In 2024 the ViaBTC mining pool entered the top three by hashrate on the Bitcoin network, mined halving block #840,000 and marked its eighth anniversary.
We spoke with the founder of ViaBTC and the cryptocurrency exchange CoinEx, Haipo Yang, about the halving’s impact on the price of digital gold, the role of meme tokens and artificial intelligence in the industry, and the key changes in mining in recent years.
ForkLog: This year bitcoin set a new all-time high ahead of the halving for the first time. Does the halving still affect the market? Is its significance overestimated?
Haipo Yang: The first cryptocurrency has gone through four halvings, each of which reduced the block reward. However, the network’s overall hashrate has only increased as the market has developed, its resilience to risks has improved, and bitcoin has been recognised as a reliable investment.
In the early days many miners paused operations because of the halving and resumed mining as the price rose. Now they have more long-term strategies and pay less attention to volatility. The halving’s impact is gradually diminishing: it barely affects bitcoin’s price and hashrate.
ForkLog: Where is the market in the cycle now?
Haipo Yang: Based on historical data from the last two cycles, one can forecast another peak in roughly 500 days. I would not be surprised if bitcoin sets a new ATH next year.
I view the prospects for digital gold optimistically and do not think it has reached the bubble stage yet. During that phase we will likely see prices in the $100,000–150,000 range.
The crypto market sits between accumulation and growth. This is indicated, among other things, by TradFi investors’ activity in the ETF segment.
ForkLog: How will ETFs affect bitcoin and Ethereum?
Haipo Yang: Over the long term—unambiguously positively. Capital inflows via bitcoin ETFs have significantly increased digital gold’s liquidity. Since January 2024 they have totalled more than $17bn. Institutions are still assessing the product, which points to substantial potential.
The launch of spot exchange-traded funds for Ethereum could attract investors who have not considered cryptocurrencies as a separate asset class. They will also foster the development of an ecosystem that urgently needs real applications instead of projects for airdrop hunters.
Finally, ETF approval creates a regulatory precedent. Clarity is crucial for strengthening user trust and further legitimising the industry.
ForkLog: How do you assess recent trends in European and American crypto regulation?
Haipo Yang: The adoption of MiCA was important. In my view it is a positive change: it promotes regulatory certainty, which levels the playing field and protects investors.
We closely follow regulatory developments and update our services to comply with the rules. But CoinEx’s goal is not only to meet regulatory requirements. We aim to make trading on the platform as simple as possible and to keep users’ funds safe.
ForkLog: Which 2024 trends do you find particularly interesting?
Haipo Yang: Memecoins, of course. I would also highlight the development of The Open Network (TON) ecosystem and projects tied to AI and DePIN.
Despite the hype, crypto services are not finding broad adoption. We are still waiting for a Web3 killer app that will surpass Web2 applications in usefulness and convenience.
I believe this breakthrough is inevitable, especially in AI and DePIN, given their prospects for mass Web3 adoption.
ForkLog: What do you think of the Solana ecosystem?
Haipo Yang: It has indeed made significant progress, overtaking Ethereum by monthly DEX volume and on several other metrics. Even so, a large share of activity on the network is tied to memecoins on the Pump.fun platform.
Solana has shown it can handle large transaction volumes, but it has yet to launch dapps that meet real needs and support the blockchain’s long-term development.
That said, the ecosystem already has impressive solutions at the intersection of Web2 and Web3, such as Solana Actions. Such integrations can expand the user base and the network’s list of use cases.
Thanks to versatile smart contracts and a large developer community, Ethereum remains the market’s dominant force. However, high throughput and fast iteration on new ideas make Solana a formidable competitor.
ForkLog: And what is your view of memecoins?
Haipo Yang: Conventional strategies do not work for them: often you can analyse only the on-chain activity of token holders. Although the press regularly reports traders making millions on such assets, the odds of picking a “winning token” are extremely low.
Competition for attention is very intense in this segment, and insider trading and manipulation severely limit the opportunities of ordinary users.
ForkLog: You have worked in the industry since 2013. Given that experience, what portfolio share would you allocate to memecoins?
Haipo Yang: Asset allocation depends on an investor’s trading strategy. I would recommend a conservative 5–10% for memecoins: you get a chance at high returns without putting the rest of your funds at risk.
Of course, the ratio may change. For example, in the current cycle large cryptocurrencies like bitcoin, Solana and TON have outperformed 80–90% of altcoins. Sometimes less is more.
ForkLog: Another trend in 2024 has been AI tokens. Will artificial intelligence become an integral part of the crypto industry?
Haipo Yang: The AI sector can be divided into three main segments: computing resources, agents and data. Each has significant potential for real-world application, especially combined with blockchain.
However, we have not yet seen truly worthwhile projects at the intersection of the two technologies. There are two reasons for this.
First, developers often choose Web3 only for quick fundraising. It is time to abandon this approach and build solutions that fully unlock the benefits of tokenisation and decentralisation.
Second, the market is still searching for sustainable monetisation models. For example, in the DePIN sector the sale of nodes is gaining popularity, but the use of these computing resources is very limited. Players need to develop more practical and profitable mechanics.
Despite these issues, I believe in the coming fusion of AI and cryptocurrencies. Such a symbiosis will spur innovation across industries.
ForkLog: Do CoinEx and ViaBTC use AI solutions?
Haipo Yang: Yes, we are deploying artificial intelligence to make CoinEx and ViaBTC products more functional and user-friendly. We are already using it:
- for content generation and localisation. AI agents create educational materials, market reports and client guides, and provide high-quality translation into different languages;
- for analysing candles and news. AI-based services monitor the candlestick chart (K-line), news and social-media activity to provide users with complex market analysis, forecasts and up-to-date information for trading decisions.
Among other things, we are actively exploring AI’s capabilities for identifying and assessing company risks. In future we plan to use it to optimise customer service and detect anomalous transactions. This will make CoinEx and ViaBTC services safer while preserving the platforms’ competitive advantages.
ForkLog: In July ViaBTC marked its eighth anniversary. What key events have occurred in the industry since the pool’s launch?
Haipo Yang: One of the most important changes is the hardware upgrade. Bitcoin’s hashrate has grown significantly since the days of mining on CPU and GPU, while the network’s energy consumption has decreased. ASIC devices have moved from 12 nm to 5 nm and even 3 nm chips. Unfortunately, the flip side of these achievements has been a higher barrier to entry for mining.
Regulation of the industry is developing rapidly around the world. Many countries have standardised cryptocurrency mining activities, which has led to a broader geographic distribution of mining. Before 2021 most of bitcoin’s hashrate was in China; after the ban in that region it shifted to the United States, Russia, the Middle East and Latin America.
It is also worth noting the rise of “green” mining. Environmental considerations are a trend that is pushing more companies to switch to renewable energy sources. For example, some miners in Iceland and Norway use geothermal and hydroelectric resources.