Web3 Carnival Essay: Amidst the Festivities, a Winter of Hardship—A Chicken Hotpot Stew Becomes Jerusalem
TechFlow Selected TechFlow Selected
Web3 Carnival Essay: Amidst the Festivities, a Winter of Hardship—A Chicken Hotpot Stew Becomes Jerusalem
The ones truly worth paying attention to are always those who became KOLs incidentally after excelling in their primary professions.
Navigating Web3 tides with focused insightsCompiled by: BlockBeats
From April 6 to April 9, the Web3 Carnival took place at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. As a major highlight event in the industry, this carnival brought together top players from the global Web3 space. Judging from photos shared by attendees, however, the conference appeared significantly quieter compared to previous years’ bustling crowds.
Nevertheless, the event still attracted genuine builders, with an even higher concentration of core industry participants than in prior years. Discussions spanned not only key Web3 topics such as regulation, technical infrastructure, public chain ecosystems, AI, DePIN, RWA, PayFi, and crypto finance, but also extended across diverse domains including the transition from Web2 to Web3, traditional finance, academic research, security and privacy, interactive entertainment, and industrial-scale applications. Moreover, the 2025 Hong Kong Web3 Carnival adopted the theme of the four seasons, using classical Chinese poetic imagery to express the Eastern philosophical essence of Web3, showcasing a unique narrative that blends technology with humanistic thought.
BlockBeats has selected four insightful reflections from attendees, covering market sentiment, technological trends, investment directions, and more. The full articles are republished below:
Princess Christine @0xsexybanana
Christine's observations from her time running around Hong Kong:
1. VCs have lost their influence and are arguably the worst-off group in this cycle. Projects are the manufacturers, KOLs are the streamers, and Binance is the Tmall mall. The market has evolved into a model where project teams directly collaborate with KOLs on Binance to sell tokens. VC endorsements no longer carry weight. VCs now get worse entry prices than anyone else and face longer lock-up periods. Some VCs have started transitioning into marketing agencies, moving into secondary markets, or downsizing their teams.
2. The industry is shifting from speculation toward real-world utility. People are actually starting to discuss practical issues like product-market fit (PMF), customer acquisition cost (CAC), and revenue. This marks the beginning of an era where good projects drive out bad ones.
3. Many sectors appear alive but are effectively dead.
Sectors confirmed dead: GameFi
Narratives in decline: BTCfi, modular architectures, DePIN
Narratives desperately resisting decline: AI, Ton
Stable and improving narratives: RWA, payment-focused PayFi (e.g., @0xinfini), and consumer apps
4. Founders are becoming more down-to-earth. They’ve styled their hair like Gen Z kids and are now casually hanging out with “P-generals” (young retail investors). After all, these young users are the wealthiest and most energetic segment of the market.
5. Yipin Chicken Hotpot has become the new Jerusalem. While the main venue feels deserted, offsite hotspots like Bridge Bottom Spicy Crab and Yipin Chicken Hotpot are buzzing. If no one invites you to a chicken hotpot or spicy crab dinner, you’re likely not part of the inner circle.
6. Everyone is becoming a super individual. Every person acts as a KOL; every KOL runs a mini marketing agency. Every agency strives to build direct, deep connections with project teams to secure better allocations.
7. Dating a Chinese girlfriend is the fastest way to learn Mandarin. One small V spoke fluent Chinese for an entire hour at a GCC event—much more fluently than during 2049 last year. Clearly, the quickest path to mastering a language is falling in love.
8. Times are changing; generations are dividing. The old-school godfathers, now heavyset and sipping wine, have stepped backstage, laughing off past rivalries. A new wave of beautiful female KOLs chirps sweetly, smiling brightly, while girl groups dance and sing, glossing over underlying tensions. Military formations shift, water takes no constant shape—everything changes. Here, nothing lasts forever.
ZTZZ ฿ @ZTZZBTC
I rarely attend large conferences. I usually gather projects for private gatherings instead. This time, I stayed at the Binance event all night and made a brief appearance at the Bybit gathering. Saw some interesting things and had meaningful conversations with several founders. Here’s my Hong Kong journal and industry reflection:
1. There are too many so-called "KOLs" in the industry, which can be categorized into three types:
The first type consists of those with genuine insight and real skills—KOL is just a side hustle. This group performed well in the current cycle and will rise to greater prominence in the future. The second type includes those who made some money during the bull market, then lost most of it back. They rely on their traffic and cling tightly to project teams or shadow groups, skillfully forming alliances to generate buzz and attract attention. They're generally anxious, realizing for the first time how fragile their moat really is. The third type comprises newly minted KOLs who can't land ads—many scene-hopping influencers, borderline content creators, pretty boys, etc.—extremely anxious, lacking any real skill, just showing up to say “I was there.”
2. The quality of today’s KOLs pales in comparison to those from 2017–2018. Looking back, the depth of insight, initiative, and long-term vision of KOLs during 17–18 were among the best, even by broader internet standards.
3. Still holds true: people whose primary identity is being a KOL aren’t worth your attention. Those who have real jobs in crypto and share insights incidentally—worth watching. Those who’ve reached the top of the industry and openly share their methodologies—definitely worth focusing on. I don’t really want to talk about KOLs; there’s not much to say. At Binance, I met a few veteran VCs who said to me: “So many people here—I don’t recognize anyone. Introduce me around.” I quietly replied: “I don’t recognize them either, and we don’t need to. 90% of them will vanish completely within three years. The rest, we’ll naturally come to know.” We both laughed. Bull and bear markets remain crypto’s best filtering mechanism.
Now let’s talk about project teams:
4. True gold shines in fire—interesting projects and teams are emerging in this bear market. But the next big trend isn’t clear yet. With many VCs having lost substantial capital, everyone is investing cautiously. If you’re a new founder, don’t stop thinking or working. I wanted to write something encouraging, typed it out, then deleted it. All I can say is: “Good luck!”
5. Most people entering crypto to launch projects this cycle have elite educational backgrounds. They share clear common traits—more on this in a future article. The era of the rugged individualist hero in crypto is truly fading.
6. Some projects are technically alive—but already dead. Too many founders are urgently seeking exit strategies.
Regarding exchanges:
7. The real challenge facing major exchanges is organizational structure—a problem without a clear solution for any large company. Simply put: leadership knows what needs to be done, but not how to execute. Execution teams know how to execute, but don’t understand the bigger picture.
8. A veteran project founder remarked: “Memes are something outsiders over 30 almost can’t grasp. Older insiders react slowly, but try to understand.” Once you internalize this, and reflect on recent events involving He Yi and CZ, you’ll see why Binance remains the #1 exchange globally—and why it stands unshaken.
9. The on-chain trading platform sector genuinely offers a chance to leapfrog ahead. It probably won’t be a BOT bot. We don’t yet know what the final form of this product will look like, but when it appears, it will explode like a supernova, challenging the dominance of centralized exchanges.
Regarding VCs:
10. After this bull-bear cycle, the surviving veteran crypto VCs will be nearly indestructible—top-tier institutions with permanent standing in the industry. Respect them.
11. If you backed failed projects, quickly talk to the teams—see if there’s a way to restructure and create an exit path.
12. I know there aren’t many good deals out there, so some investors are turning to Web2. But be cautious when funding Web2 veterans launching crypto projects. They’ll inevitably hit unforeseen pitfalls during execution. Often lacking loyalty or identity in crypto, they listen too much to so-called “experts,” execute poorly, and when trouble arises, think only of taking VC money and fleeing back to Web2.
13. VCs shouldn’t invest in MEMEs, but they can back market makers and strategic alliance groups.
13.5: Travel more—it doesn’t lose money! Why not travel together?
Regarding retail investors (“lambs”):
14. Don’t be a lamb—they don’t know why they live, nor who killed them.
15. One thing I noticed during offline lectures: too many retail investors now rely solely on communities and Twitter for information. Online spaces are filled with noise and absurdity, and they rarely encounter real experts anymore. Community quality has dropped by a hundred levels compared to 2017–2018. Twitter isn’t reliable either—too many low-quality KOLs. You can’t tell who’s legit, who’s skilled, or how they make money. Evaluating KOLs is a low-ROI task. Think deeper, study more, connect with real experts, and showcase your value! Crypto’s greatness lies in its openness: if you’re talented, you always have a shot at the top. The upper echelons always listen to voices from below. The “Tree of Ascension” remains unbroken.
16. Don’t be a lamb—they don’t know why they live, nor who killed them.
Miscellaneous thoughts:
The industry is largely shaped now, with fewer opportunities. Many top-level founders have already settled into comfort. Mid-to-senior level talents continue pushing forward, driven by passion and purpose. Conversations with them are deeply rewarding—not about projects or partnerships, but about shared experiences that reveal mutual credibility. Our life stories are recorded in candlesticks, connected through blockchain—that’s the unique magic of this space.
Too many newcomers are distracted by noise, fixating on meaningless projects and KOLs. But detours are inevitable. I never look down on KOLs—they’re part of the ecosystem, needed to attract retail interest.
I’m glad to have met many outstanding younger peers—they’re about to take center stage.
At a private dinner, a founder brought a BD girl who kept trying to visit another nearby gathering to meet some “big shots.” The founder snapped: “Can those ‘big shots’ make you money? To them, you’re just a pretty girl—they invited you so they can drink and have fun.”
The girl was upset but didn’t respond. Seeing her confusion, I told her: “Your job is client relations—meeting these people makes sense professionally. But fundamentally, you’re earning a salary. You lack the ability to genuinely connect with those founders. You can’t even tell who’s truly influential or wealthy.”
The girl, a recent master’s graduate, nodded vaguely. In her, I saw my younger self. The only path forward is to grow stronger, become valuable, use that value to build real connections, create new value, and gradually rise in the ecosystem. In crypto, this is the only thing worth doing—the sole path to success.
The Hong Kong event is over. The industry’s focus, core, and future were never in Yipin Chicken Hotpot restaurants or nightclubs. Real value emerges where pioneers cross paths—casual chats in coffee shops, recognizing kindred spirits, sparking new ideas, birthing new value.
AB Kuai.Dong @_FORAB
A winter beneath the glittering surface?
1. This might be the coldest Hong Kong conference I’ve attended. Event organizers widely complained about difficulties in vendor recruitment, while media friends noted a sharp drop in advertising orders from projects.
2. Many former employees of major exchanges are now considering returning to exchange jobs. Despite fixed salaries and mechanical roles, the stability of a regular paycheck and the prestige of a big-name employer are appealing—further proving the old saying: during bull markets, people want to hustle; during bear markets, they want jobs.
3. Projects that completed token issuance years ago are now strategizing what to build during this bear market, so they can launch again in the next bull cycle. Meanwhile, founders who recently launched tokens are mostly struggling, feeling like everything they do turns wrong.
4. VCs this year show clear polarization. Many earlier investments were made at sky-high valuations and have been heavily wiped out by the market. Yet, many new projects now offer extremely attractive valuations.
5. At an event where both CZ and Vitalik appeared, surprisingly, CZ drew far more attention. As crowds rushed to take photos with CZ, he joked: “Go find Vitalik too!”
6. While debates raged last year over whether Ethereum had fundamental issues, this year there seems to be broad consensus—whether at Vitalik’s public talks or in private settings, criticism and skepticism are everywhere.
7. I asked several market makers and institutions—most expect ETH to fall below $800, betting on panic selling from cyclical borrowers and early ICO investors. That said, back in June 2022, everyone thought the same—yet ETH only briefly touched $880.
8.明显 fewer Western foreigners attended this year, even at technical-focused events. Two years ago, international audiences were FOMO-driven, traveling long distances for Hong Kong’s story. This enthusiasm has clearly faded.
9. I met many “airdrop farmers” this time. For some, farming has genuinely improved their family’s financial situation. Despite witch hunts eliminating some operations, the airdrop season from late last year to early this year created a new wave of wealth.
10. While progress on Hong Kong’s regulatory framework remains mixed, the city has become a fascinating hub for crypto dialogue. Undercurrents are stirring. Many projects unable to return elsewhere now come from Singapore, while Chinese retail traders arrive from mainland China—creating intriguing friction and synergy.
11. Leading Chinese bloggers are expanding beyond crypto into streetwear, medical aesthetics, and even Hong Kong-listed companies, forming extensive business networks increasingly similar to Western talent and investment firms.
These are my impressions from this year’s Hong Kong conference. Now I can finally return to my desk and resume sitting in silence. I’ll continue sharing updates as they come. Thanks for reading.
Shisijun
Join TechFlow official community to stay tuned
Telegram:https://t.me/TechFlowDaily
X (Twitter):https://x.com/TechFlowPost
X (Twitter) EN:https://x.com/BlockFlow_News
BlockBeats
