Grand Opening of Hong Kong Web3 Festival 2023: A New Era of Financial Technology in Hong Kong
Co-hosted by Wanxiang Blockchain Labs and HashKey Group, and organised by W3ME, the Hong Kong Web3 Festival 2023 takes place from April 12 to 15.
Hong Kong, April 12, 2023 — We are pleased to announce the grand opening of the 2023 Hong Kong Web3 Festival, which officially marks the beginning of a new era of financial technology in Hong Kong, bringing together experts and enthusiasts of Web3 industry development from all around the world!
On the morning of April 12th, the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (HKCEC) was bustling with people as Web3 enthusiasts gathered here, eagerly awaiting the grand opening of the Hong Kong Web3 Festival 2023. At 9 am, with the opening video’s technology “doors” being pushed open layer by layer, the Hong Kong Web3 Festival 2023 was officially launched!
At the Hong Kong Web3 Festival 2023, Dr. XIAO Feng, Chairman of Wanxiang Blockchain and HashKey Group, expressed his welcome and mentioned that the release of Hong Kong government’s virtual asset policy declaration in October last year, and the Hong Kong Budget in February this year provided strong support for Hong Kong’s Web3 industry and this landmark event. Yesterday, Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee attended the establishment ceremony of the Institute of Web 3.0 Hong Kong and gave a speech. Today is also the date of Ethereum’s Shanghai upgrade — All these fertilise the soil of Hong Kong’s Web3 industry. On the other hand, Web3 development requires sustainable innovation and steady growth, with appropriate regulation and promotion driving development. Only through prudent steps can Web3 maintain a stable and extensive development in Hong Kong, and Web3 professionals should tell the world the good stories of Web3 and Hong Kong.
From the “read-only” era of Web1 to the explosive information circulation of Web2 mobile internet, the way of human life and production has undergone earth-shaking changes in just over a decade. After more than a decade of development in blockchain technology, Web3, with its core underlying technology, has also reached the critical point of explosive development in application innovation. Since the end of 2022, Hong Kong, as the financial hub, has issued a series of friendly policies and regulatory frameworks related to the development of virtual assets and the Web3 industry, aiming to actively embrace emerging technologies, further consolidate its position as an Asian financial centre, and explore new horizons for the development of the technology industry.
The Hong Kong Web3 Festival 2023 invites more than a hundred Web3 pioneers from around the world to gather in Hong Kong and focus on hot topics such as the development of virtual assets, new trends in Web3 technology, digital finance, and cross-border trade, exploring how Web3 technology can empower changes in lifestyles and production relationships in Hong Kong and even globally.
In his opening speech, Hong Kong Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po mentioned that we should look at the development of Web3 from the historical perspective of technological change. Technological change leads business innovation, and business behaviours will also drive better technological change. The Internet belongs to the category of such transformative power, and with the rise of blockchain technology, the Internet has already entered the era of Web3. Hong Kong will promote the sustainable and responsible development of the virtual asset market, and appropriate regulation is necessary to create a sustainable development space. Now is the golden opportunity for the development of Web3, and it is also an exciting moment. Looking back at history, after experiencing turbulence, the development of Web3 will once again flourish rapidly.
In addition, government officials, regulatory representatives, and industry leaders, including Mr. Keith Choy, Interim Head, Intermediaries, Chairman of the Fintech Advisory Group, Securities and Futures Commission, Clara Chan, Executive Director for the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, Hong, President of OKX, Duncan CHIU, Legislative Council Member (Technology & Innovation Constituency), Mr. Peter YAN King-shun, CEO of Cyberport, Adelyn Zhou, Chief Ecosystem Officer of Chainlink Labs, and Dominic Williams, Founder and Chief Scientist of the DFINITY Foundation (listed in order of keynotes), all attended the opening ceremony of the Hong Kong Web3 Festival 2023 and delivered keynote speeches.
To fully leverage the strengths of the two innovative hubs, Hangzhou and Hong Kong, strengthen resource complementarity and sharing, deepen cross-industry interconnection and cooperation in the Web3 field, the government of the Shangcheng District of Hangzhou and the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) have had in-depth discussions on how to further deepen technology exchanges, strengthen talent exchange, jointly promote enterprise development, and promote resource sharing. They have reached a consensus on how to jointly promote cross-industry interconnection in the Web3 industry between Hangzhou and Hong Kong.
At the opening ceremony, under the witness of Mr. SUN Xudong, Vice Mayor of Hangzhou Municipal People’s Government, Mr. ZHOU Hong at the Hong Kong Trade Development Council, and Mr. KONG Jianping, Chairman of Nano Labs and Board Member of Hong Kong Cyberport, Ms. KONG Dejun, Deputy District Mayor of Shangcheng District of Hangzhou Municipal People’s Government, and Mr. LEE De-Fung, representative of the Hong Kong Trade Development Council, signed the “Hangzhou-Hong Kong Web3 Industry Interconnection Memorandum.” Both sides will share industry exploration experience, reduce the barriers to cross-border development of the Web3 industry, and promote the deep integration of the Web3 industry between Hangzhou and Hong Kong, achieving the synergistic effect of 1+1>2. With the joint efforts of industry leaders, experts, scholars, and entrepreneurial elites present, the Web3 industry will surely have a more promising and efficient development space and environment, advancing with openness, inclusiveness, and innovation.
The Web3 Festival is a Web3 event brand co-hosted by Wanxiang Blockchain Labs and HashKey Group, organised by W3ME. The event is not only a gathering for Web3 novelties, but also a cradle for global Web3 innovation and application development. We welcome everyone to continue paying attention to the follow-up activities, and explore the future and potential of Web3 technology together with the Hong Kong Web3 Festival, creating a better digital world!
Contact the Organiser: w3@blockchain.org
About the Web3 Festival
The inaugural Hong Kong Web3 Festival (12–15 April) is a virtual asset-focused conference co-hosted by the HashKey Group and Wanxiang Blockchain Labs and organised by W3ME at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. The event will draw more than 10,000 offline attendees and will also feature over 100 crypto projects as exhibitors and 300 distinguished industry leaders, venture capitalists and senior executives from finance institutions as speakers. The Hong Kong Web3 Festival 2023 will be held in sync with the Hong Kong International Innovation and Technology Exhibition (InnoEX), organised by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC). Together, this series of events are branded as the Business Week of Innovation and Technology (BitWeek) hosted by HKTDC.
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About Wanxiang Blockchain Labs
Funded by China Wanxiang Holdings in Sep.2015, Wanxiang Blockchain Labs is a non-profit research institution with Vitalik Buterin, Founder of Ethereum as its Chief Scientist. Aiming to accelerate socioeconomic development with blockchain technologies, Wanxiang Blockchain Labs has been gathering global experts together to research such topics as blockchain technology R&D, commercial application, industrial strategies, etc. and providing practical instructions for startups and useful references for policy makers.
About HashKey Group
HashKey Group is an end-to-end virtual asset financial services group in Asia. The Group provides a complete ecosystem across the entire virtual asset landscape, ranging from trading, custody, venture investment, technologies to Web3 infrastructure. HashKey’s senior team has decades of investment and trading experience and deep market insights gained from tier-one banks, regulators and FinTech ventures. By bringing together the most advanced blockchain research and development and technologies, HashKey identifies potential opportunities and delivers end-to-end solutions that operate within regulatory frameworks with the highest compliance standards. The Group has operations in Hong Kong, Singapore and Japan, and extensive partnerships with FinTech and blockchain solutions providers, academic institutions and associations.
