On April 6, 2025, the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center opened its doors to the third annual Hong Kong Web3 Carnival, bringing together thousands of developers, entrepreneurs, and blockchain enthusiasts from around the world. Organized by Wanxiang Blockchain Lab and HashKey Group, the four-day event runs through April 9 and features a sprawling agenda covering public blockchain infrastructure, decentralized finance, Web3 security, and the intersection of artificial intelligence with blockchain technology.
TL;DR
- The 2025 Hong Kong Web3 Carnival officially opened on April 6 at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center
- Xiao Feng, Chairman of Wanxiang Blockchain, delivered a keynote calling public chains “the new generation of financial infrastructure”
- Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin, Hong Kong Financial Secretary Paul Chan, and Solana Foundation President Lily Liu are among confirmed speakers
- The event features four venues with dozens of themed discussions spanning PayFi, DePIN, Bitcoin, and crypto security
- The carnival builds on previous editions that attracted over 80,000 attendees and 250+ project debuts
Xiao Feng’s Vision: Public Chains as Financial Infrastructure
The opening ceremony featured a headline keynote from Dr. Xiao Feng, Chairman of Wanxiang Blockchain and Chairman and CEO of HashKey Group. His speech, titled “Public Chain: A New Generation of Financial Infrastructure,” laid out a compelling argument for why public blockchains represent the foundational layer for next-generation financial systems.
Xiao Feng emphasized that public chains are not merely technological experiments but are evolving into critical infrastructure capable of supporting global financial operations at scale. He drew parallels between the development of traditional financial infrastructure — clearinghouses, settlement networks, and banking rails — and the emerging role of blockchain networks as programmable, transparent, and censorship-resistant alternatives.
The speech resonated with attendees who have watched the blockchain industry mature from a niche technology movement into a multi-trillion-dollar ecosystem. As of April 6, 2025, Bitcoin alone commands a market capitalization of approximately $1.55 trillion, while Ethereum powers thousands of decentralized applications processing millions of daily transactions through its layer-2 networks like Arbitrum.
A Global Gathering of Blockchain Leaders
The 2025 edition of the Hong Kong Web3 Carnival has assembled a speaker roster that reads like a who’s who of the blockchain world. Hong Kong SAR Financial Secretary Paul Chan opened the event with remarks highlighting the city’s commitment to becoming a global Web3 hub, reinforcing regulatory frameworks that balance innovation with investor protection.
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin is among the confirmed speakers, bringing his perspective on the network’s ongoing evolution, including the forthcoming Pectra upgrade that promises improvements to wallet functionality, staking mechanics, and layer-2 efficiency. Solana Foundation President Lily Liu is also on the agenda, representing one of the fastest-growing blockchain ecosystems that has rebounded strongly since the 2022 FTX collapse.
Other notable speakers include EigenLayer founder Sreeram Kannan, Berachain co-founder Smokey Bera, Mantra CEO John Patrick Mullin, and HSBC Digital Asset Director Bugra Celik. The diversity of speakers reflects the broadening scope of blockchain technology beyond pure cryptocurrency into areas like real-world asset tokenization, institutional DeFi, and cross-chain interoperability.
Four Days, Four Venues, Dozens of Discussions
The carnival’s programming spans four dedicated venues, each hosting themed tracks designed to address the most pressing topics in Web3. Day one focused on public blockchain infrastructure, with sessions exploring the latest progress and future trends of foundational blockchain technology.
Over the following days, the agenda diversifies significantly. RD Technologies is co-hosting PayFi discussions exploring how blockchain payments intersect with traditional finance. Arkreen is leading conversations on DePIN — decentralized physical infrastructure networks — which represent a growing trend of connecting blockchain incentives to real-world hardware and energy systems.
CKB Eco Fund brings a Bitcoin-focused track examining the original cryptocurrency’s expanding role beyond simple value transfer, particularly through layer-2 solutions and smart contract capabilities built atop the Bitcoin network. SlowMist, the renowned blockchain security firm, hosts a Web3 Security and Compliance track that addresses the persistent challenges of smart contract vulnerabilities, cross-chain bridge exploits, and regulatory compliance.
MetaEra rounds out the programming with a Crypto Finance Forum 2025, while DRK Lab organizes the Web3 Scholar Summit, bringing academic rigor to discussions of consensus mechanisms, cryptographic proofs, and decentralized governance.
Sponsors and Ecosystem Support
The breadth of sponsorship reflects the mainstreaming of blockchain technology. OKX Web3 serves as the title sponsor, while CKB Eco Fund and SlowMist are platinum sponsors. Notably, Google Cloud appears as a first-level booth sponsor, signaling the continued convergence of traditional cloud computing infrastructure with blockchain-native solutions. Other sponsors include Alchemy Pay, CertiK, OneKey, and Hack VC.
This corporate participation underscores a broader trend: blockchain infrastructure is no longer the exclusive domain of crypto-native companies. Traditional technology and financial institutions are actively building on and integrating with public chains, driven by client demand for tokenized assets, on-chain settlement, and programmable financial products.
Blockchain Health Check: Which Chains Survive and Thrive
The carnival’s timing invites reflection on the state of public blockchain infrastructure. As of April 2025, several networks stand out as genuinely active ecosystems. Bitcoin continues to dominate as a store of value, with the 2024 halving and ETF approvals keeping it firmly in the institutional spotlight. Approximately 960 developers actively work on Bitcoin scalability solutions like the Lightning Network.
Ethereum remains the undisputed leader in smart contract platforms, with over 5,900 monthly active developers and the highest total value locked across DeFi protocols. Its layer-2 ecosystem, particularly Arbitrum, processes millions of daily transactions while inheriting Ethereum’s security guarantees.
Solana has demonstrated remarkable resilience, with daily active addresses reaching 3.68 million as of early April 2025, supported by fast transaction speeds and minimal fees. BNB Chain reports 1.93 million daily users, while newer entrants like Sui and Near Protocol are carving out niches with innovative architectural approaches.
However, the landscape is also littered with inactive chains — EOS, Terra, and countless others that failed to maintain developer momentum, community engagement, or genuine user activity. The carnival serves as both a celebration of survivors and a reminder that blockchain infrastructure requires constant innovation and community commitment to remain relevant.
Why This Matters
The Hong Kong Web3 Carnival 2025 represents more than just another industry conference. It is a barometer for the health and direction of public blockchain infrastructure at a critical juncture. As traditional financial institutions increasingly explore tokenization and on-chain settlement, the technology discussed at events like this will directly shape the architecture of tomorrow’s financial system.
Xiao Feng’s framing of public chains as “the new generation of financial infrastructure” is particularly significant coming from someone who leads both a major blockchain lab and a regulated digital asset exchange. It reflects a maturation narrative that has moved blockchain from ideological rebellion to institutional partnership — without sacrificing the core principles of transparency, programmability, and decentralization that make the technology valuable in the first place.
The presence of government officials alongside protocol developers and venture capitalists signals that Hong Kong is positioning itself as a jurisdiction where blockchain innovation can flourish within clear regulatory guardrails. For the global Web3 community, the message is clear: public blockchain infrastructure is no longer a speculative bet but an active construction project with timelines measured in years, not decades.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. Cryptocurrency markets are highly volatile, and readers should conduct their own research before making any investment decisions. Past performance is not indicative of future results.
Xiao Feng calling public chains the new financial infrastructure is a bold take. guy has been saying this since 2018 though
vitalik and lily liu at the same event. wonder if they will discuss solana vs eth or just pretend the other side does not exist lmao
80k attendees and 250+ project debuts. hong kong is really going all in on web3 while the us is still arguing about regulation
^ the PayFi track is genuinely interesting. real world payments on chain is where the actual adoption happens, not jpeg floor prices