The Technical Commitment of Blockchain Scientists: An Interview with Conflux Founder Long Fan

Professor Long Fan, the founder of Conflux Network, recently attended the Digital Finance and Ecological Development Conference held in Hong Kong, reappearing in the public eye. This Tsinghua alumnus, MIT PhD, and current professor at the University of Toronto has almost faded from the public view in recent years, quietly leading his team in the technological exploration and global expansion of Conflux as the only compliant public blockchain in China.

In the face of the RWA boom, the surge of Memecoins, and the accelerated development of stablecoins, the pace of the Blockchain era is faster than ever. How does Conflux maintain its technological focus amid this? As the only compliant Chinese public chain, what long-term thinking lies behind Conflux's compliant identity?

In this exclusive interview, Professor Long Fan systematically shared for the first time his path choices, independent judgments on industry trends, and advice for young developers.

The Original Intention of Entrepreneurship and the Technical Foundation of Conflux

Professor Long Fan stated that the identity he most hopes to be remembered for is that of a computer science researcher. Whether as the founder of Conflux or studying at MIT and teaching at the University of Toronto, all of these are part of that identity.

For Conflux, Professor Longfan believes that it has been committed to being a high-performance public chain based in China or Asia, aiming to become an important infrastructure in the Web 3.0 era. This has been the direction determined by the team since 2018 and has been consistently upheld.

The technical advantage of Conflux lies in its overall architecture, achieving high TPS without sacrificing decentralization and security. The network can support 3000-6000 TPS, and the confirmation time is also very fast. All of this is achieved without sacrificing the number of nodes and security.

Since the mainnet went live, it has maintained zero security incidents, reflecting the stability and credibility of its architecture. Conflux focuses on what it is better at and should be doing, such as actively promoting offshore RMB stablecoins and collaborating with China Telecom on BSIM cards. These all demonstrate the unique advantages of being the only compliant public blockchain platform originating from China.

Compliance is not something that is fought for, but a long-term belief + path selection

Professor Long Fan stated that Conflux becoming the only compliant public chain in China has its historical reasons. This was not fought for, but rather, under previous regulatory policies, most teams voluntarily abandoned this direction. Many teams chose to migrate to places like Singapore due to short-term strategic considerations.

Conflux adheres to a compliant development path and has borne very high compliance costs. This means that in many decisions, they must be more restrained, such as not being able to issue new tokens at will. The team has always believed that compliance has great value in the long term and is willing to make efforts and sacrifice some short-term benefits for this.

Most members of the core team graduated from Tsinghua University, and there are also researchers who studied abroad. They are all engaged in a technically oriented and serious endeavor. The team believes that it can persist in finding a path for normal development and is willing to try to communicate with regulators and explore what can be done. In actual communication, it has also been found that as long as both parties are willing to communicate, a solution acceptable to both sides can eventually be found.

Regarding the layout in Hong Kong, Professor Long Fan believes that Hong Kong can now be understood as a "special zone" for Blockchain. As a place for capital openness, piloting Blockchain applications in Hong Kong will be much less pressured. This directly leads to a notable result: compared to the mainland, the compliance costs in Hong Kong are much lower.

Many projects, regardless of where their team members are located, choose to register their projects in Hong Kong. Once they become a "Hong Kong project", it is much easier to promote compliance and less likely to encounter unnecessary troubles. Hong Kong is currently in a natural policy dividend period, which is a very important opportunity window.

RWA is evolution, Memecoin is humanity: the two polar survival laws of the blockchain world

Professor Long Fan believes that RWA and stablecoins are not bubbles, but rather the entire industry is constantly seeking new narratives to optimize its development path while breaking through regulatory barriers and existing framework limitations. This essentially represents an important step forward for humanity in better utilizing Blockchain technology.

Insiders in the industry are continuously revising and upgrading the narrative, reinterpreting how Blockchain should be applied in a manner that is easier for the outside world to understand and accept. The acceptance of these concepts by the outside world varies with time and social context.

RWA is a perspective shift within the entire blockchain industry, conveying the same core message to the outside world: blockchain technology is valuable and has real application potential. This is not a bubble, but an upgrade in the industry's narrative, a way to engage in dialogue with the times.

Regarding Memecoin, Professor Longfan believes that it reflects the ancient gambling needs of humanity. Memecoin is essentially a manifestation of this demand in the era of cryptocurrency, a form of "gambling in the crypto age." If we acknowledge that there is an inherent longing for risk, excitement, and uncertainty in human nature, then it is merely another way of expression, another poker table.

The Conflux team is relatively more restrained and stable in its strategy. The things the team promotes often have a slower pace, partly because the direction itself needs time to settle, and partly because it indeed requires long-term efforts to push forward. However, the team firmly believes that opportunities in this direction exist, especially against the backdrop of the ongoing changes in the international situation, and the direction they adhere to is gradually revealing its value and significance.

For new developers entering the industry, Professor Longfan suggests choosing a suitable direction based on personal and team circumstances. One option is to excel at capturing short-term opportunities, quickly iterating, and rapidly experimenting, which allows for more application-layer oriented paths. The other option is to choose a direction that can be invested in for the long term, whether it be infrastructure, a specific type of niche application, or filling technical gaps at the Infra layer. The key is to find the path that is most suitable for oneself.

The Conflux ecosystem has always had various ways to incentivize developers, with the goal of finding projects willing to establish long-term partnerships. The team tends to support those who are genuinely willing to land, invest, and have clear long-term plans, hoping to establish solid cooperation with them to promote the common growth of the ecosystem together.