In Africa, I see the future of digital assets

In this era, there is no shortage of courageous entrepreneurs. When the blockchain comes with the storm, they are like a banner and stand alone in this great storm.

Jin Huayue is one of these many blockchain entrepreneurs.

Jin Huayue is the founder, serial entrepreneur and angel investor of the cross-chain wallet Theia. He has managed and operated its own platform for millions of users, entered the blockchain industry in 2016, and invested in many early-known well-known blockchain projects in the early stage. In 2017, he officially entered the digital asset wallet business track and founded Theia cross-chain wallet.

Today, he is leading the team to build a " digital asset financial service platform " on the wallet ecology, and take the African market as the entry point to provide digital asset financial services to the world's 2 billion people without bank accounts.

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In this article, we will introduce Jin Huayue and his entrepreneurial story.

Picture: Jin Huayue (middle)

First, entrepreneurial genes

Jin Huayue is a native of Yuhuan, Zhejiang Province. He was very interested in business activities since he was a child. Therefore, at the school stage, he began to try the e-commerce model, and before the age of 20, he earned his first bucket of gold-1 million yuan.

Later, with the rise of the Internet economy, he tried to explore more business models in the field of e-commerce and food delivery with his previous experience and capital accumulation. As a result, he successively founded Taobao Group Buying Website “Today Group”, e-commerce rebate website “Shopping Today”, Group Buying Website “Ian Group Website” and takeaway website “Rabbit Takeaway Network”.

In 2013, China's mobile game industry entered a booming stage. Jin Huayue smelled this wave of business opportunities, quickly laid out the mobile game market, and made good achievements in the mobile game back-end service market. During this period, a foreign user used bitcoin to pay his attention, which also laid a foreshadowing for his later blockchain startup.

In 2016, with the disappearance of the mobile game demographic dividend, the weakness of the business forced Jin Huayue to think about the next direction. At that time, the blockchain industry quietly rose in China. Jin Huayue saw it again

“Compared to media, mining pools, and exchanges, wallets are more likely to interact with C-end users and facilitate the establishment of an application ecosystem on their wallets. At the same time, our team is also good at traffic services. Therefore, in early 2018, we launched Theia's cross-chain wallet and in-depth strategic cooperation with Wanchain began a global layout. " Jin Huayue aimed at the digital asset wallet track.

In the world of digital assets, a wallet is a tool product. If its function is limited to storage, withdrawal and transactions, it is easy to be mediocre due to homogeneity. Jin Huayue said that Theia wallet is special in three aspects.

The first is the selection of technology. Theia wallet uses a dual-track operating system to provide users with both a private key account and a platform account. The use of cross-chain technology based on secure multi-party computing and threshold keys to achieve cross-chain transfer of digital assets, and also provides a currency flash service, allowing users to exchange different digital assets at the optimal price. The underlying security of the wallet is guaranteed through hot and cold separation, biometrics, and lightning compensation mechanisms.

The second is the choice of scene. Theia uses its light supply chain assets that it is familiar with, easy to land, and large market space as its entrance. The user first makes money through the platform, completes the collection and payment, and then deposits the funds into the wallet. Finally, a global integrated ecological wallet combining comprehensive e-commerce and inclusive finance will be created.

The third is the establishment of a credit system. Theia wallet is perfecting a comprehensive set of credit evaluation models and algorithms. Establish a multi-dimensional credit rating for anonymous transactions through online, offline, and third-party collaboration. However, when Theia wallet was about to show its strength in the market, reality poured a cold water on Jin Huayue.

The battle for transformation

In the second half of 2018, the blockchain industry has fully entered the cold winter period. Under the sluggish market conditions, Jin Huayue had no choice but to lay off the marketing department, retain the technical department, and at the same time seek business that can generate cash flow to maintain the company's normal operations.

At that time, he saw the digital asset trading market in Africa.

"We entered the mobile game industry in 2013 and have accumulated a large number of users from Africa and Southeast Asia. We found that Africa's financial service coverage is low, inflation is serious, and nearly 500 million people have no bank account. In addition, as smartphones Popularity, Africans are becoming more and more accustomed to using digital assets such as Bitcoin and gift cards. There are huge market opportunities. "

Therefore, in December 2018, Jin Huayue launched a comprehensive e-commerce trading platform on Theia Wallet Ecology, which is equivalent to "Taobao.com" in the field of digital assets and provides digital asset transaction services to African users.

"The current platform is based on the digital asset trading of light supply chain as the entry point. In the future, application scenarios such as cross-border trade, local life, O2O, and games will be deployed. "

"The strategy of Theia Wallet is to take the third world country as the entrance, first provide digital asset financial services to the world ’s 2 billion people without bank accounts, and build a trading ecosystem on top of this. Finally, create a globally integrated financial service and trade service. platform."

It is this strategic transformation of "transaction scenario + payment" that Theia Wallet has accumulated a total turnover of 25 million yuan in half a year, achieving micro profit. And insight into the huge market space brought by digital assets from "transaction scenario + payment" to "global trade + financial services".

In October 2019, Theia Wallet decided through a strategic decision meeting to position itself as a Taobao-like model of digital asset transactions and a payment model of digital currency full-scenario payments. The strategy is "digital assets. Global transactions, digital currencies. Global payments".

It is worth mentioning that most of these Theia wallet users in Africa are from Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Ghana and other countries. These users are mainly college students, and they joined Theia to launch the "Thousand Schools Donation Program" in Africa to help local construction. Education.

Team first

"The world is silent like a mystery. Fortunately, there are always people exploring. " Entrepreneurship is a gamble about dreams and passions, but also a lonely journey.

As a serial entrepreneur, Jin Huayue has his own perception of entrepreneurship.

"I think one of the things entrepreneurs really should do is to find a new combination of technology and market through independent thinking, then build a new value network, give full play to their advantages in a unique ecosystem, and Become a leader in this industry and create value for this society. "

Because of this venture, Jin Huayue quit smoking for many years and cultivated a tough team. He said,

"Entrepreneurs have the keenest sense of smell, but do not necessarily know the industry well. In order to achieve a common goal and vision, entrepreneurship requires strong partner members and a team to support it. While knowing the market and knowing the technology best, such a combination In order to become competitive. As an entrepreneurial team, we are even more aware of this. We survived the last round of the bear market, which is inseparable from the team's insistence on collaboration. "

Today, the main partners of Theia Wallet include Li Guogang (Chief Risk Officer), Yong Yongbao (Chief Technology Officer), Wan Hui (Chief Operating Officer), Sun Chao (Chief Marketing Officer), Wu Liujun (Head of Business Operations), Huang Xiaobo (Director of Overseas Channels). Whether it is technology development, commercial operation, or brand promotion, they have many years of practical experience in their respective areas of responsibility.

After a year of ups and downs, the memories of the past are precious.

Picture: In July 2018, a photo of the first Wuzhen World Blockchain Conference

Picture: In November 2019, the second Wuzhen · World Blockchain Conference photo

Talking about the future, Jin Huayue said,

"We want to make the people of the third world countries enjoy the dividends of the digital age. Provide them with digital asset trading and financial service entrepreneurship platforms. Combine China's supply chain advantages with the advantages of digital finance globalization, and integrate trade and finance. Connect Africa and change the world. We have formed a team of more than 20 people in Africa and we hope more African partners will join. "

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