Review of the important contents of "2024 Hong Kong Web3 Carnival"

On April 6, the 2024 Hong Kong Web3 Carnival, co-organized by Wanxiang Blockchain Lab and HashKey Group and hosted by W3ME, opened at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center. The conference focused on hot topics such as the development of Hong Kong's Web3, Bitcoin ecology, AI+Web3, Layer1, and Layer2.

As lively as in previous years, Hong Kong once again gathered a group of crypto people in the name of Web3. In the diversified collision of retail investors, projects, KOLs, VC/PE and even government officials, the future of Hong Kong and encryption is also constantly unfolding.

Golden Finance conducted a full on-site follow-up report on the conference. The following is a summary of the highlights of the conference:

A brief overview of the important contents of April 9

HashKey Xiao Feng's closing speech: The next ten years will be the "1995 moment" of Web3, and will be a decade of Web3 application explosion and value discovery

Wanxiang Blockchain Chairman, HashKey Group Chairman and CEO Xiao Feng said in his closing speech that blockchain technology has completed the stage from 0 to 1 and is now in a critical period from 1 to 10, heralding a large-scale explosion of applications.Xiao Feng emphasized that 2024 to 2034 will be the "1995 moment" of Web3, similar to the golden decade of Internet applications from 1995 to 2005. This will be a decade of Web3 application explosion and value discovery. He mentioned that the two pillars of Web3 are blockchain and AI. Blockchain solves the "impossible triangle" problem through layering and sharding technology, and AI's "universal multimodal model" also provides support for application innovation. Xiao Feng also mentioned that the disruptive innovation of the Web3 platform includes digital native, digital autonomy and value sharing, which needs to be promoted from edge to core, from native to twin, from nature to explicit, and from first principles. He called for the development of Web3's "browser" and "graphic operating system", the latter of which may be based on AI's natural language processing technology. Bookkeeping methods are the cornerstone of economic and social civilization, and blockchain technology represents a fundamental change in bookkeeping methods. Xiao Feng mentioned that from the first principles, human history has experienced three major evolutions in bookkeeping methods: the first is the single-entry bookkeeping method, which only records income and expenditure; the second is the introduction of the double-entry bookkeeping method, which adds the concept of assets and liabilities; the third evolution is the emergence of distributed ledgers, which achieves a balance between data and value. Blockchain technology is regarded by Xiao Feng as the fourth major evolution. It creates an open and transparent "global public ledger", which not only changes the way of accounting, but also has a profound impact on economic and social civilization.

OKX Ventures Partner Jeff: Talking about the current development trend and future of the Bitcoin ecosystem

OKX Ventures Partner Jeff attended the 2024 Hong Kong Web3 Carnival sponsored by OKX Web3 and delivered a keynote speech entitled "Exploring the Future of Bitcoin Ecosystem" at the main venue. Click to read

Nervos CKB co-founder Cipher: will build tools and protocols for one-click issuance of Bitcoin assets, provide native Bitcoin staking, etc.

Nervos CKB co-founder and CELL Studio founder Cipher said in the keynote speech "RGB++ Protocol Opens the Door to Bitcoin Programmability" that RGB++ can solve the problems of Bitcoin Turing completeness and asset call. After the launch of RGB++, many assets and DEX have been deployed on RGB++. Nervos will subsequently build a tool and protocol for one-click issuance of Bitcoin assets, which can provide a staking method similar to EigenLayer, staking Bitcoin assets in UTXO and PoW, and realizing Bitcoin's multi-chain expansion.

OKX Ventures Partner Jeff: Blockchain and AI will be better combined in storage, data and computing

Jeff said that in addition to the dynamics related to Bitcoin itself, the combination of AI and Crypto is also a focus of recent industry attention. For example, through the decentralization and permanent storage characteristics of blockchain, it provides solid integrity support for AI data and models; the introduction of Token economy will more effectively support AI incentives and payment mechanisms in data, models and computing resources. Jeff pointed out that with the continuous development of blockchain technology and the improvement of computing power, it is expected to realize the deployment of AI models on the chain in the future, promote the deep integration of blockchain and artificial intelligence, and bring unprecedented opportunities for change and innovation to various industries.

Summary of small essays on Hong Kong Web3 Activity Week

April 9th ​​is the last day of the Hong Kong Web3 Carnival, which also marks the end of Hong Kong Blockchain Week. Among them, short essays have become an indispensable part of large-scale events. Participants may talk about trends with witty remarks, or speak concisely and directly to the point, or simply vent their emotions. Perhaps their opinions are not consistent, but in the unique Huashan Contest, spectators who failed to experience it can also get a glimpse of the current hot spots and perceive the emotions and atmosphere of the crypto circle under the review of the current status and development trends of the industry. Click to read

Full text of Vitalik's speech at the Hong Kong Web3 Carnival: Reaching the limits of protocol design

During the 2024 Hong Kong Web3 Carnival, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin delivered a keynote speech titled "Reaching the Limits of Protocol Design". Click to read

Vitalik: EIP-4844 lays the foundation for future expansion through DAS, and DAS can accommodate 128 blobs in the future

Vitalik Buterin said that EIP-4844 lays the foundation for future expansion through DAS (Data Availability Sampling). Currently, DAS can accommodate 3 blobs (about 375 kB), the next stage of PeerDAS is 8-16 blobs (about 1-2MB), and the final complete DAS can accommodate 128 blobs (about 16MB).

Shenyu: "BTC will reach $1.5 million in 2030" is still a conservative forecast, and Bitcoin will see a large-scale application explosion in one or two cycles

Shenyu, co-founder and CEO of Cobo, said that Chinese entrepreneurs have emerged in the development of Bitcoin ecology in recent years. They have innovation advantages and resource advantages. When Bitcoin applications explode in one or two cycles, a large number of application innovations may still come from Chinese entrepreneurs. Shenyu said that from the perspective of miners, he hopes that Bitcoin can have more applications and scenarios, and will strongly support the development of Bitcoin ecology. He hopes that Bitcoin can be compatible with more innovations without affecting the security of the existing main network. It is unlikely that Bitcoin will undergo another hard fork, but there may be one or two versions of soft fork iterations, which is an innovation of existing conditions while retaining the existing architecture. In terms of Bitcoin price prediction, Shenyu said that the forecast of "Bitcoin price reaching $1.5 million in 2030" is still conservative. Bitcoin will see a large-scale application explosion in one or two cycles, and there will be several times more space by then. The core players involved are large financial institutions.

Founder of Bitcoin Magazine: BRC-20 market size has room for 100-fold growth

John Riggins, partner of BTC Inc and founder of Bitcoin Magazine, said in his keynote speech at Bitcoin Season 2 that the scale of Bitcoin ecosystem and Bitcoin native assets will exceed $500 billion in the next five years. He said that the market size of ERC-20 is basically equal to the market value of ETH, while the market size of BRC-20 is still far behind the market value of BTC, and there may be room for 100-fold growth.

Vitalik Buterin: ZK-SNARKs and other technologies are inefficient, and Ethereum aims to achieve real-time proof

Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin delivered a keynote speech entitled "Reaching the Limits of Protocol Design" at the 2024 Hong Kong Web3 Carnival. Vitalik Buterin said that ZK-SNARKs, MPC, FHE and other technologies have efficiency and security issues. The Ethereum Slot block time is 12 seconds, the ordinary block verification time is about 400 milliseconds, and the ZK-SNARK proof time is about 20 minutes. Ethereum's goal is to achieve real-time proof. For the current inefficiency problem, Vitalik said the solution is "Parallelization + aggregation trees", using SNARK algos and hashing to improve efficiency, and using ASIC for ZK hardware acceleration.

Vitalik: The goal of signature aggregation efficiency is to support as many validators as possible, with low node requirements and simple protocols

Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin delivered a keynote speech entitled "Reaching the Limits of Protocol Design" at the 2024 Hong Kong Web3 Carnival. Vitalik Buterin said that the current signature aggregation efficiency is about 30,000 signatures per slot, with high node requirements. The desired goal is to support as many validators as possible, with low node requirements and a fairly simple protocol.

A list of important contents on April 8

TON 2024 Roadmap: Gasless transactions, Wallet v5, Teleport cross-chain bridge and other solutions will be launched

At the "2024 Hong Kong Web3 Carnival", Awesome Doge, a founding member of the TON Core Dev team, delivered a keynote speech on "TON 2024 Roadmap and Asian Expansion". He said that an optimized version of Jetton, Wallet v5, stablecoin toolkit, and Gasless transactions will be launched, and developers can also build fast, cheap, and scalable TON stablecoins. At the same time, TON will also launch Multisig 2.0, allowing TON to interact with various hardware wallets. In terms of governance, TON will also upgrade Elector and Coinfig to support on-chain voting for stakers, and will improve token economics to strengthen participation in staking pool and wallet voting.

Awesome also said that TON will introduce a new cross-chain technology Teleport, which does not require intermediaries and private keys to achieve seamless cross-chain transactions. TON will also upgrade all cross-chain bridges to support cross-chain bridges for all chains, supporting the interaction of Jettons with Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other networks and tokens.

HashKey Group has obtained a Bermuda license and will launch the HashKey Global trading platform today

HashKey Group Chief Operating Officer Weng Xiaoqi said in an interview that it has obtained Bermuda's "Digital Asset Investor Protection System Comprehensive License" and will launch the HashKey Global trading platform today. In the first phase, it can provide more than 20 currencies for qualified retail investors, and it is expected to launch futures, pledge and other products within a quarter. Weng Xiaoqi said that the Hong Kong platform HashKey Exchange currently has about 170,000 customers, and it is estimated that the number of potential customers who are interested but do not meet the regulations is 4 times that of existing customers. This potential cannot be released through Hong Kong business, so the HashKey Gloabl platform was established, and stablecoins such as USDT and USDC can be directly traded. The two platforms have different positioning. HashKey Exchange, which has obtained a Hong Kong license, focuses on Hong Kong and surrounding markets, as well as institutional clients; HashKey Global serves retail investors who cannot enter the Hong Kong market, but does not include mainland China, Hong Kong, the United States, and countries that have clearly stated that they do not allow the operation of virtual asset platforms. It is expected that the main source of customers will be overseas Chinese and users in Southeast Asian countries.

April 7 Important Content Overview

Hong Kong Financial Secretary Deputy Secretary Wong Wai-lun: More than 220 Web3-related companies have set up offices in Hong Kong

Hong Kong Financial Secretary Deputy Secretary Wong Wai-lun said that more than 220 Web3-related companies from more than 20 countries and regions including the mainland, Europe and the United States have set up offices in Hong Kong. These include virtual asset exchanges, blockchain infrastructure companies, blockchain network security companies, virtual currency wallets and payment companies. The SAR government will strike a balance between promoting development and appropriate supervision, especially in the field of virtual assets. A comprehensive and clear regulatory system is the key to promoting the sustainable development of virtual assets.

Xiao Feng: DePIN has natural advantages in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and the Yangtze River Delta

Wanxiang Blockchain Chairman, HashKey Group Chairman and CEO Xiao Feng delivered a keynote speech at the "2024 Hong Kong Web3 Carnival" and said that blockchain is inherently built on DePIN, and Bitcoin hardware mining is a primary version of DePIN. The relationship between DePIN and blockchain is divided into three stages. The first stage is Bitcoin and PoW mining. The second stage is the trusted data base proposed four or five years ago, which aims to connect IoT devices between many organizations to make these data credible; the third stage is after the emergence of AI big models in 2024. In order to adapt to the AI ​​productivity revolution, DePIN and hardware are needed for distributed storage, distributed computing, and distributed data collection. At the same time, Xiao Feng pointed out that he believes there will be a fourth and fifth stage in the future, and the future value will be greater, deeper, and wider. Xiao Feng said: "Last year we launched the Green Bitcoin Alliance to achieve carbon neutrality for the carbon emissions generated by Bitcoin mining electricity consumption. At present, 12% of the blocks have achieved carbon neutrality, and it will take another 10 years to achieve carbon neutrality for all blocks." Xiao Feng also pointed out that DePIN's natural advantage is in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and the Yangtze River Delta region, which is the manufacturing base of global smart devices. Because all Bitcoin mining machines are manufactured in the Greater Bay Area, the first generation of DePIN is manufactured and distributed in the Greater Bay Area of ​​China. It can be predicted that the manufacturing and distribution of DePIN equipment in the future should also be in the Greater Bay Area.

OKX Ventures Partner Jeff Ren: Strong infrastructure is a prerequisite for the widespread adoption of blockchain technology

OKX Ventures Partner Jeff Ren gave an opening speech at the "OKX Web3 Night" event held during the Hong Kong Web3 Carnival on April 6. Jeff Ren expressed his pleasure to discuss the latest innovations and trends with industry leaders such as Solana, Aptos Labs, and Polyhedra. These advances not only prove their efforts in industry innovation, but are also crucial to Web3. The close cooperation between OKX and them aims to promote broader connectivity and cooperation in the blockchain community and contribute to a more interconnected and efficient blockchain ecosystem strategy. Jeff Ren pointed out that as one of the most active contributors in the Web3 field, OKX Web3 focuses on accelerating the growth and adoption of the blockchain ecosystem and promoting the adoption of the blockchain ecosystem by providing strong support for developers of various chains and protocols, which shows OKX's commitment to supporting blockchain infrastructure. However, OKX is not only committed to developing cutting-edge products, but also actively investing in infrastructure, ecological governance protocols, etc. to introduce more use cases to the blockchain, which is crucial to promoting blockchain technology. OKX recognizes that strong infrastructure is a prerequisite for the widespread adoption of blockchain technology, and is committed to meaningfully supporting a more decentralized future. In the future, OKX will also establish close ties with the Hong Kong crypto technology community, help the evolution of blockchain technology, and build a future with the digital age.

4.6 Important Contents at a Glance

OKX Hong Kong Executive Director Frank: Combining with AI may become RWA's future application scenarios and innovation directions

The standardization of asset chain protocols, strengthening security and privacy measures, and applying AI and data analysis to the RWA platform may become RWA's future application scenarios and related innovation directions. In addition, when talking about the development of RWA-related innovations in the Hong Kong market, Frank pointed out that Hong Kong has the potential to play an important role in the global adoption of RWA platforms and technologies. As one of the world's three major financial centers, Hong Kong has excellent connectivity, resources, talents, mature financial infrastructure and regulations, and a large number of Web3 companies and ideas. At the same time, Hong Kong also has a mature investor base, which provides a favorable and solid environment for the adoption of RWA. More importantly, Hong Kong is a gateway to Asia and other regions, and its strategic location and strong international connections may help the RWA platform enter the Asian market on a large scale.

OKX Hong Kong Executive Director Frank: The development of RWA is a trend

When Frank, Executive Director of OKX Hong Kong, was invited to attend the roundtable forum of the main forum of the "2024 Hong Kong Web3 Carnival", he said that with the advancement of technological innovation, the development of RWA is obviously a trend, and people can use technology to further improve efficiency and save related costs. In addition, when mentioning how the RWA platform deals with risk factors. Frank believes that for the RWA platform, it is very important to implement various strong measures to mitigate risks and enhance investor confidence for the long-term stable development of the RWA track. The platform should have a strong security infrastructure, smart contract audits, self-regulation (such as POR), compliance with regulatory requirements, full transparency, appropriate investor communication, continuous monitoring and incident response, insurance coverage, etc.

Hong Kong Financial Secretary Michael Wong Wai-lun: A comprehensive and clear regulatory system is the key to promoting the sustainable development of virtual assets

Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Financial Secretary Michael Wong Wai-lun attended the opening ceremony of the "2024 Hong Kong Web3 Carnival" today and said that we will continue to promote more industry participation and promote the stable and responsible development of Hong Kong's virtual market through a multi-pronged approach such as timely information distribution and comprehensive public education. He pointed out that currently, more than 220 Web3-related companies from more than 20 countries and regions including the Mainland, Europe and the United States have set up offices in Hong Kong, including virtual asset exchanges, blockchain infrastructure companies, blockchain network security companies, virtual currency wallets and payment companies. Michael Wong said that the government will strike a balance between promoting development and appropriate regulation, especially in the field of virtual assets. We believe that a comprehensive and clear regulatory system is the key to promoting its sustainable development.

Xiao Feng: The end of AI and blockchain is computing power, and the combination of the three is a complete topic

Xiao Feng, Chairman of Wanxiang Blockchain and Chairman and CEO of HashKey Group, said at the 2024 Hong Kong Web3 Carnival that AI is a revolution in generative power, and blockchain is a revolution in production relations. The end of AI is computing power, and the end of blockchain is also computing power. The combination of the three is a complete topic. Blockchain, a network that can be collaborated on a large scale by strangers, can be used to solve the talent needs of Hong Kong's big model, allowing talents from all over the world to make their own contributions to Hong Kong's big model.

OKX President Hong: We will adhere to localization to integrate into and contribute to the Hong Kong Web3 ecosystem

Hong said that as a centralized platform, we will continue to adopt advanced technical means to ensure transparency with users, partners, regulators and key stakeholders, and take it as our important responsibility. One of our key global strategies is to ensure that we are transparent, responsible, and provide relevant permissions to our customers and stakeholders to better serve and build locally. Hong Kong is a strategically important location for us. We are honored to be part of the Hong Kong Web3 ecosystem. We are also honored to build the Hong Kong Web3 ecosystem with many partners, stakeholders, and legislators. We will adhere to localization to integrate into and contribute to the Hong Kong Web3 ecosystem so that we can invest in the long term and remain compliant.

OKX President Hong: POR is an important step for industry self-regulation, and technology will bring more transparency

OKX President Hong was invited to attend the main forum of the "2024 Hong Kong Web3 Carnival" and delivered a keynote speech on "Responsible Innovation". In his speech, Hong said that in the past two years of development, in addition to the best applications brought by innovators, entrepreneurs and builders, we are also learning from regulated industries to enhance transparency, responsibility and rights by adopting the best practices of these industries. We first increase transparency and responsibility through technology. Since November 2022, we have led the widely adopted Proof of Reserves (POR) program in the industry and built it into an automated technology solution that runs on a monthly basis. We believe this is an important step for industry self-regulation, using technology to bring more transparency and meet users' expectations that centralized platforms can meet traditional financial audit standards.

TON Foundation Chairman: Aim to get 30% of Telegram users onboard Web3 in 2028

TON Foundation Chairman Steve Yun and Telegram APP Chief Investment Officer John Hyman delivered a keynote speech entitled "Crypto Change in the Telegram Ecosystem". Steve Yun said that Web3 has problems such as complex user experience, lack of simple onboarding methods, no viral marketing, and no distribution channels in large-scale adoption. TON has solved these problems to a certain extent by integrating wallets, Mini Apps, simple entry mechanisms, and Telegram ads in Telegram. An onboarding layer is needed between Web2 and Web3, which requires simple mechanisms (such as Click-to-Earn), social virality, and gamification (such as Play-to-Earn, Learn-to-Earn, and Use-to-Earn). Viral applications combined with the Web3 economy can achieve large-scale adoption. TON Foundation aims to have 30% of Telegram users onboard Web3 by 2028.

Hong Kong Treasury Bureau Deputy Director: Hope that Hong Kong ETFs can be traded in tokens in the future

Hong Kong Financial Services and Treasury Bureau Deputy Director Chan Ho-lim said in his keynote speech "The Latest Development of Virtual Currency in Hong Kong" that Hong Kong will be the largest cross-border asset development center in Asia in the future, Hong Kong-listed companies will become very large investment targets, and Hong Kong will be the leader in the future financial technology field. Hong Kong has become increasingly mature in the issuer of virtual banks and is led by the government, and will be more open to development in the future. At present, Hong Kong's new development in the field of Web3 includes the completion of the virtual asset issuance system. At the same time, Chen Haolian said that the Web3 industry must have an open, transparent, predictable and regulated environment. He hoped that in the future, ETFs in Hong Kong would be traded in tokens like the green bonds issued by the government, and more interesting products would be listed in the future. He also said that Hong Kong would better integrate with Web3 and better link with the capital market to make the market more efficient.

Founder of DFINITY Foundation: Artificial intelligence has different capabilities on each small contract

Dominic Williams, founder and chief scientist of DFINITY Foundation, talked about the operation of AI on the blockchain and said that as a smart contract, we have heard a lot of discussions about Web3 blockchain, blockchain for AI, and tokenization for AI. This is a completely different topic. We are talking about AI running on the blockchain. Artificial intelligence has different capabilities on each small contract. It can store 400GB of data. It also has stable memory on the Internet computer and 4GB of storage, which is very important for AI. Traditional blockchains, like Ethereum, may trigger a small contract, and this calculation can be completed in a single block, while transactions in the Internet Computer can extend the calculation to multiple blocks, which is very important for AI, and these small smart contract processes of the Internet Computer can serve interactive Web3 experiences, and there may be thousands of valid small contracts running in traditional blockchains.

Cathie Wood: Bitcoin will rise to $1.5 million in 2030

HashKey Capital CEO DC and ARK Invest CEO and Chief Investment Officer Cathie Wood held a roundtable dialogue at the opening ceremony of the Hong Kong Web3 Carnival. When asked about her prediction for Bitcoin prices, Cathie Wood said, "I have been asked from different angles. Our forecast for 2030 is $1.5 million, which is our bull market forecast. Now it is $66,000. If it was $600,000 last year, we have increased it to $1.5 million because the SEC has given the green light to institutions to issue BTC spot ETFs. The optimal allocation, if 5% of the assets of institutions are allocated to Bitcoin, the price will rise to $1.5 million."

Deputy Secretary for Finance of Hong Kong: Will continue to cooperate with more industry participants to promote the development of Web3 industry in Hong Kong

William Wong, Deputy Secretary for Finance of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, said in his speech at the opening ceremony of the Hong Kong Web3 Carnival, "Web3 is revolutionary, and Hong Kong will develop in a stable, sustainable and responsible manner. Hong Kong focuses on two areas in the development of Web3. The first is the support for Hong Kong's virtual asset trading platform, and the second is the support for Web3 Developer support. The Hong Kong government is amending a law to bring virtual asset OTC transactions under legal supervision, and the proposed law is being formulated. In addition, Hong Kong will also allow intermediaries to provide trading in qualified virtual assets, futures and ETFs. In the future, we will continue to work with more industry participants to bring more possibilities to Hong Kong with more insights and promote the development of Hong Kong's Web3 industry. ”

Wanxiang Group Chairman: The "1995 Moment" of Blockchain Application is Coming

On April 6, Lu Weiding, Vice Chairman of the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce and Chairman of Wanxiang Group, said in his speech at the opening ceremony of the Hong Kong Web3 Carnival that this year's second WEB3 Carnival will surely continue the effect of last year. According to incomplete statistics, in addition to the main venue activities, there have been more than 150 peripheral activities. At the same time, there are also new features: first, it has a wider global representation, and more major WEB3 projects in Europe and the United States participated in the conference than last year; second, the topics of blockchain infrastructure and blockchain application protocols accounted for almost half each, and we can clearly feel that the wave of blockchain applications is rising and coming. Compared with 1995 when Internet applications began to take off, the "1995 moment" of blockchain applications is coming. The next ten years will be the core moment for the explosion of blockchain and WEB3 applications and the discovery of value.

This moment is not only the best time for Hong Kong's economic development to flourish from governance, but also the best time for the innovation and development of the global virtual asset industry.

「2024 Hong Kong Web3 Carnival」officially opened

The "2024 Hong Kong Web3 Carnival" co-organized by Wanxiang Blockchain Lab and HashKey Group and hosted by W3ME officially opened. The "2024 Hong Kong Web3 Carnival" will be held at 3FG of the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center from April 6 to 9 for four days. The event will focus on the core issues of each track of Web3 and invite global industry leaders, popular and most promising projects to share Web3 technical solutions.

Guests at the opening ceremony of the 2024 Hong Kong Web3 Carnival included Xiao Feng, Chairman of Wanxiang Blockchain, Chairman and CEO of HashKey Group, Michael Wong, Deputy Secretary for Finance of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Deng Chao, Head of HashKey Singapore and CEO of HashKey Capital, Cathie Wood, CEO and Chief Investment Officer of ARK Invest, David Chiu, Member of the Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (Technology and Innovation), and Chan Sai-ming, Chairman of Hong Kong Cyberport Management Company Limited.