2025 Hong Kong Web3 Real Pulse: The First Perspective of Industry Veterans

The last time I sat down to write a long article about Web3 was two years ago when I wrote “Don't Miss Out! 8 Insights Worth Sharing from the Hong Kong Web3 Conference.”

I have been slow to start writing for a while now. On one hand, there hasn't been much worth writing about in the past couple of years; on the other hand, with the widespread adoption of AI, the barriers to writing have dropped sharply, and the Chinese internet is flooded with articles that bear the marks of AI, making them tedious and glaring to read, which further discourages me from picking up the pen. More importantly, over the past year or two, I have been busy accompanying the birth and growth of my three treasures while also working on writing the book “AI Naming Guide”. Despite being “unfocused”, I have been quite busy.

But two months ago, a conversation at Nano Labs headquarters with Kong Jianping instantly pulled me back to the center of Web3. Kong Jianping is also a veteran in the Web3 circle and one of the “three musketeers of Hong Kong Web3” mentioned in my article two years ago. We are also very familiar and have been friends for many years. When we met, we got straight to the point. Old Kong invited me to help him realize his grand plans, sketching out his short, medium, and long-term strategies on a whiteboard. I provided feedback and ideas while we enjoyed afternoon tea, clarifying each other's needs and conditions. In less than an hour, we happily reached an agreement. Then we went downstairs to have dinner with a group from the traditional investment circle, during which we arranged for the HR department and the company secretary to prepare the employment contract and external announcement. The signing and announcement confirmation were completed during the meal. This kind of efficiency and pace left the table amazed: indeed, the speed of the crypto world is 'one day in heaven, a year on earth.'

Recently, I have frequently appeared in the Hong Kong Web3 scene, meeting many old friends from the industry. Most of them are now engaged in exchanges, cryptocurrency quantitative investment, VC, asset management, OTC business, project teams, public chain teams, media, communities, lawyers, custodians, and accounting. I have also met many new friends who are interested in or have just entered the industry. They mostly come from Chinese and foreign capital as well as local banks, brokerages, private equity funds, venture capital, family offices, and asset management in Hong Kong. Regardless of whether they are new or old friends, they mainly reside in Hong Kong, followed by those from the Greater Bay Area, with others coming from Beijing, Shanghai, Singapore, New York, Dubai, Europe, and other regions.

New and old friends often ask me what I think about the current Hong Kong Web3, especially since my old fans have been urging me to write a sequel about Hong Kong Web3. I will address this all in this piece.

What is different about Hong Kong now?

Two years ago, people within the industry came to Hong Kong merely to explore, and they were still skeptical about Hong Kong's ambition to become the Web3 center of Asia. Two years have passed, and the facts speak for themselves; the fire of Web3 in Hong Kong has not only not gone out but has instead grown stronger, and it has truly become the Web3 center of Asia.

What factors have contributed to Hong Kong's current status as the Asian center of Web3 in just a short span of 2 years?

1. The Hot Market

Bull markets change beliefs, let alone a bull market with a 4 times increase in 2 years. Any Web3 narrative, whether it's the success or failure of a project, the growth of an individual, or whether a city becomes an industry center, is inseparable from the market context.

In April 2023, Bitcoin was at $30,000 each, struggling in the depths of a bear market that had fallen from the previous bull market high of $67,000. However, in the subsequent three months, as the prospects for Bitcoin spot ETF approval became clear, Bitcoin kicked off a vigorous two-year bull market, surging from the low of $30,000 to the current high of $110,000 to $120,000. The overall market capitalization of cryptocurrencies also jumped from $1.2 trillion to $4.1 trillion, an increase of more than three times. Without comparison, there is no harm; the fourfold increase of Bitcoin over two years outshines the returns of any asset class and stands in stark contrast to the fluctuations and bleakness of A-shares and Hong Kong stocks over the past two years. Such a market bull run not only solidified the faith of those within the Web3 circle but also dispelled the deeply rooted doubts of outsiders about the cryptocurrency industry, providing Hong Kong with an unprecedented market environment to establish itself as the Web3 center of Asia.

2. Industry Narrative Hotspot Rotation

In the past two years, apart from artificial intelligence, various industries in mainland China and Hong Kong have faced intense competition and difficulties, especially in the real estate and financial sectors which have been heavily impacted. However, the Web3 industry is thriving with frequent hotspots. Two years ago, the metaverse, DeFi, and NFTs became the focal points of the industry, but now they have become yesterday's news, replaced by stablecoins, RWA, coin-stock linkage, or digital asset treasury DAT( (the sector I am currently engaged in). These dazzling new sectors have broken through the Web3 niche and become cross-industry stars, reflecting the trend of crypto finance integrating into traditional finance. There are also some less flashy but still steadily developing sectors, such as crypto asset management and DePin, which continue to grow.

These past and present hotspots have not left out Hong Kong, especially in the two most eye-catching tracks of stablecoins and RWA, where Hong Kong has become the global focus. Many friends are interested in Hong Kong's stablecoins and RWA; these two topics are vast and deep, and cannot be fully covered in one or two articles, so let's arrange a meeting to discuss. If I must comment, I can summarize it in two sentences: Hong Kong's exploration of stablecoins is more strategically significant rather than having immediate practical value; this is a game among big players with limited relevance to ordinary people. Currently, although RWA is very popular, there is still no mature path explored that can form a self-sustaining ecosystem. If you want to learn more about stablecoins and RWA, I recommend reading the new book “Stablecoins: Reshaping the Global Financial Order” published with the participation of my former colleague and friend, Guo Dazhi. If you have the patience, I am writing a book titled “Digital Assets: From Blockchain to Stablecoins,” which I plan to finish by the end of the year, so please look forward to it.

3. Proactive actions for open and robust regulation

The underlying public chain technology is universally recognized as the infrastructure of Web3, and I believe regulation is also one of the infrastructures of Web3. Since Web3 is a new phenomenon, the industry's development is often significantly affected by regulation. The starkly contrasting historical development of Web3 in China and the United States, due to differing regulatory attitudes, is enough to illustrate this point. Since two years ago, when Hong Kong actively embraced the Web3 industry, the Hong Kong government has implemented numerous regulatory policies and legislation from top to bottom, especially with the implementation of the VASP cryptocurrency exchange license in 2023, and the promotion of the stablecoin legislation this year. Although the JPEX exchange fraud incident in 2023 had some negative impact, it has not shaken the Hong Kong government's determination to promote Web3 development.

In contrast, Singapore, as the biggest competitor to Hong Kong in becoming Asia's Web3 financial center, has seen a rapid cooling of support for Web3, especially after a major money laundering case, leading to increasingly strict regulations. On the other extreme, the global Web3 center, the United States, has made a 180-degree turn in its attitude towards the industry since Trump's second term as president, elevating the development of Web3 to a national strategy. President Trump, leveraging his significant executive and party power, has opened the green light for the development of Web3 from administrative, legislative, and judicial aspects, aiming to ensure the United States' leadership in this field. Dubai is a regional Web3 center, but its overly lenient regulations have resulted in a mixed local Web3 ecosystem, making it difficult to distinguish the good from the bad.

Comparing all around like this, the characteristics of Hong Kong's regulation are clearly visible, advancing steadily and orderly while balancing openness and stability. It is very challenging to grasp the right measure in this regard. From the actual results over the past few years, Hong Kong's regulation has generally performed well.

The recognition of the 4 big bosses is the highest standard.

Old Cai is building a Web3 and AI venture capital ecosystem that integrates capital, space, and incubation services through methods such as acquiring listed companies and purchasing real estate to create the CAI Building. The efforts of the three big shots in Hong Kong's Web3 have yielded fruitful results.

Now everyone is optimistic about Hong Kong's Web3, which is not surprising. However, those who, five years ago, under the background where everyone was pessimistic about Hong Kong due to factors such as the pandemic, economic transformation, social events, and conflicts between the East and West, firmly pushed for the development of Hong Kong's Web3 against the tide, are truly visionary and deserve the title of industry leaders. Remembering the source, as a participant and beneficiary of Hong Kong's Web3, I have always held respect and gratitude for their contributions.

In addition to the industry leaders who have long been rooted in Hong Kong, other big names are also optimistic about Hong Kong Web3. Zhao Changpeng, Sun Yuchen, Shen Bo, Yang Linke, Du Jun, Bao Erye, Deng Di, Shuai Chu, Han Feng, and Lan Bo, these old friends have been frequently visiting Hong Kong recently.

Two individuals need to be specifically mentioned. Through our communications, Zhao Changpeng gave a speech at the University of Hong Kong on August 27, focusing on the strategic opportunities for Hong Kong in the Web3 ecosystem. He affirmed the development of Web3 in Hong Kong and suggested that Hong Kong leverage its offshore financial advantages to be “bolder and faster” in the field of crypto finance, balancing compliance with innovation. His remarks unprecedentedly boosted the morale of the industry.

Another person is the former boss Li Lin, who has been residing in Hong Kong in recent years. His family office Avenir has also been rooted in Hong Kong for many years, and recently he brought back New Fire Technology. Old Li remains as low-key as ever, but he has significant meaning in Hong Kong. It should be noted that Huobi has nurtured more than half of the talents in the crypto circle, and is revered as the “Huangpu Military Academy of the crypto circle.” At Old Li's call, more than half of my former colleagues and old friends from Huobi that I know are now directly or indirectly involved in Hong Kong's Web3.

The simplest standard to judge whether Hong Kong has become the Web3 center of Asia is to see if it can attract industry leaders to settle down. With these big names, connections, capital, and projects will follow, ultimately driving the vitality of the entire industry. Undoubtedly, Hong Kong is the preferred place for Web3 industry leaders.

5. My personal feelings

Even the grandest narratives need to be grounded in subtle personal feelings. Let me share my personal impressions of Hong Kong. I have worked and lived on Wall Street for 11 years, spent 6 years in Beijing's fintech and cryptocurrency sector, accompanied my child in Taipei for 3 years, and studied for a full-time PhD in finance in Xiamen for 5 years. Over the past 20 years, I have traveled to over 60 countries and regions at a high frequency of changing locations every 5 years, which qualifies me to evaluate Hong Kong's position in the world.

Hong Kong has its shortcomings; the market is small, conservative, slow, crowded, noisy, and so on. These are facts that we cannot change. However, Hong Kong possesses a unique charm that other international cities like Shanghai, Singapore, Tokyo, London, and New York do not have.

For veterans like us in the industry, work and career are no longer everything; the proportions of life, family, and hobbies are increasing. We need a place that can provide essential safety and freedom, has a regulated legal system, can communicate effectively with regulatory agencies, allows for the free flow of funds and information, offers convenient transportation and a civilized living environment, is close to the mainland so that I can spend more time with my parents and children on the high-speed train for 2-3 hours when work is not busy, makes it easy to meet friends in the circle, encounter interesting people and events from all over the world, allows participation in various top international industry events without long-distance travel, just by taking a taxi, and experience the fusion of Eastern and Western cultures. The only place that can meet all these conditions is Hong Kong.

So, there is no need to ask whether Hong Kong is the Asian center of Web3; this is an undeniable fact. The real question is: In this passionate wave of Hong Kong Web3, how will you engage and dance in harmony with the vibrant life of this small island?

As Zhao Changpeng said at the end of his speech at the University of Hong Kong last week at our invitation: “Four years ago, I thought I would never return to the Chinese-speaking community, but today in Hong Kong, I know the story has just begun.” The words of the number one person in the global cryptocurrency circle are worth savoring.

May your brilliance also be part of the Hong Kong Web3 story.