Sunny Lu of VeChain on Empowering Developers and Sustainable Web3 Solutions

In the ever-evolving world of blockchain technology, the role of developers cannot be overstated. They are the architects and builders of the decentralized future, tasked with crafting the very fabric of Web3. To delve into the significance of empowering developers and explore the pioneering efforts in this realm, we had the privilege of connecting with Sunny Lu, CEO of VeChain.

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VeChain stands as a leading enterprise-grade, sustainable Layer 1 public blockchain, committed to making Web3 accessible and impactful. Sunny Lu shares his insights on developer empowerment, the path to real-world blockchain adoption, and VeChain’s mission to redefine sustainability through blockchain technology.

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Why do you believe empowering developers is the key ingredient for blockchain to realize its full potential? Is this something you see actively being considered by other blockchain leaders?

Sunny Lu: We see developers and the builders of tomorrow as keys to the future of Web3. There are people in the education system today who have known Bitcoin for the entirety of their lives. For them, these technologies are a standard part of their lives, and they see an industry ripe for development and growth in the years ahead.

By ensuring these Web3 natives—who fundamentally understand the need for decentralized data and trustless information—are equipped with the tools that can help them quickly and easily build out their visions of the future, VeChain becomes a conduit towards a decentralized world.
“I think there is a broad consensus emerging that, as an industry, we need to build tools and applications that better serve the ‘Web2’ world, and in a more seamless way.”

Sunny Lu, CEO of VeChain
At VeChain, we feel we are pioneering the breakdown of these barriers, but we wouldn’t say we are alone in this call to action, with other leaders in the space calling for more seamless user journeys and less ‘technical overhead’ when using blockchain-powered systems. Our industry is removing barriers to adoption consistently, and it’s something we’re proud to be pushing forward at VeChain.

How can the blockchain industry better educate and equip developers to rise and meet real-world challenges?

Sunny Lu: I think the key, rather than education, is demonstration. As an industry, we have to first build applications that deliver real-world value, and showcase the power of Web3 applications in a tangible way, for example, in the field of sustainability.

By building tools that feel intuitive and simple, we can help people harness the potential of Web3 without requiring deep knowledge of its inner workings. Most people don’t understand the TCP/IP protocol the internet runs on, yet use it daily. Our approach to building at VeChain reflects this rationale.

By working closely with enterprise partners and community builders, we’re helping set a new standard of ease for building, and, in turn, creating momentum and excitement that brings others into the fold who then build and innovate in their own ways. This is how adoption snowballs and this is how the blockchain industry at large can achieve the levels of adoption we all expect to see in the coming decade.

How does VeChain’s upcoming hackathon aim to elevate developers? What are some of the hackathon’s key focus areas?

Sunny Lu: One of our key areas of focus for the hackathon is in the field of sustainability. We announced our partnership with Boston Consulting Group earlier this year, a global leader in ESG, and launched our co-developed whitepaper ‘Web3 for Better.’

In this paper, we outlined a vision and framework for how Web3 technologies can build sustainability ecosystems, where individual choices and actions can be gamified, incentivized, and ultimately, rewarded. Enterprises that are genuinely acting in sustainable ways are able to demonstrate and prove their claims, gain new ways to interact with consumers, and all manner of additional insights and engagement opportunities.

In our upcoming hackathon, we’re actively challenging developers to build innovative sustainability applications that demonstrate the real-world value of such applications and Web3 as a medium for societal change. Through this demonstration, we intend to drive more action and expand and iterate on our framework.

How is VeChain making the development of blockchain applications easier? What tools does the Layer 1 provide to developers of all levels of coding experience?

Sunny Lu: To achieve our mission here, we opened a Technology Centre in Ireland under our CTO, Antonio Senatore. We committed to hiring 100 developers over three years to accelerate our pace of development, with the vision of empowering both individuals and enterprises through innovative tools and solutions.
“One of the core tools in this effort is called VORJ (A.K.A. the VeChain Forge) – it’s a no-code blockchain platform where users can easily deploy digital assets without having to do any coding themselves. We call it ‘Web3-as-a-Service’.”

Sunny Lu, CEO of VeChain
It feels as intuitive as using any traditional internet webpage, users don’t have to pay any transaction fees, and they don’t even need to understand the underlying technology. We are placing VORJ at the core of our toolset, with a packed roadmap ahead including features such as ‘Marketplace-as-a-Service’.

With this, companies can, at one click, deploy marketplaces to suit their needs. For example, distributing rewards, but branded in a way that suits them. Similarly, we also have one-click DAO deployment to enable collaborative management of various kinds of ecosystems.

We’ve built VORJ to align with Open Zeppelin and common ERC standards, ensuring tokens, NFTs, and other tools deployed from VORJ are as widely compatible as possible. In doing so, we ensure VeChain appeals to as many kinds of developer as possible, while offering the most simple user experience to onboard ‘Web2’ users.

What role do non-custodial mobile wallets, like the recently launched VeWorld, play in fostering a seamless ecosystem for developers and those looking to onramp into Web3?

Sunny Lu: VeWorld, and by proxy, non-custodial wallets, are an important part of the puzzle for individuals managing crypto-assets. Firstly, owning and managing one’s own private keys is critical for security. We’ve seen many instances where private keys have been inadvertently leaked due to non-custodial solutions, with users’ assets compromised as a result.

VeWorld has a unique function called ‘fee delegation’ built in, which allows an individual to delegate gas costs to another account, simplifying the process of using Web3 by removing the need for direct payment of transaction costs. Again, for VeChain, our mission is about simplifying the user journey and making using Web3 as simple as possible. We have also included various technical features that make signing in to, and navigating, decentralized applications as simple as possible.

As with VORJ, we have an extensive roadmap of features planned, and a large-scale campaign planned in the coming weeks with a major global institution that we’re excited to kick off to get VeWorld in the hands of many hundreds of thousands of people.

Why do you believe Web3 provides the optimal framework for the development of sustainable and regenerative applications? How does VeChain’s sustainable infrastructure embody this belief?

Sunny Lu: Web3 technologies are critical in developing sustainable infrastructure because they are entirely predicated on trust and transparency, as well as empowering users through the choices and actions they make daily.
“By removing ‘truth middlemen’ and allowing actions and data to be visible in real time, without obfuscation, we open up new possibilities for scales of collaboration, automated by smart contracts and other blockchain tools.”

Sunny Lu, CEO of VeChain
We’re envisioning a new world where the choices a consumer makes can be rewarded through digital assets that, in turn, grant their own rewards and benefits within wider sustainability ecosystems. As an example scenario, a Tesla driver can earn a carbon token that represents the carbon offset from their driving of an EV vs. a petrol vehicle.

In turn, this credit can be spent for discounts or services from other parties within the ecosystem. Through this approach, we empower sustainability choices and give new value to individual actions. This is an approach we intend to replicate across many kinds of industries.

Our infrastructure at its core is also highly sustainable, requiring the energy of less than a single petrol vehicle to run per year. It has been purpose-built to provide an ideal platform for sustainability applications and beyond. We worked with a leading global consultant and community project VeChainStats to build a carbon calculator to even allow users to directly monitor the carbon impact of their usage of the blockchain – a platform and feature we recommend everyone explore!

In essence, Web3, as exemplified by VeChain, provides the ideal framework for sustainable and regenerative applications by fostering trust, transparency, and empowering individuals to make meaningful choices for a more sustainable future. We believe in demonstrating the tangible benefits of blockchain in real-world scenarios and making these technologies accessible to all, and that’s precisely what VeChain is committed to achieving.

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Conclusion

In this insightful discussion with Sunny Lu, CEO of VeChain, we’ve gained valuable perspectives on the pivotal role developers play in shaping the future of blockchain and Web3. Empowering these visionary individuals, simplifying their journey, and demonstrating the real-world value of blockchain applications are at the core of VeChain’s mission.

Their upcoming hackathon focused on sustainability exemplifies this commitment, as they pave the way for a more sustainable and transparent future powered by blockchain technology. By championing trust, transparency, and user empowerment, VeChain embodies the potential of Web3 to revolutionize industries and foster a world where individual actions contribute to regenerative ecosystems.

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