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Gate will hold the "Institutional Circle: Al Reshaping Crypto Liquidity & Market Access" institutional exchange event in Hong Kong, aimed at institutional participants, focusing on discussions related to "AI Reshaping Crypto Liquidity and Market Structure." The event will invite institutional founders and business leaders from the Asia-Pacific region to explore the direction of industry evolution from a practical perspective.On the day of the event, Addis Hu, Global Head of Institutions at Gate, will deliver the opening speech and a keynote address; Ethan Hui, Senior Regional Business Development Manager at AWS, and Chen Zhao, Executive Director of Digital Assets and CEO of FinChain, will also attend as special guests and give speeches.In addition, the event will include registration and gift distribution, free networking, and a dinner segment, providing attendees with opportunities for in-depth communication and resource connection, further promoting institutional collaboration and industry cooperation.

ChainCatcher reported live that Celine Tan, Head of Liquidity Distribution at BNY Mellon Investment Management Hong Kong Limited, Kelly Sohn, Head of Digital Asset Strategy at Mirae Asset Securities (HK) Limited, Victor Jung, Head of Digital Assets at Hamilton Lane, and Xu Ping, Managing Director of Global Investment Banking at JPMorgan, attended the HK Web3 Feastival roundtable to share "The RWA Moment in Asia-Pacific: Hong Kong vs Singapore."The attendees generally believe that RWA is currently transitioning from proof of concept to broader implementation, driven mainly by the gradual maturity of technology, increasingly clear regulatory frameworks, and the rising market demand for stable, yield-generating asset allocations.Kelly Sohn stated that this round of RWA warming is different from the past, not driven by a single factor, but rather the result of the combined effects of technology, regulation, and capital flow. She also pointed out that the assets currently more suitable for tokenization include standardized products such as money market funds and commodities, and the combination of stablecoins and tokenized assets will further enhance on-chain transaction and settlement efficiency.Xu Ping mentioned that Singapore has become more cautious overall after the FTX incident, with a greater focus on institutional investors; in contrast, Hong Kong has advantages in retail access, licensing systems, and market innovation inclusiveness, making it more attractive to exchanges, stablecoin issuers, and custodians. She also noted that banks will play a key role in infrastructure, custody, and payment settlement within the RWA ecosystem.Victor Jung indicated that the market has previously focused too much on the institutional narrative, but the retail side is also an important source of demand for tokenization. He summarized the current demand into two categories: one is to obtain more yield through on-chain solutions, and the other is to reduce costs by improving efficiency. In his view, the industry driving force has gradually shifted from early technology supply to being driven by real investor demand.The roundtable discussion also mentioned that for RWA to further expand its application in the next phase, it still needs to address issues such as regulatory clarity, institutional infrastructure readiness, and investor education, as these factors remain key variables affecting the further development of the market.

The HTX Genesis Hackathon, hosted by HTX DAO and B.AI, and co-initiated by TinTinLand and OpenCity, has opened in Hong Kong. The opening event was lively, with increasing frequency of exchanges and interaction density, creating a high-intensity dialogue atmosphere among developers, investors, and ecosystem participants.HTX DAO ambassador Molly shared on the theme "HTX DAO Ecosystem Development Plan: Launch of a Multi-Million Dollar Ecological Fund and Value Closed-Loop Strategy." She pointed out that the core vision of the HTX Genesis Hackathon is to build a free financial port based on the exchange's hinterland. To achieve this goal, five major ecological matrices covering the entire industry chain have been constructed, including: Huobi HTX as the core business engine and liquidity center; HTX DAO serving as the governance hub and centralized decision-making brain of the ecosystem; public chains and innovation layers providing payment network support through TRON, and building a solid DeFi infrastructure with JustLend, SunX, etc.; HTX Ventures focusing on industry frontiers, providing investment, incubation, and acceleration services for outstanding projects; and B.AI aiming at future trends, dedicated to creating financial infrastructure for the AI Agent era.Molly further emphasized that regarding future development, Huobi HTX has clearly proposed four core strategic keywords: "stability, transparency, institutionalization, AI empowerment," aiming to enhance the platform's long-term competitiveness in a complex market environment and provide ecosystem participants with more certain growth expectations.

Hong Kong police disclosed a fraud case that used "AI quantitative trading" as a gimmick to lure investments in cryptocurrency, with a woman being defrauded of approximately 7.7 million Hong Kong dollars.The scammer impersonated an "investment expert" and actively contacted the victim through Telegram, claiming to use "quantitative trading" and "AI algorithms" to achieve stable high returns. The victim transferred USDT and ETH worth about 7.7 million Hong Kong dollars from her electronic wallet to a designated address 17 times, only to realize she had been scammed when her withdrawal attempts were rejected. The Hong Kong police remind the public that while cryptocurrencies have high return potential, they also come with high volatility and high risk. The so-called "AI trading" and "quantitative guaranteed profits" are often bait for scams, and the public should be wary of the "impossible triangle" trap of high returns, low risk, and low thresholds.

Dr. Han, the founder and CEO of Gate, has been invited to give a keynote speech at the main campus of the University of Hong Kong on the evening of April 21, and to participate in a fireside chat and open Q&A session.The event is titled "Web3 Dialogues @ HKU - Academia x Industry," supported by the School of Computing and Data Science at HKU in collaboration with the HKU Innovation and Entrepreneurship Centre and the Core Curriculum Office, and organized by Blockchain@HKU. It is primarily open to students interested in Web3, blockchain, digital finance, and emerging technologies. As a collaborative academic event, such activities are rare at HKU.The event will focus on core topics such as the evolution of Web3 technology, the integration of AI and digital assets, and industry regulatory trends, exploring these issues in depth from both academic research and industry practice perspectives. In addition to the keynote speech, Dr. Han will engage in a fireside chat with HKU professors and discuss topics such as industry development paths, technological transformation, and career planning with the attending students.As Web3 and artificial intelligence technologies continue to intersect, the interaction between academia and industry is becoming an important aspect of talent development and cognitive renewal. Such exchanges not only provide students with opportunities to gain firsthand industry experience but also help expand their understanding of technological application scenarios and future career directions, further promoting the connection between academia and industry.

The Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission has announced a new regulatory framework that allows tokenized investment products approved by the Commission to be traded in the secondary market, in order to promote the development of digital asset trading activities in Hong Kong.The new guidelines primarily facilitate the secondary market trading of tokenized open-ended funds on licensed virtual asset trading platforms and will consider allowing over-the-counter trading arrangements on a case-by-case basis. As of March 2026, there are already 13 tokenized products available to the public in Hong Kong, with the total asset value of tokenized equity management assets increasing to approximately 10.7 billion. The first batch of products is expected to mainly consist of tokenized money market funds. The new measures cover fair pricing, orderly trading, liquidity provision, and information disclosure.

The digital asset trading platform CoinUp announced that it will hold the "CoinUp Jazz Night" themed social cocktail party today at 19:00 at The Murray hotel in Hong Kong.It is reported that the event aims to gather traders, project parties, investment institutions, and KOLs from the Web3 industry. There will be industry guest sharing, roundtable discussions, and jazz performances on site, providing high-quality resource connections and communication scenarios for attendees.CoinUp is a global digital asset trading platform that offers spot and derivatives services, currently holding over $3 billion in asset reserves (PoR) and a $50 million user protection fund. The official reminder states that participation in this event is limited, and registration must be submitted in advance and confirmed via email to gain entry.

ChainCatcher reported live that Fan Wenzhong, Executive Director of the Chinese Financial Society and former Chairman of Beijing Financial Holdings Group, delivered a keynote speech at the 2026 Hong Kong Web3 Carnival. He pointed out that we are currently at a historical turning point similar to the transition from pawnshops to modern banking, where AI is an advanced productive force in the physical world, and Web3 represents a new type of production relationship in the digital world. The integration of the two will give rise to a Decentralized Agent Economy (DAE).He analyzed that AI Agents have execution capabilities but lack independent identity, accounts, and trust mechanisms, while Web3 addresses these pain points through smart contracts, on-chain identities, and programmable currencies; conversely, AI Agents significantly lower the barriers to using Web3. He proposed that DAE has four major characteristics: agent sovereignty and 24/7 operation, high-frequency atomic exchanges, a collaboration mechanism based on technological trust rather than moral or legal frameworks, and the organizational evolution from companies to DAOs and then to Decentralized AI Companies (DACs).He warned that this transformation will impact the labor market, with white-collar workers being replaced before blue-collar workers. AI quantitative funds have already achieved returns far exceeding those of retail investors, and he suggested that the government proactively advance social security reforms. Finally, he recommended that Hong Kong develop a self-controllable high-performance public chain, pilot limited digital persona registrations, attract Web3+AI composite talents, establish a digital finance industry fund, and promote collaborative innovation between the Hong Kong dollar stablecoin and digital renminbi.

ChainCatcher reported live that Hong Kong Legislative Council member (Technology and Innovation sector) Kenneth K.Y. Lau shared a keynote speech titled "Steady and Progressive Development Keeps Hong Kong at Forefront of Web3 Expansion" at the 2026 Hong Kong Web3 Carnival.He reviewed the development of Web3 in Hong Kong since 2022, from the licensing system for virtual asset service providers, the pilot of tokenized products, to last year's Policy Declaration 2.0 and the SFC ASPIRe roadmap, believing that regulatory clarity is the primary condition for the industry's development.He specifically compared the regulatory paths of the United States and Hong Kong, pointing out that although the U.S. has introduced important documents such as the Clarity Act, Genius Act, and the joint statement from the SEC and CFTC, the political situation may lead to legislative delays or even reversals; in contrast, Hong Kong provides a stable, transparent, and continuous development environment in terms of product classification, legislation, and infrastructure.He also mentioned the potential threat of quantum computing to the cryptocurrency industry, believing that at least five more years are needed, but the industry should prepare in advance at the cryptographic level. Finally, he emphasized that Hong Kong needs more technology developers and should promote cross-jurisdictional connectivity to form a positive flywheel for product issuance, investor participation, and innovator entry.

ChainCatcher live report, the Executive Director of the Intermediaries Division of the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission, Ye Zhi Heng, delivered a keynote speech titled "ASPIRe in Action Hong Kong's Digital Asset Journey" at the 2026 Hong Kong Web3 Carnival. He reviewed the six major milestones since the Commission launched the ASPIRe roadmap last year, including allowing licensed platforms to provide staking services, conducting joint consultations on virtual asset trading and custody systems, opening up perpetual contracts and margin financing frameworks, and launching plans to strengthen market defenses through technology.He revealed that the draft regulations for the four systems of virtual asset trading, custody, management, and advisory have reached 260 pages, and the draft was received last week. The work for the next 12 months is divided into three major clusters: first, promoting innovation through regulation, advancing legislative and regulatory guideline consultations; second, promoting innovation through practice, gradually allowing tokenized authorized funds to trade on licensed platforms; third, promoting innovation through interaction, advancing automated reporting, signing international bilateral memorandums, and combating financial crime frameworks. He emphasized that Hong Kong is "moving steadily forward, fast because of stability."

ChainCatcher reported live that the Deputy Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury of Hong Kong, Chan Ho Lam, delivered a keynote speech at the 2026 Hong Kong Web3 Carnival. He pointed out that Hong Kong has developed into the third global financial center index and the first international financial center in Asia, providing a solid foundation for Web3 innovation.He stated that the digital asset development policy declaration 2.0 released last year proposed the LEAP framework, which covers four pillars: optimizing legal regulation (L), expanding the variety of tokenized products (E), promoting application scenarios and cross-border cooperation (A), and developing talent and partnerships (P).He revealed that there are currently over 10 licensed trading platforms in Hong Kong, and the Monetary Authority has issued the first two stablecoin issuer licenses this month. The SAR government issued the third batch of tokenized green bonds last year, which is the largest scale globally, and is actively formulating regulatory systems for digital asset trading service providers and custodial service providers.

ChainCatcher live report, Hong Kong Financial Secretary Paul Chan delivered the opening speech at the 2026 Hong Kong Web3 Carnival. He pointed out that 2026 is an important turning point, as Web3 is maturing, and financial institutions are increasingly using digital assets and tokenization to enhance efficiency, reduce costs, and shorten settlement times. The rise of AI agents is also a milestone, and the intersection of the two will be a "game changer."He emphasized that Hong Kong, as an international financial center, actively embraces innovation and follows the principle of "same activity, same risk, same regulation." Regulatory agencies have a dual mission of prudent regulation and market development. He revealed that Hong Kong has issued two stablecoin issuer licenses this month and has issued over $2 billion in tokenized green and infrastructure bonds. Additionally, an "AI+ and Industry Development Strategy Committee" will be established to promote the integration of Web3 and AI in fields such as finance.