Hello everyone, I have just attended the 2023 Hong Kong Web3 Carnival Conference. Now that I am on the high-speed rail flight leaving Hong Kong, I have plenty of time. I would like to share with you my latest feelings about the Hong Kong Web3 Conference. I'll focus on the following seven topics plus a tidbit:
1. Dry wood meets fire--Hong Kong web3 is booming
2. Three musketeers: Xiao Feng, Cai Wensheng and Kong Jianping
3. Does Hong Kong regulation hint at the future of mainland China? The plank road was built in the Ming Dynasty and the Chen Cang was crossed secretly.
4.Which one is the future, Web3 or AIGC?
5.Web3’s source of vitality is breaking through the circle
6. From Somebody to Nobody, a sad and happy identity change
7. Where does the Hong Kong Web3 Association come from?
8. A few interesting tidbits: Justin Sun, Little Ears and Hong Kong taxi drivers
I will talk about my feelings from the three perspectives of a Wall Street financial technology veteran, a financial KOL, and a Web3 practitioner.
Before the introduction, I think it is necessary to briefly introduce my background: I have worked in Shanghai investment banking for more than 13 years. In 2017, I co-founded the C3community community with a group of passionate people. Although this industry is full of enthusiasm, it ended dismally and lost all the 20 million earned in traditional finance. In 2021, I started to study cryptocurrency, devoted myself to learning and maintaining close communication with the community. During this period, I frequently published articles in major financial media. I believe that most people outside the Web3 circle know me through these articles. I will join Binance Square in 2023,
After the epidemic was lifted in July last year, I let myself go for half a year. I first went to Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Silicon Valley, and Dubai.
New York and Singapore, and finally returned to Hong Kong to participate in the Web3 Conference hosted by Mars on January 10. During this six months of flying, I found my life goal for the next five years.
1. Web3 development in Hong Kong: dry wood encounters fierce fire
How popular is the development of Web3 in Hong Kong? Let me cite a few personal experiences: the flight to Hong Kong on the 11th will only have business class and first class cabins a week in advance; hotel prices between the 11th and the 14th will be 2-3 times the usual price. On the night of the 13th, there were 6 side events. I went to attend the VC meetup first, but the people lining up at the entrance crowded onto the road and blocked pedestrians. The hotel and the organizer had to dispatch personnel to maintain order. Originally, I wanted to rush to the Xinhuo party at 8 o'clock to get together with old friends from Huobi, but word spread in the group that because there were too many people at Xinhuo's venue at the Hong Kong Maritime Museum, security began to restrict entry.
With all the surrounding activities crowded like this, the Hong Kong Web3 home venue is even more lively: the Web3 venue at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center is packed with people. Web3 investors, entrepreneurs, developers and elites from all walks of life from all over the world have gathered at the home court and four branches. venue. According to the organizer Hashkey, more than 10,000 people signed up to participate. In my mind, the only event comparable to such a large and popular event is the large-scale annual meeting hosted by our Internet Finance Thousand People Association at the National Convention Center in Beijing 10 years ago when Internet finance first emerged.
Most of the friends in the Web3 circle come to Hong Kong. We all joke that if your circle of friends has not been flooded with Hong Kong Web3 in the past few days, it means you are not in this circle.
Hong Kong and Web3 are like dry wood meeting a raging fire, and there are deep reasons for this:
1) Hong Kong has been troubled by the epidemic and well-known factors for several years and has become "dry wood". Over the years, the conflict between the East and the West in the world has continued to escalate. Hong Kong, once a place where Eastern and Western cultures met, has now become the forefront of friction and conflict between the two parties. For various reasons, Hong Kong's major industries have been eclipsed in the past few years. In this harsh environment, Hong Kong is facing a serious loss of talent and wealth and urgently needs to seize new opportunities to attract the return of talent and capital. Therefore, the Hong Kong government, from top to bottom, from the Chief Executive to the Financial Secretary, from the Legislative Council members to the Securities and Futures Commission, has shown a very positive and open attitude. I will discuss this specifically later.
2) Web3 is one of the hottest areas currently. As the Web2.0 era of the Internet comes to an end, Web3 fields such as digital economy, blockchain, metaverse, and encrypted assets are expected to take over the baton of Web2.0 and continue to build a new chapter in the future economy. In the finance, financial technology and investment circles I know, everyone is looking for the development direction of Web3. From another perspective, the raging fire of Web3 also needs a stable and friendly area with complete infrastructure to take root and develop. Hong Kong happens to have an independent monetary and financial system, relatively complete supervision and judiciary, and is backed by the huge market of mainland China radiating to Southeast Asia. It has the talent advantage of the Greater Bay Area and its unique status as a world financial center. It has great potential for integration with the Web3 industry. Therefore, Hong Kong is expected to become an important base for the Web3 industry, injecting new vitality into the raging fire.
3) Large, medium and small blowers: regulated in mainland China, the United States and Singapore. The popularity of Web3 in Hong Kong is indispensable for these three blowers. The three-year epidemic in mainland China coupled with the severe regulatory suppression of cryptocurrency has greatly suppressed the need for compliance in the industry. Finally, when the epidemic was lifted and Hong Kong embraced Web3, the power that emerged was breathtaking. U.S. regulations have become increasingly strict on Web3 recently, especially as the CFTC and SEC began to clear cryptocurrency exchanges, stablecoins, and crypto-assets. Web3 practitioners in the United States are shouting that if this continues, they will start moving out of the United States. Singapore originally embraced Web3 very actively, but now it has become cautious and careful due to FTX's thunderous frontal attack. Looking around, Hong Kong is the only place in the world that can host Web3 talents from China, the United States, and new countries.
2. The three musketeers of Hong Kong web3: Xiao Feng, Cai Wensheng and Kong Jianping
Hong Kong Web3 has firewood and a blower, so people are almost on fire. The promoters of Web3 in Hong Kong, Xiao Feng of Hashkey, Cai Wensheng of Meitu, and Kong Jianping, founder of Nano Labs, are worthy of being the musketeers who ignited the raging fire of Web3 in Hong Kong.
I believe that an important promoter of Web3 in a region must first be an industry leader, secondly, take root in the local area and be recognized by local supervision and mainstream, and finally, it must have a good reputation that can stand the test.
Dr. Xiao Feng and we meet often in Shanghai. From the Internet financial era 10 years ago to the later blockchain and now Web3, Dr. Xiao Feng has been actively involved in promoting the development of the industry as always. He once held a supervisory position at the People's Bank of China and later became an important figure at Boshi Fund. He also established Wanxiang Blockchain to support Ethereum and founded Hashkey. His influence on the industry is self-evident, and he is highly respected in regulatory and financial circles in China and Hong Kong. On every major issue, supervisors will refer to his suggestions. This is something that even the industry leader cz, which is at its peak, cannot keep up with. What I admire even more is his conduct as a person. This is not just my personal evaluation. As the saying goes, "A good bird chooses the wood where it roosts." Several of my old friends (Deng Chao, Zou Chuanwei, Yang Jinyan, Ben, etc.) all work in Hashkey/Wanxiang Blockchain. Recently, Weng Xiaoqi, former CEO of Huobi, also joined the company. . Being able to gather top and outstanding talents in the industry has demonstrated Dr. Xiao Feng’s personal leadership charisma.
Cai Wensheng is my fellow Fujianese, an Internet veteran and an investment tycoon. I call him Lao Cai. After Meitu was listed in Hong Kong, Lao Cai took root in Hong Kong. It is particularly worth mentioning that Meitu publicly purchases and holds Bitcoin and Ethereum as a listed company, which injects huge confidence into the industry. In January, when I went to Lao Tsai's office in Hong Kong to make tea, I met a legislator who came to ask Lao Tsai for his suggestions on the development of web3 in Hong Kong. At that time, I felt Lao Cai’s vision for the development of web3 in Hong Kong. Lao Cai is a kind and enthusiastic person, and many friends around him come to him for help.
I met Kong Jianping many times at the venue, and my face lit up every time. It may be because of multiple happy events: becoming a director of Hong Kong Cyberport, reporting development to the Hong Kong government and regulators on behalf of the Web3 circle, and helping to promote the launch of the Web3hub fund and the linkage of the Hangzhou-Hong Kong WEB3 industry. Its ipollo goddess little ears are also popular. I have known Mr. Kong for a few years. Before that, he belonged to the mining industry. After Canaan was launched on the market, I looked at his circle of friends and traveled all over the world all day long. Later, when Nano Labs was listed on the U.S. stock market, I learned that he had switched careers from mining to the underlying hardware of the Metaverse. Last year, I met him for coffee in New York and talked about the development of web3 in Hong Kong. He was very optimistic and suggested that I consider starting a web3 business in Hong Kong. Unexpectedly, Mr. Kong acted so quickly, not only taking root but also blossoming and bearing fruit. Wang Feng, the former founder of Mars and now the president of element, treated everyone to hot pot in Silicon Valley last November, saying that he planned to stay in the Bay Area for a long time. I met him at the conference a few days ago and found out that he has been mostly in Hong Kong from January to now. It turned out that he was summoned by Mr. Kong to take root in Hong Kong.
The development of the industry is ultimately driven by people. It is precisely because of Dr. Xiao Feng, President Cai Wensheng, President Kong Jianping and other industry leaders outside my circle of acquaintance that ignited the craze of Web3 in Hong Kong. With the joint efforts of everyone, Hong Kong Web3 can be both hot and full of infinite possibilities!
3. Does Hong Kong supervision hint at the future of mainland China? The plank road was built in the Ming Dynasty and crossed to Chen Cang secretly.
Hong Kong’s regulatory support for web3 is obvious to all. Let me list a few:
·The Financial Secretary of Hong Kong, Mr. Paul Chan, attended the opening of this Web3 conference and delivered a keynote speech. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority and the Hong Kong Securities Regulatory Commission sent responsible officials to attend.
·The Hong Kong Web3 Association was established. Chief Executive Li Ka-chiu attended the inauguration ceremony. Former President of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority Chen Delin served as the president, and former Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury Chan Ka-keung served as the chief financial advisor.
·The Financial Secretary Mr. Paul Chan Mo-po also came out to support the Web3 Conference organized by Mars in Cyberport in early January.
·Many Legislative Council members attended the meeting. Among them, I met members Qiu Dagen, Wu Zhuangjie and Jian Huimin. I met Councilor Shang Hailong on other occasions, and I know that he is also very proactive in promoting the development of web3 in Hong Kong.
·In October last year, Hong Kong issued the "Policy Declaration on the Development of Virtual Assets in Hong Kong", which strongly supports virtual assets. Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission Chief Executive Officer Leung Fengyi also made it clear not long ago that the virtual asset platform is part of the Web3.0 ecosystem and supports the development of related ecosystems.
·Hong Kong has launched a virtual asset exchange license system and is refining the currencies allowed for public trading.
Let’s talk about some of the less positive aspects of Hong Kong’s supervision:
1) During the meeting, a representative of the Hong Kong Securities Regulatory Commission stated that “DeFi projects need to be supervised by the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC),” causing industry players to take a breath of air.
Strictly speaking, the rules and operation of Defi in the true sense rely on code and voting. It only requires code review to be safe and fair, and there is no need to waste precious regulatory resources. Supervisory resources should be placed more on centralized exchanges, virtual asset trading platforms, and stable coins, because these are highly centralized and large-scale, and have a wider impact on users.
A representative of the China Securities Regulatory Commission explained: “Because the China Securities Regulatory Commission discovered that some DeFi platforms are in the name of decentralization, but are actually controlled by core developers, the voting results of the platform’s Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO) are likely to be controlled by a few people. , causing investors to face worries about their virtual assets.” I wonder how the Hong Kong Securities Regulatory Commission defines the difference between real defi and fake defi. Will it hurt innocent people? I had my doubts.
2) Hong Kong regulators have very strict restrictions on the currencies that are allowed to be publicly traded. It is rumored that there are less than 10 mainstream currencies. Too few currencies will make it difficult for exchanges to expand their business, attract trading users and increase trading volume, and it will be difficult to compete with non-compliant exchanges.
3) Hong Kong’s supervision of stablecoins is still in the discussion stage. After all, stablecoins are very sensitive and it is reported that it is difficult to launch any plan in the short term (within this year).
Let’s talk about the question that people ask me most: Does Hong Kong’s embrace of web3 represent a change in mainland regulatory attitudes towards web3?
The level of asking this question is a bit poor. At first glance, it seems that you do not understand the regulatory system of China and Hong Kong. Hong Kong has an independent monetary and financial regulatory system. Hong Kong’s embrace of web3 will not represent the attitude of mainland regulation. Of course, there is communication and contact between the two places’ supervision. Mainland supervision is happy to see Hong Kong supervision embrace Web3 and support web3 as an important industry in Hong Kong, exploring a feasible path for possible future web3 supervision in mainland China. However, it is currently impossible for mainland regulators to take a stand, because not taking a stand is also an attitude, and it is an attitude that can be advanced or retreated. Not taking a position is currently the most suitable answer for mainland regulators to regulate Hong Kong's web3.
Of course, no matter what the attitude of Hong Kong and mainland China is towards web3, any illegal and undisciplined behavior of cutting leeks will be severely punished by supervision no matter where it is. Those who want to take advantage of loopholes can stop this idea as soon as possible.
4. Which one is the future, Web3 or AIGC?
I spent most of the month in Silicon Valley before flying to Hong Kong, and felt the enthusiasm for AIGC from all walks of life in Silicon Valley. Silicon Valley event forums have always been very active, and the topics have always been diverse. However, two of the three conference forums in March were related to AIGC, especially ChatGPT. Instead, Web3 was left out and felt like a thing of the past.
The IT industry is particularly enthusiastic about AIGC, and some people have "revolted" from Web3 to AIGC. One of them is my old friend Ramble, a veteran in the blockchain circle. In 2016, I went to Silicon Valley to talk to him about blockchain and Bitcoin. We jointly established the "North American Blockchain Association", and he has been active in the region ever since. Blockchain and Web3 have become a stronghold of the Chinese Web3 in Silicon Valley. I often jokingly call him "the most handsome Web3 social worker in Silicon Valley." Unexpectedly, he is now obsessed with AIGC. On my first day in Silicon Valley, I was still jet-lagged, so I attended an AIGC forum in Ramble’s office. Everyone had a lively discussion, and then Ramble initiated the establishment of a “Web3GPT DAO”. I was also lucky enough to do so. Be one of the first members. Web3GPT DAO has organized many good activities in the future, and it is still very conscious. For the web3 rebel, I can only wish him well.
During the conference, I did not attend the organizer's AIGC branch venue. Instead, I went to the "AIGC and Web3 Integrated Development and Opportunities" seminar organized by Xu Yuanzhong of the Metaverse Thirty People Forum. I met many old friends inside and outside the circle. It seems that AIGC It’s not just Silicon Valley fever, it’s also the whole world.
Let me talk about my views on Web3 and AIGC.
First of all, purely in terms of popularity and participation, AIGC has completely surpassed Web3. However, Web3 and AIGC are not on the same latitude, so it is difficult to compare them.
The core of Web3 is decentralization and disintermediation. It focuses more on changes in production relations. For example, Satoshi Nakamoto's pioneering work, Bitcoin: a peer-to-peer payment system, actually changes the payment relationship more and makes payment without an intermediary. However, in terms of efficiency, it is even lower than centralized payment. AIGC is a breakthrough application of AI and a substantial improvement in productivity. You can let AIGC replace many human jobs, but AIGC cannot replace the relationship between people. For example, it cannot be your partner unless AI has autonomous consciousness and emotions in the future. Web3 changes production relations, while AIGC improves productivity. The two are in different dimensions, so it is not easy to compare them at the same latitude.
Secondly, Web3 changes production relations and AIGC improves productivity, which are complementary to each other. If everyone has not forgotten the contradictory unity of productivity and production relations in political economics, it should be clear: productivity determines production relations, and production relations in turn affect and restrict productivity. AIGC improves the productivity of all mankind, which determines that we need updated production relations to cooperate, and currently Web3 has such potential. After Web3 changes production relations, it can in turn affect and restrict how we use AIGC. So both are the future, futures in different dimensions. Due to time constraints, I will not expand on the grand content of Web3 and AIGC. Everyone will experience it in detail and have the opportunity to have a special discussion.
In fact, we Web3 practitioners should reflect on why AIGC is favored by all walks of life and welcomed by regulators (at least it is not severely suppressed), but only a small number of people participate in Web3, and now we are happy that Hong Kong supports web3 regulation. Encouraged, are you worried about the strict regulation of web3 in the United States? The reason is that the Web3 circle is too closed and does not pay much attention to "breaking out of the circle" and "exiting the circle".
5. The future of Web3 lies in breaking the circle.
I participated in the entire conference, and the most common keyword I heard was infrastructure. The organizer took out a whole day on the 13th of the next day, with 1 main venue and 4 sub-venues in the morning and afternoon all focusing on infrastructure. The topics covered: Web3 infrastructure, technical infrastructure (layer2), financial infrastructure Defi DID, Metaverse infrastructure, digital infrastructure DePIN. The technology forum discusses how to create more underlying technologies to consolidate basic facilities, and the investor forum must say that they want to invest in Infrastructure.
I participated in several financial Defi, DID and DePin sessions. I feel that everyone has a high enthusiasm for infrastructure construction, which deserves recognition. However, don’t forget that the ultimate purpose of building infrastructure is not to build a bottom layer, but to apply it. lock up! Don't focus too much on the infrastructure itself, but consider the application as the only goal of building the infrastructure. Only by allowing more people, especially people outside the web3 circle, to use it easily and help them, which is the so-called "breaking out of the circle" and "out of the circle", can it truly have real significance for the development of the web3 industry.
The Web3 circle is too small. Du Jun said at the financial infrastructure DeFi special session that there are 200 million existing Web3 users. It may be due to the difference in statistical caliber. My personal experience and true feelings believe that this number is overestimated. If we say that the number of people with cryptocurrency assets may be less than 20 million, active users may be less than 10 million. I estimate that there will be more than 10,000 people participating in this conference. At least 1/3 of the people do not have a crypto wallet, 2/3 of the people have never used DeFi, 3/4 have never touched Layer 2, and more than half have never touched NFT. Most people, if you ask them, "Apart from currency speculation, what value does Web3 bring to society?" most people can't answer. Don’t forget, this is a conference focusing on the Web3 industry. After leaving this venue, you can imagine how many people in the public are exposed to Web3.
If there are not enough application scenarios and users, Web3 will eventually become a game played by a small circle of people, and become the ridicule of "Web3 is the zero-sum transfer of cryptocurrency between wallet addresses", which is also commonly known as "leeks". Cut each other off" game.
The last time Web3 broke the circle was in early 2021. Elon Mask announced that Tesla would accept Bitcoin as payment for car purchases, and the company invested in Bitcoin, causing institutions and retail investors to flock to the market, starting a bull market from 2021 to early 2022. Web3's more out-of-the-box applications, such as the popular running shoes Stepn, such as NFT, etc.
There are many reasons why Web3 does not go out of the circle. For example, changing production relations will affect the pie of many existing stakeholders, and there will be great resistance to advancement. For example, decentralization of Web3 is often less efficient and more costly than centralization. These people with lofty ideals in the industry have To overcome, for example, Hashkey led by Dr. Xiao Feng applied for an exchange license, which provides a safe and compliant channel for traditional financial institutions to legally trade crypto assets. This is how real gold and silver breaks through the circle. Another example is ZhongAn Bank, a subsidiary of the Hong Kong ZhongAn Group led by my friend Xu Wei. In recent days, it has announced that it will provide "cryptocurrency and legal currency (Hong Kong dollars, RMB and US dollars) exchange services" to licensed cryptocurrency exchanges. It is expected to become Asia’s crypto-friendly bank fills the demand gap left by the exit of Sivergate and Signiture Bank. This is also a real bargain.
How Web3 can break out of the circle in the future and how it can develop to contribute to society is a topic of my doctoral research in finance. After graduation, I have been thinking and exploring, and I would like to share my experience with you:
I agree with Wang Feng’s point of view at the foresight conference. The current blockchain industry has shifted from traffic thinking (Internet and technology) to liquidity thinking (finance). In fact, the rise and decline of Fintech in the world in the past 10 years has also confirmed this point of view. In the end, Fintech returned to finance, and technology became an auxiliary in Fintech.
Think about it carefully, what is finance? The essence of finance is the allocation of risks and profits in time and space, and its underlying foundation is credit and legality. Current SEC Chairman Gary Gensler wrote an article on March 10, referring to the supervision of encryption companies, saying: "Since ancient times, the financial world has been built on trust and the rule of law." However, the current financial development of Web3 has no trust at all (no trust, no credit) and no legal system. Instead, it relies on code. The typical example is the development of DeFi.
There is nothing wrong with the direction of DeFi, nor can it be said that it is unsuccessful, but the application scenarios are limited and it is very difficult to get out of the circle. DeFi is almost approaching its ceiling. In fact, it is not difficult to understand that the core of DeFi is encrypted assets + smart contracts. The premise is that the assets of both parties to the transaction must be on the chain, that is, tokenized, and the smart contracts can be executed. Real life is very complex, and not all 01 codes can reflect it. Essentially, most financial businesses that solve practical problems cannot require both parties to have encrypted assets that can be put on the chain. DeFi itself creates a high threshold and limits its application scenarios. , it is destined to be difficult to break the circle.
How to expand the financial application scenarios of Web3 without returning to the traditional Web2 centralized system of huge and bloated financial institutions? One solution is to use a decentralized approach to build credit and legal infrastructure.
This is what I am doing now, creating a decentralized credit and arbitration agreement Credarb (Credit credit + Arbitration arbitration) to supplement the credit and legal foundation missing in web3, break through the restrictions of DeFi on encrypted assets, and realize the cross-circuit integration of Web2 and Web3 Peer-to-peer trading creates a new track that I call "DeTrade decentralized exchange", realizes a truly universal peer-to-peer trading scenario, and achieves the effect of web3 breaking the circle. Only then can we have the opportunity to reach the level of 1 billion user-level Web3 applications. Scenario, realize "Inspire Trust, for a Good Web3 Society, inspire integrity to build a good Web3 society".
This vision is grand enough, so it is worth my full effort. However, I deeply feel that it is not easy to achieve such a grand goal, and I hope more like-minded people can push it together. I will not go into details, and we can chat privately when we have the chance.
6. From Somebody to Nobody, a role change that is filled with joy and sorrow.
From an Internet finance/Fintech leader, to a financial KOL, to an exchange executive, I have participated in hundreds of large-scale conferences and forums. In the past, the organizers took the initiative to invite me, and I even had to be careful and even declined from time to time. This Web3Festival was the first time that not only was I not invited, but I also had to go to an old friend of Hashkey to get tickets. It seems that in the past four years, I have "not been doing my job" and went to academia to study for a PhD. I have gained a lot and lost a lot. What’s even more serious is that my current identity has changed from Party A (leader/KOL/exchange) to Party B (entrepreneurial project party), and I have just started a new project from scratch, the white paper has just been written, the MVP has just been released, and there are no products. , and even more so, becoming the bottom of the chain of contempt.
A particularly fresh memory is when I met a big shot in the industry at the front desk of the main venue. I had heard about his reputation for a long time, but had never had a chance to meet him, so I took the initiative to say hello, forgetting for a moment that I was a nobody. I was used to extending my hand to shake hands with this big shot. The guy frowned, feeling like I had eaten a fly, as if I would dirty his noble hands. I laughed and lost all interest in introducing myself and the project to him. I wonder how this big shot got to where he is now. Is it just luck? Dr. Xiao Feng next to him is as friendly and approachable as ever, even to those who are not familiar with the industry. The quality and self-cultivation of an industry leader are enough to put this big boss to shame.
Today is not what it used to be, and the contrast is huge. It is conceivable that you know whether you are warm or cold, so I tell myself to keep a calm mind and lower my attitude. After all, starting a business is a difficult road. I am grateful to my friends who treat me sincerely and help me, especially those who criticize my project. I also accept those who are dismissive of me. These disdains and contempt can become the best way for me to move forward. of flame retardants.
Cai Wensheng happened to be lamenting on stage, saying that he was actually envious of the past when he was not famous. No one knew him when he went to Beijing, and he could focus on doing his own thing without being disturbed. Haha, Lao Cai can stand and talk without pain in his back. Next time I meet Lao Cai, I will definitely help him realize his wish, that is, ask him in person to transfer all his assets to me, and then he can start a new business. All joking aside, what Lao Cai actually said makes sense. Only when you are open to all rivers and have a low profile can you make progress. You will always be the back wave and always keep a low profile. This is why my self-media is called "Hou Lang Finance".
As a new project developer, I really gained a lot from the four-day meeting. I could concentrate on listening to what I was interested in, met many old friends in the industry, met with investors, partners, potential candidates, and met new people. I introduced myself as an early project developer who had just finished writing a white paper. I could mingle with them and talk about industry projects in depth, which was something I couldn’t gain from attending previous conferences. I had a private chat with Dr. Xiao Feng at the venue. I was particularly grateful to him because I was the biggest beneficiary of the event, and I gave him N examples to prove to him that I was not just talking casually.
7. Where did the Hong Kong Web3 Association come from?
The most surprising thing in the Web3 circle in the past few days is undoubtedly the sudden emergence of the Hong Kong Web3 Association, and its lineup is super strong. Chief Executive Li Jiachao also attended the opening ceremony, but there are dozens of members. Except for Dr. Xiao Feng, no one in the Web3 circle do not know. Everyone is asking, where did the Hong Kong Web3 Association come from?
The reason why everyone is confused may be because they focus on the Web3 circle and pay too little attention to outside the circle. From finance to financial technology, to finance, to Web3, I have paid a lot of attention to it. In the list of the association, one of the honorary presidents, Mr. Chen Shaojie, is the president of the Hong Kong branch of our alumni association. Two friends on the board of directors are vice presidents. Among the honorary advisors is my academician and doctoral supervisor, and 6 good friends among them. My personal guess as to why there are so many familiar people among them is because at the end of last year and the beginning of this year, senior Chen Shaojie’s organization prepared to establish the “Third Generation Internet Association” in Hong Kong. I was also lucky enough to be involved, but later I was busy starting my own business. Not actively involved. I estimate that the "Third Generation Internet Society" framework was finally converted to Web3, and at the same time many former regulators in Hong Kong and people from the financial, fintech, academia, political, and Internet circles joined in. That's why the lineup is so strong, and it is so important to It's so familiar to me.
Regarding the Hong Kong Web3 Association, people in the industry shouldn’t be too surprised. After all, as I said before, the future of Web3 will have to “go out of the circle” and cannot be trapped in your own small circle. The Hong Kong Web3 Association has built a big platform to gather many people who are interested in web3. It is actually very helpful to have people from outside the circle. The Web3 circle needs to listen more to other people's opinions and participate more in activities inside and outside other circles, which will in turn help the cross-circle development of web3. If the Hong Kong Web3 Association can recruit more people from the Web3 circle to join, it will be more helpful to jointly promote the vigorous development of Web3 in Hong Kong.
8. Some interesting tidbits
1. Justin Sun made a high-profile appearance in Hong Kong, and someone slapped him with a reward of US$80,000.
People in the industry, including me, expected that Justin would not dare to come to Hong Kong under the current unfavorable regulatory environment in China and the United States. Unexpectedly, Justin landed safely. This can inject a strong confidence into many people in the industry, you know.
Wesley, a friend in the Silicon Valley circle, publicly offered a reward of $80,000 to anyone who slaps Justin in public. Second Master Bao happened to be in Hong Kong. Hearing about the reward, he rushed to Sun Yuchen's place. Unexpectedly, the meeting turned into taking a photo with Sun Xixiao with a license plate, which disappointed many people who were watching the excitement and didn't think it was a big deal.
I don't know if it was to regain everyone's trust, but Bao Erye wanted to go to Xinhuo's venue on the second night to squat with Justin Sun. Unexpectedly, there were too many people going there, and the venue restricted him, so he was blocked outside and couldn't enter. I happened to be at the scene and saw Justin Sun entering the venue surrounded by several bodyguards. The venue immediately became commotion, and the crowd swarmed towards Sun. Fans enthusiastically wanted to shake hands with Sun, but the bodyguards blocked him. Brother Sun shook hands with Zhang Li (former Huobi CFO), but Zhang Li did not slap him in the end.
I was very close to Sun at that time, about 6 meters away. I wanted to say that after all, we were old acquaintances before Brother Sun became popular. With my old face, I still had a chance to get past the bodyguards and get to him. Should I take the opportunity to give him a slap in the face so that I could give it to Wesley? An explanation can also make headlines. But when I thought that I was working as a credarb with such a vision and positive energy, I couldn't rely on such crooked ways to get the limelight, and I still had to be down-to-earth, I gave up this idea.
2. Ipollo’s image ambassador Xiao Er swiped the screen
At first glance, I thought the little ears were AIGC synthetic beauties, but I didn’t expect them to be real people. She was really exquisite. No wonder she was so famous in the entertainment industry. When Kong Jianping and I were chatting privately in the lounge, I heard him proudly say that Little Ears had been invited by many organizations to host conferences and activities to attract popularity. Sure enough, Huobi invited Little Ears to assist on the night of the 14th. It seems that beauty marketing will never work. As time goes by, Web3 activities also need to be appreciated by both refined and popular people. I haven't seen Little Ear's hosting skills with my own eyes, but I heard that she has both good looks and talent, so it's no wonder she's so popular that she's out of the entertainment industry.
3. Hong Kong taxis and Web3
On the last day, I took a taxi to West Kowloon Station and took the high-speed rail to leave Hong Kong. I have long known that taxis in Hong Kong rarely accept credit cards, let alone payment using WeChat and Alipay. I exchanged the Hong Kong dollars in advance, which I use for taxis these days. I had just enough Hong Kong dollars left to take a taxi to my destination, so I called a taxi. Unexpectedly, when I arrived in West Kowloon, although the taxi driver did not help me load and unload my luggage, he still charged an additional 10 Hong Kong dollars at the destination (I had a large suitcase when I returned from the United States). Now I was short of 10 Hong Kong dollars. The taxi driver doesn't speak Mandarin and doesn't understand English. I tried to give him a credit card and WeChat and Alipay, but he refused to accept it after repeated communication. Seeing that I was almost too late for the high-speed train to leave, I was so anxious that the driver cursed me in Cantonese and refused to let me go. I rummaged through the suitcase and thanked God that I finally found a 100 yuan note left somewhere in the corner of the suitcase. He reluctantly accepted it and let me go.
Any grand idea in the world will eventually fall into the trivial matters of ordinary people's daily lives, such as taking a taxi. I hope that one day when Hong Kong becomes a Web3 center, I can use the Hong Kong stablecoin in my cryptocurrency wallet to pay for a taxi, or the next best thing, even paying with a mobile phone or swiping a credit card. Because I never want to touch that heavy Hong Kong dollar 5 coin again. It is the heaviest and thickest coin I have ever seen in the world, bar none. These heavy coins weigh down not only my pocket and wallet, but also Hong Kong’s road to the future Web3.
Okay, I hope these dry thoughts about Hong Kong Web3 can bring you meaningful discussion and inspiration. Let’s contribute a little light and heat to the development of Web3 together.
