In Portal Labs' previous article (Chinese investors' 'offline breakthrough': Why do you need to attend the 2025 Hong Kong Carnival?), we shared why Chinese Web3 investors need to run events.
However, knowing how to run and where to run also requires skill. In this article, Portal Labs will chat with everyone about it.
Where to run?
The first step in choosing offline events is to see which city they are held in.
The reason is simple: the policy environment and entrepreneurial atmosphere of a city determine whether it can attract truly high-quality institutions and projects to participate.
For example, in the past two years, Hong Kong has gradually opened up to Web3, actively supporting the entry of Web3 companies. At the beginning of 2025, one of the most famous Web3 events, Consensus, chose to hold an event in Hong Kong.
However, with so many Web3-friendly regions, how should one choose? Below are the regions and activities that Portal Labs suggests paying attention to, more suitable for Chinese investors.
Hong Kong (five stars)
Hong Kong has become one of the most densely populated cities in the world for Web3 activities due to its open policies and various historical and geographical factors.
For Chinese investors, Hong Kong is not only geographically 'close' but also a 'fit area' in terms of policy, culture, and language, thus becoming a bridgehead for entering the international Web3 network.
More importantly, the 'density of Web3 activities' in Hong Kong is not accidental but is driven by a whole set of policy directions and market vitality, such as the VASP licensing mechanism, the accelerated landing of compliant trading platforms and institutions like HashKey/OSL, and local incubators like Cyberport continuously enhancing their support for Web3, building a policy support and venue support ecosystem for startups.
In 2024, Hong Kong successfully hosted over a hundred Web3 events covering three major directions: investment, technology, and ecology. For example, the Web3 Festival in April 2024 attracted over ten thousand participants, becoming the most influential comprehensive Web3 event in Asia; at the same time, key events like TOKEN2049 in Hong Kong, Digital Asset Summit, and Cyberport Web3 Demo Day also promoted a large number of early-stage financing, ecosystem cooperation, and policy dialogue.
For this reason, for Chinese investors looking to participate in the primary market, layout global asset allocation, and seek policy breakthroughs, Hong Kong is the core city with the most certainty, density, and worth full participation.
Singapore, Japan, South Korea, Thailand (four stars)
Apart from Hong Kong, other regions in Asia are also worth paying attention to, such as:
As a crypto-friendly country with years of development, Singapore has a clear compliance narrative and a wealth of high-quality events. Especially the Token2049 held every September has become one of the most iconic Web3 events in Singapore and even globally.
In Japan, the government plays a strong leading role, continuously promoting compliant NFTs, blockchain games, and digital identity in recent years. Web3 activities supported by major Japanese financial groups are worth paying attention to.
South Korea shows a clear technology-driven focus, with active directions in blockchain games, ZK, and Web3 social, and a mature developer ecosystem, but participation still requires overcoming certain language and cultural barriers.
Thailand has recently emerged as a Web3-friendly country. Its entertainment-oriented Web3 ecosystem is rapidly developing, with active GameFi and NFT communities and high user stickiness, making it suitable for observing landing scenarios and user habits.
These regions can serve as complementary stops to Hong Kong. Investors are advised to selectively participate based on their own track preferences and resource foundations.
United States, Middle East (three stars)
Many Chinese investors also ask whether the United States and Dubai are worth attending. The answer is: yes, but the prerequisite is to have clear goals and strong resource allocation capabilities.
Firstly, the United States has always been one of the regions with the highest activity in the BTC ecosystem, AI-native protocols, and top DAOs, with core events like Bitcoin 2025 and Permissionless still largely concentrated in the U.S. However, it should be noted that visa complexities and high travel costs exist, and some projects are relatively cautious when hosting Asian investors.
The Middle East, especially Dubai, is rapidly building Web3 infrastructure driven by policy, but resources are still highly concentrated between sovereign funds and large conglomerates, suitable for teams with institutional backgrounds or seeking compliant license partnerships.
Therefore, for most Chinese investors, the combination of 'Hong Kong + Southeast Asia' is more feasible and has a better input-output ratio in terms of participation difficulty, information return, and language convenience.
How to run?
With more and more Web3 activities, 'running events' is no longer just a casual experience but a resource acquisition process that requires strategy and judgment. For Chinese investors, achieving the following three points often makes it easier to gain real benefits.
Clarify your purpose
Different identities correspond to different participation methods.
If you are an investor, you should focus on structured information scenarios such as VC exchanges, project roadshows, and Demo Days; if you are more concerned about overseas strategies or market trends, it is advisable to participate more in compliance forums and small roundtable discussions, as these sessions are easier to access real experiences.
Clarifying one's goals is essential to filter out truly valuable activities rather than just 'watching the excitement' in the noise.
Make good use of offline opportunities
When running events in places like Hong Kong and Southeast Asia, the most common regret is not missing speeches but 'meeting people without establishing relationships.'
It is advisable to prepare business cards, LinkedIn or Telegram QR codes in advance and proactively participate in free exchange sessions. A brief yet credible interaction on-site is more likely to extend cooperative relationships than a simple 'hello' in a group chat.
In addition, many events will naturally gather certain types of projects or investors in the Side Event section, and it is also recommended to collect activities of interest in advance through Luma or Notion notes and establish a schedule.
Manage expectations
Many genuine investment connections, ecosystem landings, and strategic adjustments do not happen at the main forum.
Instead, it’s when you hear the real financing rhythm of a project at some unofficial event or meet a fund manager laying out a certain track at a cocktail party that these 'unplanned connections' represent the true value of attending events.
Maintain an open mindset, but do not overly expect to 'catch big fish' at every event. You will find that continuous participation and building a long-term network is more valuable than one or two successful transactions.
*Note: Investment carries risks. Please participate in Web3 under legal and compliant conditions.
