Development Trends of Web3.0 and Opportunities in Shanghai

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

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

The report points out that a global Web3.0 ecosystem has initially formed, based on a diverse computing power network, distributed data storage network, and high-speed communication network, with blockchain infrastructure at its core. Currently, core blockchain technology innovation is active, the industry scale is steadily growing, and corporate strength is continuously being demonstrated. A pattern has emerged globally, centered around Ethereum, with a coexistence of multiple chains.

In the next 5-10 years, with the exploration of various parties, traditional finance and capital will accelerate the integration with RWA (Real World Asset Tokenization), which is expected to form multiple capital and asset tokenization trading networks globally, promoting the interconnectivity of global financial payment transactions. Currently, capital tokenization such as fiat stablecoins, tokenized deposits, and Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs), as well as asset tokenization represented by RWA, are developing rapidly.

Many countries and regions have begun relevant explorations. For example, the IMF is developing a CBDC platform to facilitate cross-border transactions. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority is collaborating with multiple central banks to develop the "Multilateral Central Bank Digital Currency Bridge Platform" project and has launched the wholesale CBDC project Ensemble to support interoperability between CBDCs, tokenized currencies, and tokenized assets.

Mainstream capital enters the market, regulation becomes key

In January 2024, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission approved the listing of a Bitcoin spot ETF for the first time. Hong Kong and Australia have also successively approved cryptocurrency ETF products. These measures will greatly enhance market liquidity and further stimulate ecological innovation and development.

However, industry insiders point out that the healthy development of Web3.0 relies on a完善的监管体系. Currently, there is no unified regulatory system established globally, and the market still faces speculative and fraudulent risks. Experts suggest that governments should accelerate the research and formulation of token regulatory policies to provide security for the "Token economy" and digital assets.

Shanghai Web3.0 Development Opportunities

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

In the future, 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 in 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 standard system in the Web3.0 field.
5. Build an innovative highland for the Web3.0 industry ecosystem.
6. Innovate the construction of the Web3.0 regulatory system.

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 industrial digitization, upgrade traditional productivity to new quality productivity, and promote the practical application of the Web3.0 industry with a solid digital economy foundation.