Spotlight on Technical Standards Committee Member, Lin Zheming

Lin Zheming is a prime example of a Bitcoin builder. Both Dotwallet and the Chinese mining pool, Mempool are projects of Boquan Network Ltd, of which Zheming is the founder and CEO.

To help give insights into the experience and knowledge that is required to become a Technical Standards Committee Member, we talked to Zheming about his work as an entrepreneur and as a member of the Committee.

Building Basic Infrastructure for Businesses

DotWallet and Mempool are laying the foundation for businesses that want to incorporate the Bitcoin SV into their business. Dotwallet can be considered a gateway that connects users and applications. A key concern for the app is the user’s need for privacy and to maintain sovereignty over private keys, identities and more importantly their usage data of each app.

DotWallet upholds the belief that the relationship between users and applications should remain confidential. The wallet should only act as an intermediary between the user and the data produced by each transaction. It recognises that this data is extremely valuable and can be seen as a digital asset for users. To provide maximum functionality, DotWallet is a mixed wallet system that provides both custodial and non-custodial wallets.

Another important backbone for the entire ecosystem is of course the transaction processors, also called miners. Mining is the second area in which the Boquan Network is involved – namely with Mempool, which used to be an important mining pool in the early days of Bitcoin SV. However, the pool paused operation after China outlawed mining in 2021. Zheming hinted that ‘it will come to life again’, but did not go into further detail.

Realising the innovative potential of a blockchain – Building on Bitcoin

Zheming assesses that the potential of blockchain technology has so far gone unrecognized by the wider blockchain community. On the one hand, the focus here is on the wrong aspects; on the other hand, the best-known blockchains do not deliver on their promises.

He can draw from his own experience here, as his first app was built on BTC. He learned more about the Lightning Network at that time, which later turned out to be unusable.

As a Bitcoin builder, he knows that the foundation for applications and businesses must be stable:

‘[Any blockchain] is not a very stable platform that we can build on if it constantly changes protocols. The set-in-stone part of the Satoshi vision is much more attractive to me. And I truly believe that if we can take advantage of the micropayments system enabled by BSV, we will be able to create a lot of amazing stuff.’

Zheming emphasises that the average user does not need to have technical knowledge about Bitcoin, rather it is in the hands of developers and entrepreneurs to put the utility of a blockchain to use and improve existing products, business models and services.

On Technical Standards

With vast experience at tech companies and with his enterprises, Zheming is a valuable member of the Technical Standards Committee. Zheming describes the work as challenging when it comes to reconciling the different interests and agendas of various entities.

He highlights the collaborative aspect of the work, which is an important part to understand the interests and requirements of all interested parties. For certain standards, the TSC establishes working groups.

An important part of the work in these groups is therefore to first get an overview of the terms and interests of all parties. It is not always possible to satisfy all sides, but in the end, it is crucial to find common ground, as the entrepreneur recounts.

He believes that for proposing a standard, it’s important to consider various interested parties and engage everyone in the process to gain support from the legal system. They acknowledge that different entities may have varying interests and agendas, but finding common ground is crucial. In the end, the value of finding good standards benefits all of the ecosystems with practical and useful solutions.

For new potential Technical Standards Committee members, Zheming has advised that they should be well-versed in the theory of Bitcoin. A second important requirement for him is soft skills, including organisational talent, social skills, and project management qualities.

Interested in becoming a TSC member? Here is how you can apply

If you are interested in becoming a member of the TSC yourself, you can apply using the application form available on the TSC’s official website on the recruitment campaign. The application deadline is March 9, 2023, at 11.59 pm and those who are selected to progress to the next stage will be asked to join a short online interview with the nominating committee. A second round of interviews may also be held at the committee’s discretion, with applicants notified of the outcome within seven days following the interview.

If you are interested in joining the TSC, please read the role description and information pack that you can find on the website carefully. Applications must be submitted no later than 23h59 UTC on March 9, 2023. The TSC is looking forward to receiving your application!