On April 14, the official Hong Kong Web3 Carnival sub-forum, “2023: Where Are the Opportunities in the Metaverse?”, was successfully held at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. The event was co-organized by BitMart and MetaEra, with Tron Network as the title sponsor, and jointly hosted by Web3Hub, Distributed Global Capital, DFG, Jsquare, CertiK, Cregis, and XMETAVERSE PRO.
The forum welcomed distinguished guests, including Mr. Horace Cheung, Deputy Secretary for Justice of Hong Kong SAR; Dr. Paul Lam and Mr. Ho Kai-kong, Members of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong SAR; Mr. Wong Chun-long, CEO of Web3Hub Fund; Mr. Jack Kong, Director of Cyberport; and Mr. Sheldon Xia, Founder & CEO of BitMart, alongside other government officials and industry leaders.
Mr. Jack Kong, Chairman & CEO of Nano Labs and Director of Cyberport, outlined the current challenges facing the Metaverse and highlighted the technical advantages of AI. He offered practical suggestions for integrating AI into the Metaverse within today's Web3 ecosystem, such as NFT remixing. A dedicated innovator in blockchain infrastructure, Mr. Kong introduced iPollo, an ongoing Metaverse infrastructure project. iPollo is a real-time rendering platform designed to enable open social interaction and immersive experiences in 3D virtual worlds. Mr. Kong described the current period as a golden era for Web3 entrepreneurship, where dedicated founders and teams can achieve significant success. He also shared his "Three Laws of the Metaverse" and the "Four Stages of Web3 Development."
Mr. Sheldon Xia, Founder & CEO of BitMart, shared his vision for a new financial ecosystem and digital assets in the Web3 era. He noted that Web3 applications are now widespread, with mature use cases emerging in finance, governance, gaming, and content creation—including DeFi, DAOs, GameFi, and the creator economy. Sheldon pointed out that novel Web3-native assets like NFTs, SBTs, in-game items, and on-chain reputation are gaining broad acceptance and playing increasingly vital roles. He emphasized that continued technological innovation in Web3 will drive the next wave of transformation. Once Web3 achieves mass adoption, it will synergize with AI, AR/VR, and other technologies to usher users into the true Metaverse.
Mr. Horace Cheung, Deputy Secretary for Justice of Hong Kong SAR, delivered opening remarks for the launch of the Web3Hub Ecosystem Fund and Accelerator Program. He stated that Web3Hub actively supports the HKSAR Government's blockchain policies and helps overseas Web3 companies establish a presence in Hong Kong. To date, over 300 Web3 companies have joined Web3Hub, significantly advancing the sector's development in the city. Mr. Cheung emphasized leveraging Hong Kong's unique "One Country, Two Systems" advantage to access the vast mainland market and drive high-quality growth through innovation. Moving forward, Hong Kong will continue to attract global talent and capital to foster mutual growth and shared prosperity.
Dr. Paul Lam, Member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong SAR, also gave opening remarks. "The launch of the Web3Hub Global Accelerator Program and Ecosystem Fund validates the Government's successful push for the Web3 industry," he said. "It empowers the sector to establish Hong Kong as a global hub through professional training and market-driven investments. This initiative aims to foster integrated development across industry, academia, and youth, supporting Hong Kong's journey from governance to prosperity."
Mr. Wong Chun-long, CEO of Web3Hub Fund, announced the launch of a $100 million Web3 Ecosystem Fund headquartered in Hong Kong. The fund will target globally competitive projects while promoting standardized development in the Web3 space. As previously announced, the $10 million Hong Kong Web3Hub Ecosystem Accelerator has allocated its first $1 million tranche to support young entrepreneurs building in Hong Kong. Applications are open from April 14 to May 14.
The founding ceremony was then jointly witnessed by Mr. Horace Cheung; Dr. Paul Lam; Mr. Zhang Guolai, Second-Rank Inspector of the Youth Affairs Department of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the HKSAR; Mr. Wong Chun-long; Legislative Council Members Ms. Priscilla Pao, Mr. Wong Kam-fai, and Mr. Ho Kai-kong; Mr. Simon Huang, CEO of Hong Kong Science Park; Mr. Cai Yaoting, Founding Partner of Web3Hub; Mr. Kong Jianping, Founder of Nano Labs; Mr. Sheldon Xia; and Mr. Alfred Xu, Co-Founder of MultiChain.
Mr. David Uhryniak, Head of Ecosystem Expansion at TRON Network, highlighted Hong Kong's unique advantages for Web3. He noted that Hong Kong is Asia's financial hub and a bridge between East and West, hosts the highest number of cryptocurrency ATMs in Asia, and benefits from recent pro-innovation government policies—making him highly optimistic about its Web3 future. David also affirmed TRON's commitment to becoming next-generation blockchain infrastructure and pledged deeper collaboration with Hong Kong-based funds and universities.
In a panel titled “The Metaverse: A Converged New World — Infrastructure and Application Outlook,” experts including Mr. Kong Huawei, Chief Scientist of iPollo and President of Nano Labs Research Institute; Mr. Shier, Co-Founder of NFTScan; Mr. Alfred Xu, Co-Founder of MultiChain; Mr. Liu Feng, Chief Product Officer of Nbuilder; Mr. Liu Yong, Partner at BlueRun Ventures; and Ms. Connie Lam, Solutions Architecture Lead at CertiK, discussed Metaverse infrastructure and applications. The conversation emphasized the synergistic development of AI, Web3, and the Metaverse.
Mr. Jon Wagbi, Founder & CEO of Createra, spoke on how AI enhances Web3 gaming. By comparing user engagement in UGC and AIGC, Jon argued that the AIGC era has arrived—breaking down barriers between users and creators, blurring the lines between consumers and producers, and introducing a "Creator–Content–Consumer" growth flywheel.
In another panel, “Value Investing and Logic for Metaverse Projects,” Ms. Jenny, Vice President of Animoca Ventures; Mr. Roland Sun, General Counsel of Fenbushi Capital; Mr. Vincent Niu, Partner at Sky9 Capital; Mr. Raxy Liu, Investment Director at Jsquare/DFG; Mr. David Gan, Founder & Managing Partner of OP Crypto; and Mr. Eric, Head of Strategy & Ecosystem Investments at BitMart, discussed investment strategies. They agreed that infrastructure development, differentiated competition, and emerging technologies like AI will remain pivotal in the evolution of Metaverse projects.
Mr. Cyrus Hodes, Co-Founder of AIGC Chain, delivered the keynote speech “Responsible AI Is the Future.” He outlined eight core principles for building responsible AI, including alignment with Sustainable Development Goals, fairness, human-centered design, transparency, and explainability. He also analyzed key challenges in generative AI, focusing on four critical issues: excessive centralization, lack of transparency and accountability, inequality and bias, and data ownership.
In his keynote on the breakthroughs and potential of Web3 asset management tools, Cregis Operations Director Marco argued that the next generation of tools will be built on MPC (Multi-Party Computation) technology, enhanced by TEE (Trusted Execution Environment) and SGX sharding management systems. This architecture, he stated, will offer far greater security than traditional private-key wallets.
The panel discussion, "Roundtable: GameFi & SociaFi: Fi+ in the Metaverse," featured insights from Alex Chiu (Co-Founder of HKNS), Michael Wong (Partner & Chief Business Officer at TokenPocket), Barack (Co-Founder of GARAN), Adam Lee (Co-Founder of Yuliverse), Anna Liu (CEO of FreecitY), and Kevin Shao (Founder of Bitrise Capital). The speakers explored various Fi+-integrated metaverse projects, agreeing that while Fi+ is a powerful catalyst, it's also a double-edged sword. They stressed that project teams must carefully design their economic models to align with different phases of development.
TAG Founder Nanataku shed light on Japan's unique Web3 culture in his speech, highlighting its distinctive NFT market dynamics. He noted the exceptionally close bonds between creators and holders—a phenomenon known locally as "Gachiho"—which stands in stark contrast to other regions. In Japan's NFT ecosystem, "speculators" are a minority; most participants are "consumers." This structure, he explained, provides robust support for top-tier NFT creators.
Edison, APAC Head of X METAVERSE PRO, outlined his vision for the future of metaverse finance during his talk on development trends, challenges, and forward-looking governance. He proposed establishing an alliance reserve bank and creating a dedicated token to function as tokenized equity on the blockchain—a key strategic focus for Xmeta.
The "Stellar Dialogue: How NFTs Are Reshaping Art & Commerce" panel brought together Elva Hsiao (Ambassador of Theirsverse, singer, actress, and writer), Tim Chen (Partner at Cpop), Ann Yu (Founder of UneMeta), Yifan Lin (Founder & CEO of Wavv), Raise Lam (Co-Founder of UniqueArt Group and CEO of Theone Global), and Setsukousa (Ma Jiahao, Co-Founder of Magipop DAO). The conversation centered on the critical role of NFT content. The panelists emphasized that NFTs provide a fast track for brand IP recognition, but without compelling content, building consensus and fostering community cohesion becomes a much greater challenge.