The first Ethereum offline community center in Asia, ETH Hong Kong Hub, officially opened on April 21, 2026. Supported by the Ethereum Foundation's Ethereum Everywhere (EE) team and jointly operated by SNZ and ETHTAO, the establishment of this center marks the first long-term, open, and sustainable offline community center for Ethereum in Asia, further solidifying Hong Kong's key position in the global landscape of digital assets and technological innovation.

This opening event gathered core figures from the global Ethereum ecosystem, institutional representatives, and the technical community. Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin, Ethereum Foundation Chair Aya Miyaguchi, Hong Kong Legislative Council member (technology and innovation sector) Duncan Chiu, Hong Kong government's office director of key enterprises Peter YAN, SNZ founder Gilles Shi, Sharplink CEO Joseph Chalom, and Hashkey Group chairman and CEO Dr. Xiao Feng attended and participated in discussions. The event attracted over 1,500 registrations with developers, institutions, and innovators from around the world, making it one of the most sought-after events during this year's Hong Kong Web3 Carnival. A total of 16 founders/CEOs and 10 SVPs or business leaders representing companies were invited to participate in Keynote and Panel discussions.

The ETH HK Hub Grand Opening & Meetup was supported by sponsors including Spark, Lido, Galaxy Digital, and Zand Bank, collectively promoting communication and development of the Ethereum ecosystem in Asia.

Making Hong Kong a “Comeback Place” for Builders

ETH Hong Kong Hub is not just a physical space but a long-term, operational offline community center that connects developers, institutions, and entrepreneurs, promoting the deep integration of Web2 and Web3.

SNZ Holding Chief Business Officer Henry Chen stated:

“With Vitalik, Aya, and other core Ethereum figures coming to Hong Kong, this city is once again becoming a focal point for global builders—also a place where they can 'come back'.”

“Hong Kong is not only the financial and tech innovation center of Asia but also one of the most active and well-regulated Web 3 havens globally. The ETH Hong Kong Hub is located in the heart of West Kowloon, linking the world.”

“In the past ten months, together with the Ethereum Foundation, we built this space from scratch. Today it officially opens; it's more like a 'rebirth'—a community that needs everyone's participation and collective growth.”

ETH Hong Kong Hub serves as a community gathering center in this 'home', allowing builders from different backgrounds to meet, collaborate, and grow. The Hub will provide a one-stop service for members of the community center and Ethereum co-builders, ranging from office space and event venues to localized support (including business and talent services), as well as ecosystem empowerment, incubation investments, and business matchmaking collaboration. 'How can we build thousands of grand houses?' A true community is one where everyone has a sense of belonging.”

Vitalik: The Technological Inflection Point Has Arrived, a New Building Cycle Is Starting

During the fireside chat at the opening, Vitalik Buterin and Duncan Chiu communicated in Mandarin, reflecting on their over ten-year connection with the Chinese-speaking community, and delving into topics around Ethereum's latest roadmap, L2, AI, and quantum resistance.

Vitalik stated that with the maturity of zero-knowledge proof (ZK) technology and artificial intelligence significantly lowering development barriers, a new generation of developers is obtaining unprecedented opportunities. He pointed out:

• L2 should complement L1 rather than simply replicate it
• L1 remains an irreplaceable native settlement layer
• Future scaling will include not only data scaling but also compute scaling

When discussing AI and quantum resistance technology, Vitalik remarked that these challenges "can be fully resolved but need to be advanced seriously," and emphasized that infrastructure should be prepared for long-term future changes.

He also encouraged builders from the Chinese-speaking community to focus on real-world demands and explore the integration of Ethereum with AI, open-source hardware, and other directions to create new application forms different from the past.

Aya Miyaguchi: Building a Long-Term Sustainable Ecosystem with “Subtraction Philosophy”

In another fireside chat, Ethereum Foundation Chair Aya Miyaguchi shared the core philosophy for the long-term development of the Ethereum ecosystem.

She indicated that the goal of the Ethereum Foundation is not to dominate or control the ecosystem but to ensure the system has the ability to operate independently in the long term. She proposed that Ethereum needs to pass the so-called “Walk-away test,” meaning that at some point in the future, even without the Foundation's involvement, the protocol and ecosystem can still operate steadily.

“The system needs to be able to continue running without the Ethereum Foundation.”

Aya pointed out that this philosophy stems from the Ethereum Foundation's long-standing “subtraction philosophy.” During the ICO boom, the Foundation faced suggestions from outside parties about expanding the team and establishing a corporate structure (like appointing roles such as CTO or CMO), but ultimately chose not to take that path, instead supporting ecosystem development through “coordination rather than control.”

She further stated that this design allows the Ethereum ecosystem to continue evolving without relying on a single center, continually generating new innovations.

Aya also mentioned that community spaces like the ETH Hong Kong Hub reflect the spontaneous evolution of the Ethereum ecosystem, showing the continuous development and vibrancy of global communities in different regions.

Joseph Chalom: Ethereum Is Becoming the “Global Financial Ledger”

Sharplink CEO Joseph Chalom systematically elaborated on the long-term value of Ethereum from the perspective of institutional finance during the keynote speech.

He stated that the global financial system is undergoing profound transformation, and the traditional trust mechanisms are inefficient:

• Transaction settlement still takes 1–3 days
• There are numerous fragmented databases globally
• A significant amount of costs go toward intermediaries and establishing trust

He pointed out: “Ethereum is becoming the global financial ledger and trust infrastructure.”

Joseph further stated that Ethereum has established a leading advantage in terms of security, liquidity, and institutional trust, and the development of stablecoins, real-world assets (RWA), and DeFi is constructing a new on-chain financial system.

He emphasized that as regulations become clearer and institutions accelerate their entry, blockchain technology is moving from the experimental phase to large-scale application.

Animoca Brands × EVG: AI Agents Are Reshaping Business Models and On-chain Economic Structures

In another fireside chat, EVG co-founder and co-CEO Allen Ng and Animoca Brands co-founder and executive chairman Yat Siu discussed AI Agents and Web3 applications.

Yat Siu mentioned that AI Agents are gradually evolving from informational tools into systems with execution capabilities, capable of participating in real-world tasks and potentially forming a large-scale automated collaboration network in the future. He pointed out that as users increasingly obtain information through AI rather than clicking links, the traditional internet business model centered on advertising is being challenged.

“The key in the future will no longer be traffic, but small, high-frequency payments driven by Agents.”

He further emphasized that as interactions and transaction volumes between Agents continue to expand, the low-cost, real-time settlement capabilities offered by blockchain make it the foundational infrastructure for the operation of the Agent economy.

Allen Ng added that AI Agents will significantly lower the threshold for using Web3, allowing users to perform on-chain operations through Agents, thereby driving broader applications.

From AI to On-chain Finance, the Agenda Outlines a Complete Application Landscape

This opening event of ETH HK Hub focused on key application directions of the Ethereum ecosystem, with the agenda spanning from infrastructure, AI × blockchain integration, to on-chain finance and real-world assets, systematically presenting the complete path of Ethereum from technical evolution to large-scale application.

In the Institutional Crypto Adoption roundtable, Samuel Chong from Lido, Leroy Lin from Galaxy Digital, Jaewon Yu from SignalPlus, and Shan Shan Shui from Morpho discussed institutional crypto asset adoption, exploring how institutional capital gradually enters the on-chain ecosystem from the dimensions of liquidity staking, institutional trading services, and on-chain lending.

Michael Dong, co-founder and CEO of Brevis, in the keynote speech “100X Ethereum L1: The ZK Path to Infinite Compute,” shared on zero-knowledge proofs (ZK) and verifiable computing, proposing that by decoupling computation and verification, it is possible to break through the performance bottlenecks caused by duplicated calculations in blockchain, providing an infrastructure path for Ethereum to achieve large-scale expansion.

In the Future AI on Blockchain roundtable, Yi Zhang, CEO of Codatta, Rui Ding, co-founder of Quantum Quills, Jordan Liu, founder and CEO of Alsa, and Ran Yi, co-founder of Starchild / Orderly discussed the integration of AI and blockchain, asserting that AI Agents are moving from tools to economic participants, while blockchain will provide decentralized payment and settlement networks for them.

Xie Xiang, co-founder and CEO of Primus, in the keynote speech “Building Verifiable Agents for the Autonomous Economy” proposed that AI Agents, in the future, need not only execution capabilities but also verifiability, and that the on-chain verification layer will become key infrastructure supporting automated trading and trustworthy collaboration of Agents.

In the From Stablecoins to Real Settlement: Building Global Liquidity on Ethereum roundtable, SNZ Holding Chief Strategy Officer Larry Ma, Infini founder Christian Li, Pay Protocol co-founder Yolanda Liu, Cap Money global business head Gigi Yip, and Zand Bank CEO Michael Chan discussed stablecoins, on-chain settlement, and global liquidity, pointing out that stablecoins are driving the migration of funds to on-chain and gradually building a financial system that uses blockchain as its settlement layer.

Niki Ariyasinghe, Vice President for Asia Pacific and the Middle East at Chainlink, in the keynote speech “Integrating TradFi with Web3: Growth in Asia,” shared the latest advancements in on-chain compliance, asset tokenization, and cross-border asset distribution from an institutional perspective, noting that Hong Kong is becoming a critical hub for institutions driving on-chain finance globally.

Serena Wang, head of HashKey Chain, in the keynote speech “On-chain Financial Infrastructure for the Age of AI,” introduced the on-chain financial infrastructure layout aimed at institutions, developers, users, and AI Agents, emphasizing the connection between traditional capital markets and the on-chain economy through compliant DeFi, RWA issuance, and institutional-level service systems.

Yuxin, representing GCC, in the keynote speech, shared on public goods and open-source ecology, discussing GCC's long-term support for open-source infrastructure, privacy networks, and developer communities, emphasizing that the long-term development of Web3 depends not only on commercial drive but also on sustained investment in public goods and nonprofit funding.

Overall, this opening agenda highlights the main thread of “institutional adoption—technical expansion—AI Agents—payments and settlements—on-chain finance—public goods,” presenting a complete evolution path of the Ethereum ecosystem from foundational innovation to real-world application.

Hong Kong: An Important Collaborative Node in the Global Ethereum Ecosystem

As an important hub connecting Asia and global capital, Hong Kong has unique advantages in regulation, finance, and cross-border resource integration.

Duncan Chiu stated that the establishment of ETH Hong Kong Hub will further strengthen Hong Kong's status as an international center for technology and digital assets, providing a platform for open and compliant communication and cooperation for global developers and enterprises.

Unlike short-term activities, the core focus of ETH Hong Kong Hub lies in continuity:

• Regularly open offline collaborative spaces
• Regular technical sharing and community activities
• Continually connecting developers, institutions, and entrepreneurs

In this positioning, the first phase of ETH Hong Kong Hub has already attracted over 30 Ethereum ecosystem projects, institutions, and enterprises, covering multiple fields including infrastructure, DeFi, institutional services, and emerging applications, initially forming an offline ecological network with diverse collaborative capabilities.

About ETH Hong Kong Hub

ETH Hong Kong Hub is the first Ethereum offline community center in Asia, supported by the Ethereum Foundation's Ethereum Everywhere team and jointly operated by SNZ and ETHTAO. The Hub is dedicated to connecting Eastern and Western ecosystems, integrating Web2 and Web3, and promoting the long-term development and application of Ethereum in Asia through continuous community building, technical exchange, and resource collaboration.

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