Infrastructure development drives the future of Web3

"The first Web3 Festival, co-hosted by Wanxiang Blockchain Lab and HashKey Group with the support of the Hong Kong government, is the largest cryptocurrency-themed conference ever held in Hong Kong. Over the four-day event, more than 10,000 attendees, 300 distinguished industry speakers, venture capitalists, and fintech executives participated, with around 100 global Web3 project exhibitors, community partners, and media partners gathering in Hong Kong to delve into Web3 technology and industry development through high-level exchanges, content sharing, and panel discussions. The first day of the Web3 Festival was bustling with activity, as many Web3 enthusiasts seized the opportunity for offline networking, and the conference garnered the highest attention and discussion within the industry throughout April."

Hong Kong Poised to Become the Next Web3 Hub

Since Hong Kong revealed its intention to become a cryptocurrency center at the end of October, the Web3 industry has been closely monitoring the development of the new regulatory framework for virtual assets in Hong Kong. The city is often compared to Singapore, which has long been considered a more favorable market for related activities prior to Hong Kong's policy shift. Through this conference, we witnessed the support of Hong Kong's policies for Web3 and the attention from various sectors of society towards Web3. Among the conference highlights, there were three significant events that showcased Hong Kong's potential as a Web3 incubator.

Paul Chan Appointed Chairman of Web3Hub Fund

The Hong Kong Web3 Association was established on the 11th of this month, closely related to the upcoming Web3Hub Fund. The Web3Hub Fund aims to attract more overseas Web3 projects to settle in Hong Kong, and will be chaired by Hong Kong's Financial Secretary, Paul Chan. Mr. Chan also stated during the conference that the financial system must be protected within Web3.

"Hangzhou-Hong Kong Web3 Industry Collaboration Memorandum"

Mr. Lee Tat-fung, representing the Hong Kong Trade Development Council, and Ms. Kong Dejun, Deputy District Mayor of Shangcheng District, Hangzhou, officially signed the "Hangzhou-Hong Kong Web3 Industry Collaboration Memorandum" this month. The memorandum aims to leverage the different advantages of both regions to promote communication and cooperation in the Web3 industry, driving growth and development in the sector.

Establishment of a $100 Million Web3 Ecosystem Fund

During the "Web3.0 Application Showcase Day" event, co-hosted by Wanxiang Blockchain Lab and HashKey Group, and supported by Cyberport, Mr. Wong Chun-long, CEO of the Hong Kong Web3Hub Fund, announced the launch of a Web3 ecosystem fund with a scale of up to $100 million. The ecosystem fund is based in Hong Kong to develop and prosper the global Web3 ecosystem.

Infrastructure Narrative Remains an Industry Hotspot

On the second day of the carnival, April 13, a series of agendas and activities featured industry leaders discussing and sharing insights on the latest Web3 infrastructure.

Infrastructure is typically defined as the tools, services, and architectures that enable the large-scale deployment, construction, and use of Web3 applications. From the perspective of the underlying construction of Web3, the industry requires many different types of infrastructure. These include, but are not limited to:

- Blockchain Protocols

Blockchain protocols are the fundamental rules that govern how blockchains operate. For example, Ethereum is one of the most popular blockchain protocols, responsible for supporting many applications built on Web3.

- Storage Solutions

Decentralized cloud storage solutions and their technologies are applied to achieve data sovereignty and privacy protection for Web3 users, allowing users to store and use their data in a decentralized manner.

There are also decentralized identity solutions, decentralized cloud computing and indexing, communication/message transmission protocols, and more. In the proposed fields of blockchain protocols and decentralized storage, CESS showcased at the conference how it serves as a secure, efficient, open-source, and scalable decentralized storage network, providing optimal solutions for the storage and retrieval of high-frequency dynamic data in Web3.

- Web3 Applications Awaiting Explosion

From April 14 to April 15, the "Web3.0 Application Showcase Day," co-hosted by Wanxiang Blockchain Lab and HashKey Group, and supported by Cyberport, gathered a number of emerging Web3 projects to showcase the latest developments and innovations in the Web3 application field. Du Jun, CEO and Executive Director of New Fire Technology and co-founder of ABCDE Capital, mentioned in his speech at the event that the two major trends in the Web3 industry from 2021 to 2024 are: large-scale user adoption and deeper technological breakthroughs.

CESS sees that the mainstream adoption of Web3 applications and attracting more users is an inevitable trend; however, there is still a long way to go before this trend is fully realized. CESS co-founder & COO Jessie was invited to participate in the Polkadot Meetup on April 11, co-hosted by Parity, PolkaWorld, OneBlock, and the Hong Kong Blockchain Protocol HKBA.club. This event, as one of the important side events of the Web3 Festival, discussed the theme "How can Web3 infrastructure prepare for the next 'billion users'?"

Jessie stated in the roundtable that the current technological development of Web3 infrastructure can meet the demands of existing Web3 applications. However, current Web3 applications still face challenges in entering the mainstream market, lowering entry barriers, and enhancing user experience. She expressed that "Web3 applications can drive further development of infrastructure," meaning that Web3 applications should not be limited to current dilemmas but should innovate and develop with the goal of achieving large-scale adoption, while Web3 infrastructure will inevitably advance in tandem.

Just as CESS's decentralized object storage (DeOSS) technology can provide users with high-frequency dynamic data storage needs with fast read/write, high security, scalability, and privacy management decentralized storage services. This meets the high-frequency dynamic data storage needs of Web3 and provides a decentralized full-stack solution for different groups such as large institutions, enterprise-level commercial applications, and individual users, laying a solid foundation for the future large-scale adoption of Web3 applications.

Conclusion

Reflecting on CESS's trip to Hong Kong, as a sponsor and exhibitor participating in and supporting the first Web3 Festival, we also engaged with numerous ecosystems and projects during the surrounding events. CESS sees the potential for Hong Kong to develop the Web3 industry and the emphasis the Web3 industry places on infrastructure, as well as the imminent prospects for large-scale application explosion. We believe that by continuing to explore decentralized cloud storage full-stack solutions and building Web3 infrastructure, we will accelerate the arrival of the future Web3!