In-depth Discussion on the Bitcoin Ecosystem and Industry Trends: Interview with Cobo Co-founder Shen Yu

Recently, we had the privilege of interviewing Shen Yu, the co-founder and CEO of the digital asset custody solution provider Cobo. As a co-founder of the world's largest mining pool F2Pool, Shen Yu shared his unique insights on the industry cycle, Bitcoin halving, the mining landscape, and investment mentality.

The Impact of Bitcoin Halving on Mining Companies

The God Fish pointed out that the Bitcoin mining industry is mainly composed of three types of enterprises:

1. North American listed companies: primarily rely on cheap oil and gas fields and redundant power resources. Recently strengthened cash flow through financing and began to expand into new businesses such as Bitcoin Layer 2 solutions and NFTs.

2. Non-listed companies supported by Chinese capital: distributed in South America and Africa, pursuing low-cost operations. It is expected to expand rapidly after the Bitcoin halving.

3. Emerging mining companies supported by national investment institutions: The goal is not only to make profits but also to participate in market competition and obtain early Bitcoin output.

Overall, the Bitcoin halving has a significant impact on the second type of mining companies, as they are more sensitive to cost changes and are undergoing large-scale relocations of mining machines to optimize costs.

Views on Altcoin Market

The Divine Fish believes that there may not be a "altcoin season" after this Bitcoin halving. The reasons include:

• Market participants are different from before, many miners have hedged their risks months in advance.
• Public companies leverage favorable news from ETFs to raise funds, reducing their sensitivity to costs.
• Investor funds mainly flow into Bitcoin through channels such as ETFs, and have not yet significantly flowed into other cryptocurrencies.

Shen Yu believes that the current market is in the mid-term of a bull market, having found a new narrative logic, but has not yet entered a high leverage and FOMO state.

AI Chips and Mining Landscape

The God Fish believes that Bitcoin mining chips and AI chips may not be in competition, but rather mutually reinforcing:

• Bitcoin chips have driven the rapid iteration of chip technology.
• Some mining chip manufacturers have started developing AI-oriented chips.
• The fully customized design methodology derived from Bitcoin mining has begun to be applied to AI chip design.

Looking to the future, the God Fish predicts that mining and AI chip companies will gradually merge, and the boundaries of products will become blurred. Although the mining market is currently a "cash cow", the growth focus of the chip industry may shift towards AI in the future.

Bitcoin Ecosystem Expansion

Regarding the development of the Bitcoin ecosystem, Shen Yu holds a positive attitude:

• The Bitcoin main chain primarily serves as a store of value and is difficult to implement major updates.
• Layer 2 networks and sidechain technology are thriving, bringing new possibilities to the ecosystem.
• Technologies such as the Lightning Network have begun to attract real users for experimentation.

The divine fish believes that the development of the Bitcoin ecosystem reflects the charm of decentralized networks, even if the core development team cannot prevent emerging changes. He calls for giving the Bitcoin ecosystem enough time and patience, believing that revolutionary new developments will emerge.

The Future of Custody Services

Faced with traditional financial institutions entering the cryptocurrency space, Shenyu believes this is a good thing:

• Helps to address new users' concerns about secure storage.
• In the future, there may be blockchain applications that users are unaware of, such as keyless wallets and smart wallets based on MPC.
• Cobo focuses on the secure storage and use of private keys, as well as related risk management.

Shenyu foresees that with the resolution of performance issues and user experience (especially the no-private-key experience), the cryptocurrency industry will enter a truly grounded development stage.

Investment Mindset and Trend Insights

The divine fish shared his investment insights:

• It is recommended to invest 10-15% of assets in promising sectors.
• Pay special attention to the development of "modular blockchain", believing that it could be the next hundred billion dollar market.
• Reduce FOMO mentality through reflection and reading.
• It is advisable to view the market from a higher perspective and avoid short-term impulses.

The divine fish also noticed that the new generation of investors (especially those born after 2000) are more sensitive to market sentiment, which may be their advantage.

Future Outlook: The Integration of AI, Metaverse, and Blockchain

The divine fish holds an optimistic attitude towards technological integration:

• Anticipate the native interaction between blockchain and AI, as well as the direct interaction between IoT devices and AI Agents.
• The future metaverse may differ from current imaginations, with the core being the storage and presentation of data and ownership in virtual spaces through blockchain technology.
• The native characteristics of blockchain (such as DeFi and AMM) will facilitate spontaneous value discovery and enhance financial attributes.

Shenyu believes that the development path of the cryptocurrency industry may be similar to the internet: it first experiences a bubble period and mass frenzy, and ultimately achieves true maturity by solving real problems.