Yang Haipo, CEO of ViaBTC, Calls Blockchain a Radical Libertarian Experiment Testing the Limits of Freedom and Technology

Yang Haipo, CEO of ViaBTC, has characterized blockchain as a hardcore libertarian experiment, emphasizing its role in testing the limits of freedom without reliance on central authorities. In a recent discussion, Yang highlighted that blockchain’s essence is not merely technological but fundamentally about decentralization and individual self-organization. He pointed out that the 2008 financial crisis and the cypherpunk movement laid the groundwork for Bitcoin, which challenges traditional financial systems by replacing trust with cryptography.

Yang believes this experiment has validated both the dividends and costs of freedom. The dividends are reflected in anti-censorship capabilities, such as Bitcoin becoming the only unblockable funding channel during the 2010 WikiLeaks incident, and stablecoins providing real value channels for families in Argentina, merchants in sanctioned regions, and other groups facing financial restrictions. However, the costs are equally significant: the absence of centralized oversight has led to events like the collapses of LUNA, Three Arrows Capital, and FTX, resulting in the evaporation of tens of billions of dollars and the collective imprisonment of industry founders, serving as footnotes to the price of freedom.

He further analyzed that the experiment has continuously evolved with speculation, centralization, and narrative frenzy, rooted in the fact that technology can change rules but cannot automatically change human nature. Despite these challenges, Yang maintains that the demand for blockchain is real but limited, serving niche needs like bypassing capital controls and enabling anonymous transactions. He argued that blockchain’s ability to disrupt financial intermediaries is significant, offering a value transmission network that cannot be fully controlled or shut down.

ViaBTC, which Yang leads, is currently the third-largest Bitcoin mining pool in the world, according to industry data. His perspective comes from direct involvement in the cryptocurrency mining and blockchain infrastructure sector, where he has observed the technology’s evolution over more than a decade of experimentation since Bitcoin’s inception.