinking on this?

Qiyi: Li Lin is a very representative figure in this industry. His personal experience is, in a way, the "half history" of the Chinese crypto circle. He got involved with virtual assets early, and in 2013, he officially founded Huobi, later sold Huobi, and then founded Avenir in Hong Kong. People are familiar with his first half of the story; since founding Avenir, he has shifted from "hiding" to "building." This round of overall layout around Xinhuo is mainly driven and dominated by him.

Many people may not know that: after selling Huobi, he made many arrangements for the original team members, personally supported many former executives to start their own businesses, and set up various industry funds and projects. Many projects he directly or indirectly invested in, helping many former Huobi colleagues to develop and grow.

Qiyi: Additionally, among the senior executives who recently joined Xinhuo, a considerable number were recommended by Li Lin to Xiao Feng to join HashKey. As for myself, it was also because of Li Lin's recommendation — he said I am good at building business from 0 to 1, so he recommended me to Xiao Feng. Initially, I had some reservations about joining HashKey, but upon learning that it was Li Lin's recommendation, I decided to try joining, just to see.

During my two years at HashKey, I had a very pleasant time, and we did many things from 0 to 1 in the industry. Of course, any compliance path requires a longer period to achieve breakthroughs. Therefore, we believe that HashKey has a bright future, but there is still a long way to go. The reason I left HashKey was still as previously announced: at that time, a key family member suddenly fell ill, which many close friends knew.

It has now been properly treated, so I have returned to the market again. After leaving HashKey, I still maintain a good private friendship with Xiao Feng, and we often discuss industry trends. This time, it was Li Lin who persuaded me to join Xinhuo through a private placement. You may have seen or guessed that Li Lin is increasing his strategic layout on Xinhuo. I also consulted Xiao Feng's opinion, and he encouraged me to come.

Before this market cycle started, he had already keenly predicted that "coin and stock linkage" would become a new trend. He believed that from the stock perspective, the crypto industry listings in the Hong Kong market were still scarce, so he encouraged me to come. It's also interesting: initially, we went to HashKey and worked with Xiao Feng, which was promoted by Li Lin; and this time, returning to Xinhuo and working with Li Lin was promoted by Xiao Feng. I am very honored to be able to work side by side with these two industry giants, which is the greatest luck in my career. We not only achieved some business achievements together, but also accumulated deep mutual trust and friendship during the process. Recently, we are also planning a larger strategic cooperation, and will disclose it at the appropriate time.

When I went to HashKey, I brought a lot of former Huobi executives, mainly the engineering line of the exchange at that time. That same year, everyone came with me to HashKey, built the entire exchange management system, and cultivated a lot of management talents. We have always had a tradition of cultivating talents: from old Huobi to HashKey — old Huobi was called the "military school of the crypto circle," and HashKey later became the "military school of the Hong Kong compliance track." Many exchanges that have now obtained licenses or are applying for licenses, once they need RO or operational talents, their first reaction is to find headhunters to recruit from HashKey. We once encountered situations where employees were hired away with twice the salary. Even some professionals who had worked for many years joined HashKey in the role of "interns." We were curious why they did this, and they said that after "gold-plating" at HashKey, going out would bring obvious identity premium.

HashKey has cultivated many compliance talents, some of whom have now followed me to Xinhuo, and of course, a larger portion has chosen to stay. I personally encourage more people to stay at HashKey — after all, I am still a shareholder of HashKey, and we still maintain equity-level relationships. HashKey is also in a period of rapid development; there will be close cooperation between HashKey and Xinhuo, and there is a cooperation project approaching completion. The Hong Kong market is not that big, and here we believe that HashKey and Xinhuo will become two very representative companies, jointly promoting the development of the sector.

In the future, Li Lin will use Xinhuo as the main business carrier and increase investment in the market. We believe that under his guidance, Xinhuo will extend to more businesses that have significant impact on the industry.

Four, First Principles: Focusing on User Needs, Targeting Market Gaps

Colin: Understand. For me, I don't know much about Xinhuo's previous businesses. My impression is that they have done MPC, and also done custodial-related businesses, right? In addition, of course, there will be many businesses to promote in the coming period, but in terms of priority and focus, can you introduce them to everyone?

Qiyi: The problem with Xinhuo in the past was that it was actually a very old virtual asset listed company, even one of the earliest ones, but when it comes to its business, people don't have a "memory point." This is a big taboo in the industry — the outside world doesn't know what you're really doing. The businesses you mentioned earlier include asset management, MPC wallet, and even Xinhuo's OTC (off-exchange trading) once had a large trading volume, but none of these formed a strong memory point.

So when I decided to join Xinhuo, I was thinking: how to turn this historically rich, well-licensed (except for the 7th license, almost complete, with 1/4/9 licenses and a trust license, and all have VA uplift capability, capable of conducting virtual asset-related businesses) company into a "good dish" that the market recognizes. If I compare myself to a chef, I have rare ingredients like seafood in my hands, and the key is how to "cook" them into delicious dishes that the market recognizes. This is what I've been thinking about for the past month. The solution is also simple: return to the first principle — what we do must be what the market needs, and there is value only when there is demand. For example, many people intuitively think that since we come from HashKey, we should simply copy the 7th license business of HashKey to Xinhuo; but this is what ordinary teams would do.

Qiyi: We return to the first principle — what do customers really want? Where is the customer demand? We more start from user demand. Currently, the supply side has already been quite sufficient. The global major offshore exchanges are large and mature, and without particularly strong differentiation factors, it is difficult to break through.

For example, during the wave from 2018–2019, many platforms relied on differentiated small-cap coins ("small coins") to drive growth, prompting some second-tier exchanges to move into the top tier, and third-tier ones to move into the second tier. Similarly, during the DeFi cycle, platforms that captured DeFi benefits (such as FTX at the time) gained significantly.

Also, the contract market. After BitMEX fell due to compliance issues, many new contract exchanges emerged; the largest platforms today also launched their contract businesses during that phase. Without such a large-scale industry change, it would be very difficult to start and surpass a new exchange.

Meanwhile, the exchange model itself is also changing: from the early non-licensed full-stack exchanges to a lighter trading vehicle. For example, if you just want to buy Bitcoin or Ethereum, you may not need a heavy exchange. ETFs in the US/HK are also an option. The "7th license" in Hong Kong is no longer scarce, with more than ten companies now.

Qiyi: Finally, back to "who can survive." We see that the top platforms are all struggling hard, and those applying for licenses later will struggle even more, as they lack the first-mover advantage. In this stage, if Xinhuo were to do a full-stack exchange, it's not completely ruled out as a strategy, but it won't be the first step of cold start. What should be done in the cold start phase? This is our core issue. For this, we did market research: in this bull run, especially since the second half of this year, with the support of stablecoins and RWA, more people have begun to understand the industry. They realize that if billions of people go "on-chain," cross-border settlement costs will be lower, and assets will be more freely mobile; in many financially underdeveloped countries, even people without bank accounts can get banking-like services with just a wallet.

At the same time, a large amount of incremental capital is on the way — mainstream financial institutions, traditional family offices, and high-net-worth individuals in the traditional stock market have realized that crypto is gradually moving towards mainstream. They strongly want to enter, but there are many problems. I am almost monthly asked by traditional industry friends (most of whom are high-net-worth individuals, even with hundreds of millions to billions of wealth): Can this coin still be bought? Where to buy, where to open an account? Are Binance, OKX, etc., safe? What price is better to buy? How to prevent theft of assets? After buying, where to store it more securely (custody / self-custody)? How to comply with withdrawal to avoid "frozen cards"? Higher-level clients will ask: Can holding coins generate stable interest? Those who have already held a large amount of assets will ask: How to achieve family inheritance and intergenerational arrangements? These are the most urgent "pain points" for new entrants.

Five, Xinhuo's First Phase Strategy: Private Banking in the Crypto Circle and Family Trusts

Qiyi: The current 7th license is not really serving high-net-worth individuals. The 7th license mainly targets a wide range of retail investors, providing a low-touch platform service — giving you an app to operate on your own. However, many new entrants don't even know what a "market order" or "limit order" is. How to provide personalized services for these high-net-worth individuals? There is a clear market gap. Due to non-licensed exchanges operating in a "hidden" manner in the past, it was difficult to openly provide comprehensive services to customers, resulting in a long-standing gap on the service side.

We were thinking: can we provide "private banking-level" crypto management services for high-net-worth individuals and traditional new users? From account opening, deposit, trading, to custody/self-custody and asset management after buying coins, as well as family inheritance covered by our trust capabilities, the entire chain is provided by a "private banking-level manager" for personalized guidance and service. We jokingly call it "private banking in the crypto circle." This is not only a currently blank market positioning, but also a relatively lighter and easier-to-breakthrough business direction. This demand is not speculative — I have personally seen a high-net-worth client at HashKey's stage wanting to buy millions of dollars worth of Bitcoin: a compliant exchange opened an account for him, but only gave him an app to place orders on the order book.

He first placed a market order of $1 million. Due to poor liquidity on the new platform, the system quickly intercepted it and did not allow the transaction. So he changed it to split each order into $100,000, and we could see price "piercing" on the order book, with multiple "needles" appearing, which resulted in a significant slippage cost; after purchasing, he encountered many problems in the withdrawal process.

There are many similar examples. Virtual asset investment involves a series of complex steps and concepts such as buying, storing, and "coin generating coin." For new entrants, this is a "disaster curve." If these issues are not systematically resolved, this customer group — especially the newly added high-net-worth and institutional funds — their real value cannot be effectively released.

Qiyi: So we have done a lot of thinking and innovation in the onboarding, trading, holding, and succession stages for new customers. For example, onboarding, we can provide door-to-door, one-on-one concierge services; if the documents are complete, we promise to open an account within 7 days. In the trading phase, we will establish a dedicated service group — similar to traditional private banking customer service — with dedicated staff available 7x24 hours to answer questions; customers can also directly communicate with personnel to place intentions, such as "I want to buy $10 million in Bitcoin today." We will give an estimated price and total cost, and after the customer confirms, we will use smart routing across multiple exchanges to complete the transaction in the best way possible. If withdrawal is needed, we will provide a dedicated bank channel.

As a licensed financial institution and a listed company, we have good credit backing. Focusing on high-end customers helps maintain a "clean" channel, significantly reducing the probability of encountering "frozen cards" by banks' risk control, and completing withdrawals smoothly. In the holding phase, assets can be custodied in our trust account, or placed in designated compliant exchanges (such as Coinbase, HashKey); customers with stronger technical capabilities can also customize MPC (multi-party secure computing) wallets, supporting private deployment. After entering the holding phase, they can also entrust our fund to invest in coin types, and connect with traditional stock investments, achieving coordinated allocation of crypto assets and securities assets, improving the efficiency of capital use.

Qiyi: We have also pioneered a trust scheme with Bitcoin and other virtual assets as the subject: you can establish a family trust with pure Bitcoin, or combine coins with traditional assets (such as stocks) in the trust structure. This solves the "inheritance dilemma" for many people who have made substantial gains in the crypto market. Has Old Wu ever thought about this problem? I have considered many ways: writing small notes at home, using cold wallets, etc., but none are perfect answers. I once gave my family a cold wallet, and after a while, I asked, "Do you still have that USB drive I gave you?" They didn't remember. This shows that the actual operation process is very complicated. Now, you can directly use coins to establish a family trust, even with accompanying will arrangements.

For example: I have 100 Bitcoins, and I want to leave them to my son after my death; another 100 Bitcoins to my daughter; the rest distributed according to the plan. Through trust tools, we can systematically solve the issue of virtual asset inheritance — this is a necessity for many OGs.

In short, we adopt a high-touch "private banking-level" model, targeting high-net-worth clients with assets exceeding 10 million HKD, providing personalized services to help them solve the entire chain of needs from onboarding configuration, safe holding and earning interest, to asset inheritance.

Essentially, we are making a "subtraction" in the selection of people: in Hong Kong and the Greater China region represented by Hong Kong, we temporarily put aside the retail market, focus on high-net-worth clients, and simultaneously revitalize Xinhuo's existing asset management, MPC wallet, and OTC trading businesses. This is what we consider a more elegant first-phase strategy. We have done a lot of research around this direction, and the current feedback (including customer acquisition and conversion) is relatively ideal. We believe this strategy can open up a new situation.

Six, Xinhuo's Second Phase Strategy — "Treasury Special" Focuses More on Top Assets Like ETH, SOL

Colin: Understand. I think Livio has introduced it in detail: Xinhuo Technology will focus on "private banking services" for high-net-worth clients in Hong Kong and the Greater China region in the next steps, which is the current focus of work. Is my understanding correct? Another small question: as you know, Li Lin's family office holds a large amount of ETF. Will Xinhuo Technology possibly transform into a similar "reserve-type" company in the future? That is, regardless of whether it is Li Lin or other investors, will a large amount of cryptocurrency be injected into the listed company, making it a "Treasury company"?

Qiyi: When we were planning Xinhuo, we indeed discussed this route — whether to make Xinhuo also a Treasury (National Treasury) type company, whether to reserve Bitcoin or Ethereum, theoretically it is feasible, and Li Lin's family office indeed holds a considerable scale of digital assets.

Later, we found that this model could be successfully implemented in the US stock market largely due to the flexibility of the US stock market (including ATM — At-the-Market issuance mechanism's efficiency). Compared to this, the structure of the Hong Kong stock market is not as suitable. Therefore, for Xinhuo itself, we will not immediately shift to DAT business.

However, you have just hit our second strategy: we plan to set up a DAT special fund of about 500 million USD to strategically participate, and even lead some DAT projects in the US stock market or other stock markets. This topic is currently very hot, and we have seen many major US institutions accelerating their entry: from the early MicroStrategy configuring Bitcoin, to the recent Ethereum as the main subject. Whether or not there will be a DAT centered around Solana, we believe "the spark has already ignited" and it is expected to continue to heat up.

At the same time, these assets will also become the preferred configuration for our private banking clients. Many institutions or high-net-worth individuals who participate in their own names will encounter a lot of cumbersome issues in structural design, and the operation is "too heavy." Through our participation in these plans, relying on Xinhuo's credit backing and capital capabilities, customers can obtain a better asset package — essentially, we complete the complex work in advance, and then provide it to private banking clients in a simpler form. This is another very important strategic choice for us.

Colin: Ask a follow-up question. Recently, the hot spot seems to have shifted to BNB and Solana. These two days, a lot of American capital are pushing for Solana's Treasury company, and many Asian capital (including Hong Kong's Huaxing Capital, etc.) have started to do BNB's Treasury company. If you set up a fund to invest in these DATs, will you focus more on traditional BTC, Ethereum, or pay attention to relatively emerging BNB, Solana, or even smaller altcoins?

Qiyi: Probably both the first and second categories will be looked at. In the past, Xinhuo and Avenir have actually encountered these opportunities, and we are also advancing to the substantive stage with several initiators. As for longer-tail assets, in this round, we have observed that the pricing power of the crypto market is clearly concentrated in Wall Street. Wall Street understands and is willing to invest in the subjects, so the extremely long-tail coins are difficult to gain benefits through DAT. Of course, it is not ruled out that in the market peak stage, some small coins may use this channel to "tell a story" and surge, but that will not be the main melody, so we will focus more on the first two categories you mentioned.

Seven, Internationalization and Licensing Path: Starting from Hong Kong, Expanding to the U.S. and Global Compliance

Colin: You mentioned earlier that whether it's pricing power or the overall situation, the main force is still the U.S. Wall Street. We also know that Li Lin often goes to the U.S. and will have a lot of actions there. Please tell us, is Xinhuo's current business still focused on Hong Kong, or will it also promote internationalization, including actions in the U.S.?

Qiyi: Yes, this is a very good question. Hong Kong is the first step of Xinhuo's new phase strategy. After all, we are a Hong Kong stock company, with our main business entities and major licenses located in Hong Kong. Therefore, the first phase strategy mentioned earlier — "private banking-level digital asset management" — will focus more on Hong Kong and its related markets and regions.

It also has a profitable exchange in Japan, BitTrade. We will apply for and obtain licenses in other regions around the world and gradually launch a global strategy. The reason we chose "private banking" as the first step is to accelerate the implementation of the strategy: we repackage and reposition our existing businesses as a small Pareto improvement. Therefore, the progress will be fast — the new product website is expected to go live tomorrow. This is the style of me and my team: first, adapt to industry changes and iterate quickly; second, take one step and look three steps ahead. Going out of Hong Kong and radiating to surrounding markets is the first step.

Our second strategy is DAT, focusing on the U.S. and U.S. stock market. The third step is global strategy: based on the current popularity of stablecoins and RWA, as well as the trend of global licensing, we will promote subsequent internationalization. Relevant key resources have also been pre-positioned.

Colin: Yes, Livio has clearly explained the overall logic: the first step is to focus on existing resources and promote "private banking" for high-net-worth clients in Hong Kong; the second step focuses on DAT investment funds in the U.S. direction; the third step is global compliance layout.

I have another question that does not involve your own business, which we can discuss: now it seems that the hot spot is shifting from BTC to BNB and Solana. You and OSL, HashKey are not really competitors, they are doing compliance globally — especially HashKey has also obtained licenses in Singapore, Dubai, etc. OSL has been very active in the past six months, completing financing and acquiring listed companies with licenses globally. How do you view such strategies? Are there any lessons to learn? And can such a business of "acquiring licenses" in different countries truly profit, or is it more filling into the listed company system for stock market management and raising stock prices?

Qiyi: Yes, we indeed see that partners around us are increasing the acquisition of global licenses, even entering a "race" state. HashKey is my previous "family," still a good friend and subsequent partner; OSL is also part of Li Lin's portfolio, and Li Lin has participated in this round of private placement, also a partner of ours. First of all, we will maintain cooperation with them — because we do not do their 7th license business, and there is no direct competition. In many aspects (including trading, storage of coins, etc.), we are partners: where the customer needs to go, we will assist in completing. From a strategic perspective, I believe this is a group of high-level people doing future-oriented layouts.

But the success of the strategy depends on the two points you mentioned: one is "the speed at which the future arrives," and the other is whether the capital flow management can be perfectly matched. If this chain cannot be perfectly matched, there may be challenges at some stage; if it can be matched, it may become like Coinbase — early on, it bore the huge pressure of global licenses, and after overcoming it, it grew into a "giant." In this round, whether it's a pure "exchange license" or a pure "payment / financial (PayFi) license," they all have long-term value. Who can run to the end depends on the capital strength and operating level of each company.

Eight, What Stage Is This Cycle In?

Colin: Finally, let's talk about a question that everyone is more concerned about: where is this round of the market cycle now? We know that whether it's Li Lin's family office, asset management, or Livio yourself and your company's asset management team, you must have done a lot of analysis and research, from macro to specific operational levels. Because the current market has recently shown different voices. Wall Street has been "bullish," and it cannot be simply called hype — the Treasury company (DAT) essentially relies on the continuous rise of coin prices, and the flywheel can spin. So some people have said things like "Ethereum 10,000, 20,000" — for example, Arthur Hayes, and recently popular Tom Lee, etc.

On the other hand, we have felt in public markets and some private occasions, interviews, etc., that many funds in Asia have started to reduce their positions. A few days ago, an early whale sold tens of thousands of Bitcoins on the blockchain; previously, I interviewed a well-known fund that even thought the market might have a 50% adjustment in the next year. From your research or judgment, what kind of trend might there be in the next year?

Qiyi: In fact, there is a sentence that can answer most similar doubts: from 2017 to now, a global trend is — the East (including the Chinese people) has been continuously selling, while the US has been continuously buying. This is related to the impact of the US compliance process and the expectation of interest rate cuts.

The market is still very hot; investors in Asia who are outside this atmosphere may not feel this enthusiasm and the influx of a lot of capital. Historically, Asia has entered the market earlier — whether it's China, South Korea, or Japan. The West entered the market relatively late. Early Asian investors have already made considerable gains (many assets have increased several times), so they naturally worry about drawdowns and tend to "take profits." But the capital entering the West started mostly in the (for Bitcoin, for example) several thousand dollar range, and they think "the revolution has just begun," so their mindset is very different.

Personally, I tend to think: since the pricing power is in the US, we should pay more attention to the wind indicators of US institutions — under the background of "interest rate cut expectations," what kind of situation and performance will appear before and after the interest rate cut, which may determine the subsequent trend. In fact, this year alone, we have seen many old OGs who "got off" and could never get back on. Therefore, I also want to remind: holding for the long term but frequently doing swing trades is very dangerous. No one can accurately judge the top and bottom of the swing. But from a long-term perspective, the trend of industry development is relatively clear. If considering a ten-year period, I believe that now is definitely not the peak, but still in a relatively mid or mid-lower range — this is probably the only certainty.

Other than that, it depends on personal choices. For example, someone who sold Bitcoin at 120,000 and may not sell it in the future, and the price drops to 70,000 or 80,000, may be very uncomfortable. Different people have different risk tolerance and return goals, the key is to make decisions that are responsible for themselves. My judgment is: the current price is neither the lowest nor the highest. Maintaining a long-term mindset, valuing long-term value, and growing with the industry, the final return may be more substantial.

Colin: Finally, maybe ask for job seekers, are you hiring at Xinhuo now? Do you need talent in the market?

Qiyi: Thank you very much. Xinhuo is indeed vigorously promoting its business now, and we urgently need a group of experienced and potential industry elites. We emphasize "elites," the team size is not about quantity, but about quality: one excellent talent can often replace three average talents, and the management cost is only about one-third of an ordinary person, which is a more optimal choice.

We have seen many problems with mediocre teams in the past: recruiting too many and too fast, leading to dilution of value and culture; the result is that some people "lie flat," some are busy with upward management, and the real workers are very tired, eventually leading to complaints, and unwilling to continue to invest. This is a common situation for most mediocre teams. So, if you think you are an industry elite, please apply for a job at Xinhuo. Being able to listen to Wu Shuo's podcast and stick to the end shows that you have strong learning ability and resilience, and you are in a stage of rapid growth — you are likely the talent we are looking for. Welcome to join us.