The world's first DePIN event concluded successfully. DePIN Expo 2025 leads a new wave of decentralized infrastructure

The world's first DePIN Expo 2025 successfully concluded at Hong Kong Cyberport, marking a significant milestone for the decentralized physical infrastructure network (DePIN) sector. The event brought together global leaders, academics, and developers to explore the integration of DePIN with AI and Web3 technologies.

Event Overview: Held from August 27-28, 2025, and co-sponsored by CGV and DeMall, the expo showcased over 20 innovative projects across decentralized storage, edge computing, smart hardware, and payment solutions.
Hong Kong's Strategic Role: Highlighted as an international DePIN hub, Hong Kong's supportive policies, financial ecosystem, and Cyberport's infrastructure were emphasized as key enablers for growth.
Key Discussions:
- Experts discussed DePIN's potential to reshape real-world infrastructure and economic models, addressing topics like compliance, capital markets, and the integration of AI and blockchain.
- Legislative progress in Hong Kong's virtual asset sector, including licenses for exchanges and upcoming regulations for stablecoins and OTC trading, was outlined.
Technological Focus:
- Solana's high-performance network was highlighted as a preferred choice for DePIN projects.
- Decentralized computing and edge solutions were proposed to address AI's energy consumption and centralization risks.
Roundtable Insights:
- Hong Kong's unique advantages as a bridge between East and West were underscored, with discussions on DePIN's evolution from consumer applications to enterprise services.
- The role of DePIN in attracting talent and enabling real-world applications like the "machine economy" was explored.
Future Outlook: The event positioned DePIN as a critical infrastructure for the future, with announcements for future expos and partnerships to further drive adoption and innovation.

The world's first DePIN event, DePIN Expo 2025, has successfully concluded at Hong Kong Cyberport! Bringing together global industry leaders, academics, and developers, the event focused on decentralized physical infrastructure (DePIN), AI, and cutting-edge Web3 applications. Over 20 innovative projects were showcased, highlighting Hong Kong's strategic position as an international DePIN hub and ushering in a new chapter in the development of real-world infrastructure and economic models.

From August 27th to 28th, 2025, DePIN Expo 2025, co-sponsored by CGV and DeMall, hosted by Web3Labs, MetaEra, and Techub News, and co-organized by Cyberport, was successfully held at Hong Kong Cyberport. As the world's first flagship industry event focused on the Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Network (DePIN), the event, themed "Life, Reimagined with DePIN," brought together industry leaders, academics, investors, and developers from around the world to discuss how DePIN technology can reshape real-world infrastructure and economic models.

Opening Remarks:

Hong Kong becomes a strategic hub for DePIN and Web3

The conference officially launched with an opening speech by Dr. Cheng Songyan, CEO of Hong Kong Cyberport. Dr. Cheng Songyan stated, "As Hong Kong's digital technology hub and AI accelerator, Cyberport is home to over 2,200 startups and boasts the largest blockchain and digital asset ecosystem in Hong Kong, including over 290 blockchain companies. Through the 'Web3.0 Investment Circle' within the Cyberport Investor Network, we have brought together over 40 investment institutions focused on blockchain technology to promote the deep integration of DePIN with the real economy. We are building a complete ecosystem from technology implementation and funding to industrial applications. We are actively leveraging the resources of the Cyberport Supercomputing Centre and AI ecosystem to promote the deep integration of AI and blockchain technologies, accelerate the application of blockchain technology in the real economy, and create a brighter future for digital assets, blockchain technology, and the Web3.0 industry."

Kevin Ren, founder of the DePIN Expo and Asia-Pacific partner of CGV Fund, delivered a speech titled "Lift, Reimagined with DePIN," systematically explaining the classification of DePIN and its practical applications in daily life. He noted that DePIN is not only the physical vehicle for the integration of AI and Web3 but also the critical infrastructure for realizing the "machine economy." Kevin also announced the upcoming DeAI Expo in 2026 to further promote the integration of decentralized AI and the physical world.

Keynote Speech:

Technology integration and ecological construction become the focus

Yao Ding, Head of Growth for the Asia-Pacific Region at the Solana Foundation, shared how the Solana network empowers the development of the DePIN project through its high performance and low cost. He used multiple data points to demonstrate that Solana has become one of the preferred public chains for the DePIN project.

Dr. Cai Kailong, CEO of NANO bit, addressed the issue from the perspective of compliance and capital markets, noting that the cryptocurrency industry is undergoing a one-way integration, characterized by "cryptocurrency integration with Wall Street." He emphasized that high-quality projects must unlock value through US stock listings or compliant capital markets, and provided a detailed analysis of the interaction between the industry, market, and regulators.

Allen YANG, a professor at UC Berkeley, pointed out from his academic research that energy consumption issues in AI applications can pose centralization risks, and that decentralized computing platforms and edge computing are key solutions. He specifically mentioned the need for real-time local processing capabilities in embodied AI and called for the decentralization and federation of AI edge computing.

Policy and legislative support:

Hong Kong actively builds a Web3-friendly environment

In his opening speech on the afternoon of the 27th, Dr. Wu Jiezhuang, Member of the Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and Member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, detailed Hong Kong's legislative progress in the virtual asset sector. He noted that Hong Kong has issued 11 virtual asset exchange licenses and introduced regulations for stablecoins. Next year, regulations for over-the-counter (OTC) trading and custody services will also be introduced. Dr. Wu Jiezhuang noted that global data assets are worth approximately $4 trillion, 93% of which are native tokens. The tokenization of real-world assets (RWA) still accounts for less than 1%, posing enormous potential for the future. He emphasized that Hong Kong will collaborate with the United States to promote industry innovation and called on entrepreneurs to seize the opportunities presented by Decentralized Payments (DePIN) and RWA.

Web3Labs CEO Caspar further added that the Hong Kong Financial Secretary has allocated funds to support Cyberport's Web3 ecosystem. In the past two years, it has incubated more than 50 projects and cooperated with multiple public chains to launch incubation programs to provide all-round support for entrepreneurs.

Roundtable Discussion:

The integration path of DePIN, AI, and Web3

The roundtable discussion on the morning of the 27th, themed "Hong Kong's Role and Path in the DePIN × Web3 Ecosystem," was moderated by MetaEra COO Seven. Guests unanimously agreed that Hong Kong, with its international financial status and open policies, possesses unique advantages as a DePIN hub. Pauline Fan, Senior Vice President of InvestHK, emphasized the importance of the open source community, while Rachel Lee of Cyberport noted its continued attraction to public blockchain and ecosystem projects. Wang Yiwen of the Hong Kong Young Scientists Association stated that DePIN can attract AI talent to Hong Kong. Yao Ding of the Solana Foundation believes that Hong Kong, as a bridge between the East and the West, holds significant market potential. Hitch CEO Crystal Tang shared her experience with the Hitch Open competition.

Another roundtable, "How Can DePIN Become the Gateway to a New Global Infrastructure?", was moderated by CGV partner Edward and featured participants Henrique Centieiro, Lead Research Officer at peaq; Chris Bian Ong, Director of DPIN Foundation; Logan N, Director of Hyra Network; Gunjan, VP of Beamable; and Ryan Ma, Director of FMG. The panelists discussed enterprise middleware, data sovereignty, and compliance transformation, noting that DePIN is evolving from a consumer application to compliant enterprise services, becoming a true "new operating system for the real world."

On the 28th, the roundtable discussion, "Is AI × DePIN Rewriting Real-World Protocols?" was moderated by Nano Bit SVP Lin. IoTeX Eastern stated that the current focus is on resolving AI black box and trust issues. JT Song from 0G labs introduced 0g's one-stop data storage, computing power, and consensus solution for DePIN. Heric stated that current users prefer devices with revenue-generating mechanisms. Larry from Kaia Foundation believes that DePIN's success requires a strong user base, real-value applications, and economies of scale. Quan Yu from RootData shared insights from investment and financing data, stating that DePIN remains one of the areas of greatest interest to investors.

Project roadshow and ecological display:

Innovative applications showcased

The conference featured an Open Stage session, where over 20 DePIN projects were showcased, covering a variety of areas including decentralized storage, edge computing, smart hardware, data collection, and payment solutions. The following figure shows the breakdown of participating projects.

Closing Outlook:

The DePIN ecosystem continues to evolve, with Hong Kong becoming an innovation engine.

The conference concluded with a partnership signing and lively discussions. TokenPost and Techub News signed a strategic partnership agreement, further expanding DePIN Expo's global media influence.

DePIN Expo 2025 not only showcased the latest advancements in DePIN technology, but also highlighted Hong Kong's strategic position as an international Web3 and DePIN hub. From policy support to capital investment, and from academic research to industrial applications, Hong Kong is rapidly becoming a core node connecting the DePIN ecosystem between the East and the West.

In the future, DePIN Expo will continue to be committed to building the "CES of the Web3 world" to promote decentralized technology to the public and empower entities.

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DePIN Expo 2025, the world's first professional expo focused on the Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Network (DePIN), will be held in Hong Kong in August 2025. Themed "Life, Reimagined with DePIN," the expo will bring together top global DePIN projects, public chain teams, investment institutions, hardware manufacturers, and policymakers. This comprehensive industry event will encompass ecosystem showcases, physical interactions, node deployments, industrial collaborations, and urban demonstrations, aiming to advance DePIN technology from proof-of-concept to large-scale deployment.