The development prospects of Web3.0 are broad, and Shanghai is welcoming new opportunities.

Recently, the "2024 Shanghai Web3.0 Innovation Ecosystem Construction Research Report" press conference was held in Shanghai. The representatives at the meeting unanimously agreed that the development of Web3.0 is crucial for the information technology industry. The report is guided by the Shanghai Municipal Science and Technology Commission and jointly released by the Liberation Daily and the School of Economics of Fudan University, making it the first industry report in Shanghai focused on Web3.0.

The industrial ecosystem has initially formed, and RWA has become a new trend.

The report points out that the global Web3.0 has initially formed an ecosystem based on a multi-dimensional computing power network, a distributed data storage network, and a high-speed communication network, with blockchain infrastructure as the core. Currently, core technological innovations in blockchain are active, the industry scale is steadily growing, and the strength of enterprises is continuously being demonstrated. A global pattern dominated by Ethereum and characterized by multi-chain coexistence is gradually taking shape.

Experts generally believe that "RWA" (Real World Asset tokenization) will become the next trend in Web3.0. In the next 5-10 years, with the exploration by governments, regulatory agencies, and financial institutions around the world, traditional finance and capital will accelerate their convergence with RWA, forming multiple networks for capital and asset tokenization globally, promoting the interconnectivity of global financial payment transactions.

Currently, many governments and mainstream financial institutions have begun to accept the financial assets and technologies of Web3.0. Fiat-backed stablecoins, tokenized deposits, central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), and the tokenization of real-world assets (RWAs) are rapidly developing. For example, the IMF is developing a CBDC platform to facilitate cross-border transactions, and BlackRock has launched a tokenized fund issued on the Ethereum network.

Hong Kong's practices in this regard are also worth noting. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority has participated in the "Multilateral Central Bank Digital Currency Bridge" project and announced the list of working group members for the wholesale central bank digital currency (wCBDC) project Ensemble, to support the interoperability between wCBDC, tokenized currencies, and tokenized assets.

A trading platform stated that the popularization of stablecoins and RWAs is an inevitable development process that blockchain and crypto technology must undergo. With the approval of the Bitcoin spot ETF, stablecoins and RWAs will enter a rapid development phase, driving the growth of the entire Web3 industry.

Mainstream capital enters the market, top-level design is crucial

In January 2024, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved the first Bitcoin spot ETFs, authorizing 11 ETFs to start trading. Hong Kong and Australia also successively approved Bitcoin ETF and Ethereum ETF products. The report believes that the listing and trading of spot ETFs will significantly enhance market liquidity and further stimulate innovation and development in the ecosystem.

The Hong Kong market has adhered to the principles of stability and sustainable development for mainstream capital entering the Web3.0 market from the very beginning. This includes the legislative passage of relevant regulatory bills and the introduction of credible regulatory bodies for the "dual-license" supervision of exchanges. These practices reflect that strengthening top-level design is one of the key tasks for the current development of Web3.0.

Meng Yan, the person in charge of SFT Labs, pointed out that Web3.0 is currently in the early stages of significant development, with the conditions for technological advancement in place, waiting for the triggering of macro monetary policies and regulatory policies. He believes that due to the lack of a unified regulatory system worldwide, there are speculative and fraudulent risks in this market, which pose a long-term challenge to the healthy development of Web3.0.

Experts recommend studying "Token Economics"

Meng Yan suggested that domestic government departments accelerate the research and formulation of regulatory policies for Tokens, providing security for the "Token economy" and digital assets. Xu Xiaoyu, managing partner of Amino Capital, stated that with the approach of the WEB3.0 era, "Token economics" is emerging, and governments, universities, and research institutions can conduct in-depth research on this economics to provide academic support for the prosperity of the next generation of the Internet and the innovation of regulatory system construction.

Li Chao, the deputy director of the Shanghai Academy of Sciences Blockchain Research Institute, believes that how to balance regulation and Web3.0 innovative applications is the key point for the healthy and rapid development of Web3.0.

Opportunities and Suggestions for the Development of Web3.0 in Shanghai

The report believes that Shanghai has embarked on beneficial explorations in a systematic, institutional, market-oriented, and rule-of-law manner in the development of Web3.0. Under the guidance of relevant support policies and planning, industries related to Web3.0, represented by blockchain technology, continue to advance, driving the rapid development of the digital economy and assisting in the construction of Shanghai as an international science and technology innovation center.

The report suggests that Shanghai can make progress in the following six areas:

1. Fully leverage the advantages of the digital economy to provide a foundation for the construction of the Web3.0 ecosystem.
2. Introduce special support policies for the Web3.0 field, and carry out top-level design and system construction.
3. Increase financial support for the development of Web3.0
4. Actively promote the construction of the standard system in the Web3.0 field.
5. Build a Web3.0 industrial ecosystem innovation highland
6. Innovating the Web3.0 Regulatory System Construction

Shanghai can leverage its advanced technologies and rich experience in fintech, artificial intelligence, cloud computing, and other areas, combined with the characteristics of its industrial structure, to lead with industrial digitalization, transforming traditional productivity into new quality productivity, and promoting the application of the Web3.0 industry with a solid digital economy foundation.