Hong Kong is the leading Web 3.0 hub in the world

By Nury Vittachi

MOVE OVER, SILICON VALLEY: a Chinese city just issued the world’s biggest next-generation digitized bond.

It’s all part of an internet revolution which will dramatically shift power away from the old-school power brokers, a forum heard on Friday.

The new system, called Web 3.0, is already being developed, with most new innovators NOT confined to Silicon Valley but spread worldwide.

Last month, on November 25, the biggest digital bond issuance in the world was released – in Hong Kong, the financial city on the south coast of China.

And that’s just the beginning of the power shift, said speakers at an event hosted by the city’s “Friday” news project, Hong Kong Coalition, and AALCO Regional Arbitration Center.

HUNDREDS ALREADY SET UP
“We have hundreds of Web 3.0 companies already set up in Hong Kong,” said senior treasury official Joseph Chan.

“Hong Kong is now being recognized as one of the leading Web 3.0 hubs in the world,” he added.

“If you look at the conferences being held in Hong Kong, not by the government, right, but by the industry, by that consensus, Bitcoin Asia, Smartcoin, Web3 Festival — each one of those that I mentioned just now, they attract thousands of participants, if not tens of thousands.”

HEART OF THE SYSTEM
The heart of the new system is Smart Contracts—and Hong Kong is well ahead in the development of that process, said Justice Secretary Paul Lam, speaking at the same legal-themed forum, called Problem-Solving City: Hong Kong as a Disputes Resolver.

“AI smart contracts can even analyze data, adapt to different contexts and improve accuracy in future decision-making when executing the contracts,” he said.

HOW SMART CONTRACTS WORK
Say you want to buy a home. At the moment, you have to deal with (and pay) lawyers and property agents when you make the initial offer, again when the deposit is paid, again as contracts and legal aspects are reviewed, and once more when the final deal is signed. All this takes huge amounts of time and adds up to a fortune.

New way:

The buyer and seller share a Web 3.0 Smart Contract online. The contract itself handles each stage of the deal automatically, at precisely the right time. It updates itself to keep abreast of the law. It uses a blockchain system to make the deal 100 per cent transparent and secure. On the chosen final day, it moves the money and transfers the property deeds. Job done. Zero paperwork.

Efficiency? Total.

Speed? As fast as you like.

Fees? Minimal.

This isn’t to say that all lawyers and property agents will be unemployed. In practice, they’ll still oversee big deals, but will be able to do their part quickly and efficiently at a lower cost.

And Smart Contracts are trustworthy, and can be used by any entrepreneur in any business, small or large–an aspect that has ambitious people excited.

“With Web 3.0, users have greater control over their data and transactions, fostering trust and transparency through cryptographic mechanisms,” Justice Secretary Lam said at the forum.