Interview: CEO of imToken, the World’s Largest Ethereum Wallet, Talks EOS Adoption in China

Chinese cryptocurrency wallet startup imToken may not have much name recognition in the West, but the firm, which raised $10 million during its recently-concluded Series A funding round, claims to operate the world’s largest ethereum wallet, which boasts more than 4 million active users.

ImToken recently added support for EOS to its multi-currency wallet, which previously supported BTC in addition to ETH. CCN recently interviewed imToken founder and CEO Ben He to discuss the announcement, as well as Chinese interest in EOS.

What motivated you to launch a wallet for EOS ahead of other, more-established cryptocurrencies?

Earlier we supported ETH20 tokens, which generated immense traction on imToken, and ultimately we feel that the obligation to build our EOS DPOS wallet was based on our users’ feedback and what they’re looking for in a wallet right now. As a result, when EOS launch its mainnet, we wanted to provide support for these users since with imToken being the largest Ethereum wallet, there’s been a natural cross over with the growing interest in EOS. At the same time, the second largest market for imToken is now South Korea, where currently 24% of EOS trading volume comes from.

From your perspective, how has EOS been received by average Chinese cryptocurrency users and investors?

Much of China’s interest in cryptocurrency is fueled by the financial incentives that come from the acquisition and ownership of EOS tokens. At the same time, for those that are in tune with the underlying blockchain technology do believe that EOS is a technical breakthrough that will help to progress blockchain technology with issues such as scalability, through-put and on-chain performance.

Do you view EOS as a competitor to Ethereum, or does it fill another niche in the crypto-ecosystem? What do you make of the variety of controversies that have surrounded EOS since its launch, perhaps most notably the proposal to scrap the constitution and replace it with a new one?

EOS is a new technology, and although there are issues and drawbacks that have arisen as a result of its introduction and launch of its mainnet, it can be expected for new technology. At least in China, there are people who do see the potential in the technology and concept that EOS has introduced, so we are naturally observing the process and the outcome.

What other currencies or features are you planning to add to the imToken wallet in the near future?

For now, we plan to first support EOS tokens and plan to integrate only the currencies we believe are in demand by our users, innovative, or have solid technology. With that said, our plan is to offer on-chain governance tools, and other ecosystem tool kits that will support our users who are invested into the EOS ecosystem.

 Is there anything else you would like to share with our readers?

We have open sourced our stake voting system code, which you can find here. We hope that this will encourage developers to build their own DAPPs that can be designed or developed around tools that will encourage more EOS users to vote or participate in its governance.

Some answers have been slightly edited for clarity.