Creating a blueprint for Web3: Hong Kong business leaders unite to accelerate innovation and investment in digital assets and the decentralised internet
HONG KONG, May 29, 2023 – (ACN Newswire) – Web3 Harbour, a nonprofit industry association representing Web3 builders, investors, users, and leaders, today revealed its founding board and early member organisations during a panel session at Radical Finance Asia. The association also announced that it will officially launch community and research activities in July, including regular forums for leadership exchanges, startup pitches, and industry education.
Web3 Harbour’s founding chair will be Gary Liu, Co-founder and CEO of Terminal 3, and formerly the CEO of the South China Morning Post. Lawrence Chu, Co-founder and Chairman of VSFG, parent company of Hong Kong’s first SFC-approved virtual asset manager, will serve as the association’s founding vice-chair. Member organisations include AngelHub, Animoca Brands, DLA Piper, Finoverse, FoundersHK, hi.com, HKG DAO, Memeland, PwC Hong Kong, Stratford Finance, Terminal 3, VSFG, Web3 Marketing Association, and WHub. InvestHK has also expressed their support to the association.
“Web3 Harbour is committed to promoting a pro-innovation, pro-collaboration, and truly inclusive environment for Web3 development in Hong Kong,” said Mr Liu. “We look forward to working with stakeholders from across many sectors, including other associations that have been supporting the fintech, blockchain, and digital asset industries.”
Yat Siu, Co-founder and Executive Chairman of Animoca Brands, commented: “Hong Kong is becoming a global leader in virtual asset trading and infrastructure. It is important to have local organisations like Web3 Harbour that unite the industry’s brightest minds. Animoca Brands, headquartered in Hong Kong, is happy to join Web3 Harbour and amplify our collective efforts to advance the local development of Web3 and the open metaverse. Together, we will forge new frontiers and drive the mass adoption of the decentralised internet.”
“We are building a platform for open discussion and cooperation to equip and support Web3 innovators in Hong Kong, and I am truly thrilled to be part of this remarkable journey,” added Karena Belin, Co-founder of WHub and AngelHub, and a founding board member for Web3 Harbour. “Aligned with our unwavering passion for driving impactful change and fostering an open ecosystem, WHub and AngelHub stand as dedicated partners of this association, and we are honoured to serve its mission alongside the esteemed board and exceptional member organisations.”
A coordinated community will help inform policy and regulation that accelerates Web3 innovation
Web3 is growing at an unprecedented pace, and even with macro headwinds, the market is expected to reach billions of users and trillions of dollars in value by 2030. Despite this massive opportunity, obscure terminology, insufficient understanding, opaque policies, inconsistent regulations, and varying degrees of leadership conviction remain barriers to Web3 growth. By convening and engaging a community to address these issues, Web3 Harbour aims to create a ‘model market’ in Hong Kong which is committed to the long-term development of a decentralised internet that maximises the societal and economic benefits of blockchain technologies.
Numerous industry leaders have been convening over the past year to exchange knowledge, opinions, and aspirations about Hong Kong’s Web3 environment. Among them is Lawrence Chu, Web3 Harbour’s founding vice-chair.
“While the benefits of Web3 are clear, its development will require an inclusive and action-oriented community that can promote responsible and sustainable change,” commented Mr Chu. “The entrepreneurial, investment, and policy momentum in Hong Kong make it a prime market for the launch of an association that will become the champion for this industry and its future.”
“The emergence of digital assets has created infinite possibilities for entrepreneurs,” added Minh Do, co-chief operating officer of Animoca Brands and a founding board member for Web3 Harbour. “Establishing a forum now in which startups, investors, business leaders, and regulators can collaborate and address the opportunities and challenges that come with this new technology will benefit everyone.”
For more information, please visit www.web3harbour.org or contact Kathy Brewin (kathy@web3harbour.org).
About Web3 Harbour
Web3 Harbour is a nonprofit association based in Hong Kong dedicated to engaging and representing Web3 builders, investors, users, and leaders to promote a pro-innovation, pro-collaboration, and truly inclusive environment for the development of the decentralised internet and virtual asset economy. The association’s core activities convene stakeholders from across sectors for open knowledge-sharing, upskilling, critical discourse, and networking.
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