SNZ and OnePiece Labs successfully held the "Future of Web3" event, jointly exploring the future development and investment opportunities of Web3

Author: SNZ

Austin, Texas, April 27, 2023 -- During Consensus 2023, the renowned Web3 venture capital firm SNZ co-hosted an event titled "Future of Web3" with OnePiece Labs. The event aimed to explore future development trends in the Web3 space and invited numerous industry experts to participate in discussions.

The event content was organized by SNZ, with strong support from OnePiece Labs. The main six roundtable discussion topics covered various aspects of the Web3 field, including zero-knowledge proofs, blockchain and artificial intelligence, NFTs and gaming, U.S. cryptocurrency regulatory policies, shared security, and an investment institution roundtable. These topics provided attendees with comprehensive and in-depth industry insights, helping them understand the latest developments in Web3 technology.

The event featured notable guests such as Christopher Perkins, President and Managing Partner of CoinFund; Andrew Gurgee, President of Republic Crypto; Bhawani Katyal, Technical Director of Microsoft's FinTech division; Keith Chen, Managing Partner of SNZ; Xiao Xiao, Investment Partner at HashKey Capital; and Dafu Gao and Kezheng Jia, Partners at OnePiece Labs. During the roundtable discussions, the guests shared their perspectives and insights.

Keith Chen, Managing Partner of SNZ, delivered a keynote speech titled "Exploring Future Opportunities in Blockchain." First, Keith reviewed the development history and core philosophy of SNZ. SNZ originated from the Ethereum community and has grown alongside Ethereum. It has consistently supported the most visionary entrepreneurs in the industry, backing foundational and far-reaching technological innovations, as well as groundbreaking business model innovations. He then outlined the framework and themes for the discussions at the conference, including the applications of zero-knowledge proofs in Layer 2 and other directions, the integration of artificial intelligence and blockchain, the significance of NFTs and gaming for the next cycle, future regulatory frameworks, and the development of shared security and BTC Layer 2. He pointed out that the mainline of blockchain development still revolves around solving issues of scalability, secure and stable payments, and data privacy; the next cycle of blockchain technology will inevitably see broader applications, requiring stricter demands on infrastructure, thus lowering the barriers for user adoption and programmer development is essential. The solutions to these three main issues will give rise to applications in all other sub-directions and tracks, and Keith hopes to cover some of these hot topics through the discussions, sparking further ideas.

SNZ has invested in several projects related to zero-knowledge proofs and invited projects from its portfolio, including Space and Time, Cysic, Manta Network, and Metis, as well as Wei Dai, Investment Research Partner at 1kx, to participate in the zero-knowledge proof roundtable. Scott Dykstra, Co-founder and CTO of Space and Time, pointed out that zero-knowledge proofs can be used for regulatory and compliance purposes. Currently, centralized institutions hold a large amount of data but cannot share it with the blockchain; using zero-knowledge proofs allows these institutions to share data on the blockchain without disclosing specific data information. Kenny Li, Co-founder of Manta Network, stated that zero-knowledge proofs can also play a significant role in gaming. Users cannot know whether the data generated by centralized games is real and fair, but zero-knowledge proofs can ensure a fair gaming experience for users. Leo Fan, founder of Cysic, provided an in-depth interpretation of the acceleration algorithms and hardware improvements for zero-knowledge proofs. Ming Guo, a scientist at Metis, shared their zero-knowledge solution based on the MIPS architecture, which is a new option for Layer 2 networks.

In the roundtable discussion on blockchain and artificial intelligence, a group of industry leaders gathered, hosted by Xiao Xiao, Investment Partner at HashKey, with Bhawani Katyal, Technical Director of Microsoft's FinTech division; Ron Bodkin, Founder of ChainML; and Harry Grieve, Co-founder of Gensyn. Bhawani Katyal believes that any significant technological advancement will bring substantial changes to the labor market; the proliferation of artificial intelligence will impact a portion of the workforce but will also shift labor towards more creative fields. ChainML, a high-quality project that SNZ invested in early on, also participated in this roundtable discussion. Its founder, Ron Bodkin, stated that the artificial intelligence field needs more community involvement and requires incentive mechanisms similar to those in blockchain to allow open-source developers to enjoy incentives akin to those provided by blockchain, thus stimulating faster development in the artificial intelligence industry.

In the roundtable discussion on NFTs and gaming, guests discussed the regulation and application of NFTs. The roundtable was hosted by Li Gong, a partner at Youbi Capital, with guests from Dapper Labs, Delysium, and Holaplex participating in the discussion.

As a leading NFT project, Alex Levine, Chief Regulatory Officer of Dapper Labs, stated that careful consideration of local regulatory rules for NFTs is necessary when issuing NFTs in different regions. The standardization of IP terms by Dapper Labs also helps consumers gain more transparency when purchasing NFTs. Yuheng Chen, founder of Delysium, provided some development ideas for Game + AI.

In the roundtable discussion on U.S. cryptocurrency regulation, Keith Chen, Managing Partner of SNZ, Christopher Perkins, President and Managing Partner of CoinFund, and Andrew Gurgee, President of Republic Crypto, provided in-depth interpretations and discussions on the current regulatory trends of concern. Christopher briefly introduced the main framework of U.S. cryptocurrency regulation to the audience. He believes that the current legal infrastructure in the U.S. is far behind the pace of blockchain development, necessitating the introduction of entirely new laws and regulations. Regarding the controversial actions of SEC Chairman Gary Gensler and CFTC Chairman Rostin Behnam on whether Ethereum is a security, Christopher noted that this indeed complicates the interpretation of the matter, but from a regulatory perspective, the SEC has a responsibility to provide a clear definition. Christopher also looked ahead to U.S. cryptocurrency regulation, stating that stablecoins are the most promising area to achieve regulatory progress first, while other areas will follow but will require time to accumulate. Andrew Gurgee expressed that the improvement of U.S. regulatory rules might bring positive impacts to the market; only under clear regulatory frameworks will many U.S. institutional investors enter the cryptocurrency market, and the widespread adoption of institutional investors can drive the development of the entire industry.

Recently, the construction of the Bitcoin ecosystem has reached a new peak. In the shared security roundtable, guests discussed the construction of the Bitcoin ecosystem. The forum was hosted by Logan from Frictionless Capital, with participation from Professor David Tse, founder of Babylon Chain (Stanford University professor, member of the National Academy of Engineering); Sunny Aggarwal, Co-founder of Osmosis; BTC supporter Erick Schneider; and Allen Zhao, Partner at Bixin Ventures. David shared the feasibility and future prospects of shared security. Sunny Aggarwal stated that while the Bitcoin POW mechanism may face reorganization issues in the short term, it remains the safest choice in the long run. He believes that the emergence of Ordinals has brought a cultural shift to the Bitcoin ecosystem, but more importantly, this cultural shift needs to evolve into technological progress.

The investment institution roundtable was hosted by Kezheng Jia, Partner at OnePiece Labs, with Henry Love from Fundamental Labs, Ryan Goodman from Outlier Ventures, Era Qian from Engage Stack (ex-Matrix Capital), and Graham Friedman from Republic Crypto discussing the future development direction of the industry. Henry Love, Managing Partner of Fundamental Labs, shared his views on the market, stating that the biggest problem facing the blockchain ecosystem now is that different ecosystems are independent, and the inability to freely circulate assets between different ecosystems leads to inefficiencies. In the future, interoperability between different ecosystems will be a significant narrative. Ryan Goodman, representing Outlier Ventures, the largest Web3 incubator, stated that helping projects grow by connecting with projects from different regions globally is very meaningful. Era Qian founded EngageStack to assist projects facing difficulties in their growth stage, and she believes that there will be numerous M&A opportunities in this field in the future.

This event was kindly sponsored by Aura Network and Sending Labs, with thanks to EDUDAO, Offchain, Chain Catcher, Odaily, Bitpush, and many other communities and media for their strong support. For more information about the event, please follow the official websites and social media channels of SNZ and OnePiece Labs.

SNZ is a global, crypto-native, and community-driven incubator and investment company founded in 2014. SNZ is dedicated to community building, incubation, and investment, and is one of the earliest institutions in Asia to support Ethereum. Its mission is to connect visionary and open-minded entrepreneurs and support technological and business model innovations in blockchain and Web 3.0. As a bridge, SNZ aims to connect the East and West, Web 2.0 and Web 3.0, investors and entrepreneurs, empowering them. SNZ promotes innovation and application of blockchain technology by building a unique ecosystem, nurturing a number of unicorn companies, and making positive contributions to social development.

OnePiece Labs (OPL) is a one-stop incubator focused on Web3, founded in Silicon Valley. Their team members include experienced Silicon Valley entrepreneurs and community leaders, aiming to create the next generation of Web3 unicorns. OPL helps Web3 startups grow rapidly through networking, mentorship, and resource flow, and is a results-driven incubator, with their achievements depending on the development and success of the incubated companies.

OnePiece Ventures is an early-stage Web3 fund based in Silicon Valley, dedicated to investing in top Web3 founders in North America. They provide initial investments as well as professional and systematic team support to ensure the robust development of startups. They also leverage community resources and professional experience to assist founders. As an ecosystem-oriented venture capital fund, they are committed to early business growth and innovation for enterprises.