As an EEA member, Wanchain is part of the EEA community of organizations working to advance Ethereum and drive industry adoption. In the Q&A below, the EEA interviewed Dr. Weijia Zhang, Wanchain’s Vice President of Engineering, about how the organization contributes to the Ethereum business ecosystem. Dr. Weijia Zhang serves as the EEA’s Regional Head in China and the EEA’s Crosschain Interoperability Working Group Co-Chair.

Please introduce your company and yourself briefly.

Wanchain’s mission is to drive blockchain adoption through interoperability. We do so by building crosschain infrastructure that connects the world’s many siloed blockchain networks. The purpose of this infrastructure is to empower developers to build decentralized crosschain applications that power the future of Web3.

I serve as the EEA’s Regional Head in China and Co-Chair of the EEA’s Crosschain Interoperability Working Group, where I lead and promote the development of crosschain interoperability standards. It should come as no surprise that Wanchain goes to great lengths to ensure that our crosschain infrastructure abides by the best practices established by the EEA. 

At Wanchain, I lead the design of infrastructure. I have extensive R&D and engineering experience in blockchain, cognitive sciences, computational fluid dynamics, software modeling, computer technologies, and industrial standards. Over the years, I have published more than thirty research and technical papers and have secured more than twenty patents in computer and digital technology. I also teach smart contract development at the University of Texas at Austin and recently co-authored a textbook entitled Blockchain and Ethereum Smart Contract Solution Development.

What first brought you to the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance, and why did you decide to become a member?

Wanchain has been a member of the EEA since 2018. Very early on, we realized that interoperability was a prerequisite to the widespread adoption of blockchain solutions. We also knew that it was important to have formalized best practices and standards. As such, aligning ourselves with both Ethereum and the EEA was an obvious decision. The EEA’s mission is complementary to our own and the EEA’s member-driven culture creates fantastic opportunities to exchange ideas with and learn from other industry experts while promoting the need for interoperability throughout the Ethereum ecosystem and blockchain industry at large. We can think of no entity that is better suited to lead the development of research-based best practices and standards than the EEA, which is spurring technical innovation and blockchain adoption. 

What are you currently working on with regards to Ethereum? How will end-users benefit from your work? 

Wanchain’s crosschain infrastructure comprises a sustainable Layer 1 proof-of-stake (PoS) blockchain and a decentralized, wide-area network of blockchains. The Wanchain Layer 1 PoS blockchain is a full Ethereum-like environment that works with industry-standard Ethereum tools, dApps, and protocols. Wanchain’s wide area network of blockchains is a decentralized system of direct, non-custodial crosschain bridges connecting more than 18 different Layer 0, Layer 1 and Layer 2 networks, including both EVM and non-EVM blockchains.

We were among the first to deploy bridges to Ethereum and have pioneered a variety of mechanisms that are commonplace today, including but not limited to the lock-mint-burn-unlock mechanism. We were also the first to deploy decentralized direct bridges connecting Bitcoin and Ethereum. Now, we continue to make incremental improvements to our infrastructure while growing the number of supported chains and transaction types without sacrificing security and decentralization. While end-users can and do use our bridges to transfer fungible tokens and NFTs across our wide area network of blockchains, the real benefit to end-users comes from developers who leverage our infrastructure to build decentralized crosschain applications and creative use cases. 

Of course, Wanchain continues to work closely with the EEA to submit EIPs aimed at improving interoperability. We also regularly publish papers formalizing use cases for crosschain applications, best practices for crosschain security, best practices for decentralization, and more.

How will the EEA enhance your organization’s current efforts?

The EEA has been invaluable in connecting its members and providing opportunities to share knowledge and expertise. We look forward to the EEA continuing to expand its business and education outputs so that experts industry-wide can continue to learn about the latest business and technical innovations. In addition, I have long been passionate about education. So, for me, the most interesting EEA programs are educational in nature, for example, the various educational webinars and EEA Working Groups and Interest Groups. The EEA’s primers, educational seminars and topic-specific Working and Interest Groups also habitually result in important takeaways that benefit Wanchain, EEA members and the Ethereum business ecosystem. 

Learn More and Connect with the EEA

The EEA enables organizations to adopt and use Ethereum technology in their daily business operations. We empower the Ethereum ecosystem to develop new business opportunities, drive industry adoption, and learn and collaborate. Join us and contribute to our work!

Learn more about EEA membership, sign up for the latest updates, and contact [email protected]. 

Dr. Weijia Zhang and Tej Anand published the book “Blockchain and Ethereum Smart Contract Solution Development”. This book is written for both business and technology-oriented readers. The first part of the book helps readers understand blockchain architecture, core components, and business semantics and applications. The second part of the book helps readers learn about the Ethereum blockchain and write smart contracts with Solidity and build decentralized applications. This book is published by Springer/Apress and is available through Amazon and Barnes & Noble.