According to BroadChain, at 11:16 on April 23, ViaBTC CEO Yang Haipo recently pointed out in a dialogue that the essence of blockchain is not "new infrastructure" or ordinary technology, but a hardcore libertarian experiment that has been ongoing for over a decade. The core proposition of this experiment lies in exploring how far individual freedom and self-organization can extend when trust no longer relies on centralized institutions. Its historical roots can be traced back to the collapse of trust triggered by the 2008 global financial crisis, combined with two decades of technical accumulation from the cypherpunk movement, ultimately converging into the birth of Bitcoin.
Yang Haipo believes that this experiment has already 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. However, the costs are equally significant: the "dark forest" lacking centralized oversight has led to a series of events like 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. From altcoins and ICOs to DeFi, NFTs, and even MEME coins, the technical substance of narratives has decreased while speculative purity has increased, and cycles have shortened. This exposes a reality: on top of decentralized protocols, people will still recreate centralized structures of belief and speculation.
Regarding the ultimate direction of the experiment, Yang Haipo holds a cautious stance. He believes blockchain addresses real but niche demands, such as bypassing capital controls and enabling anonymous transactions, and its user ceiling may be lower than market expectations. The industry has mistakenly treated niche demand pipelines as universal infrastructure for rebuilding the world. However, this does not negate its significance—just as printing and the internet respectively challenged the monopolies of knowledge and information, blockchain challenges the monopoly of financial intermediaries over value flow. The value transmission network it provides, which cannot be completely shut down, has irreversible long-term effects.
Finally, his advice to ordinary participants is that true freedom lies in possessing the judgment not to be hijacked by group sentiment. In a market lacking cash flow, clear intrinsic value, and safety margins, most projects will go to zero, and most participants will lose money. What ultimately endures through cycles is often not a particular narrative, but the ability to read deeply, reflect, and maintain independent thinking.