GWDC 2026 KOREA Seoul Concludes Successfully: Hong Kong and Korea Build Dual Engines of Policy and Technology, Developers Focus on AI Agents, Stablecoins, and RWA Innovation
Hosted by Web3Labs and co-organized by Techub News, HypaiLabs, and TokenPost, the Global Web3 Dev Con 2026 Korea (GWDC 2026 KOREA) was successfully held on September 29–30 at the aT Center in Seoul, South Korea.
As one of Asia's most influential tech events, this year's GWDC continued with the theme "For Builders, By Builders," drawing significant attention from the global Web3 and AI communities. Official event data shows that registrations across the dual platforms Luma and Fnny totaled 12,706. Over the two-day agenda, the event attracted more than 2,000 in-person attendees from around the world, over 100 prominent speakers, and hundreds of cutting-edge companies.
1. Deepening Hong Kong–Korea Policy and Industry Collaboration: AWPA Alliance Officially Launched
On the first day of the conference, guests from government, business, and academia gathered to witness a new milestone in East Asian Web3 and AI industry cooperation.
Government Remarks and Industry Outlook. South Korean Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Koo Yun-cheol, in a video address, stated that South Korea possesses top-tier semiconductor and digital data infrastructure, positioning it as a potential testing ground for global AI applications. Dr. Johnny Ng, a member of the Hong Kong Legislative Council, emphasized that the combination of AI and blockchain is giving rise to an entirely new paradigm of life, and that Hong Kong's advantages in tax rates and financial freedom will provide strong support for global entrepreneurs. Min Byung-deok, a member of the South Korean National Assembly and sponsor of the Digital Asset Basic Act, stated that building a sound market that protects both innovation and investors requires concerted action from Asian countries.
Launch of the "Hong Kong–Korea Web3 Policy Advancement Alliance" (AWPA). The AWPA, jointly initiated by Dr. Johnny Ng and Assembly Member Min Byung-deok, was officially announced at the conference. In the future, it will deepen policy coordination in areas such as asset compliance, stablecoin mechanisms, and cross-border data flows.
Dual-Engine Positioning. Web3Labs CEO Caspar Wong stated that following the successful hosting of the inaugural GWDC in Hong Kong in February this year, the Korea edition further built a bridge between the two regions in technology and economy, striving to make Hong Kong and South Korea the twin engines of the global Web3 revolution.
2. Four Core Industry Consensus: Shifting from Technology-First to "Scenarios, Distribution, and Real-World Adoption"
After two days of more than a dozen keynote speeches, multiple roundtable forums, and fireside chats, attendees reached four core consensus points regarding the future integration of Web3 and AI:
1. AI Agents Are Becoming a New Entity in the On-Chain Economy. Guests including Animoca Brands co-founder Yat Siu and TRON founder Justin Sun agreed that blockchain infrastructure is a natural fit for AI agents. When an agent has a crypto wallet, it effectively gains access to open financial services and value transfer channels.
2. Stablecoins Are Transitioning from "Trading Pairs" to "AI and Borderless Payment Infrastructure." Nick See Tong, Head of Base Asia-Pacific, stated that Base has already captured a major share of x402, the micropayment protocol designed for AI agents. Institutions such as Coinbase Institutional and VERY LABS also noted that stablecoins are rapidly expanding from exchange trading tools to everyday cross-border transfers, merchant payments, and small-scale settlements between agents.
3. RWA (Real-World Asset Tokenization): Focus Shifting from "Issuance" to "Liquidity and Distribution." Representatives from Ondo Finance, Hashgraph, Canton Foundation, and Paxos Labs pointed out that tokenization itself is no longer a technical bottleneck. The real challenge lies in cross-chain interoperability, liquidity bootstrapping, and compliant distribution channels after assets are brought on-chain.
4. Evolving Product Validation Standards: Distribution Capability and Genuine Retention Outweigh Pure Technology. Investors from institutions such as Cointelegraph Accelerator and HB Ventures reminded entrepreneurs that AI tools have significantly lowered the barrier to product development. Future core competitiveness will lie in genuine user retention, clear profitability models, and strong distribution and marketing capabilities.
3. Geek Frenzy: 120+ Hackathon Teams Compete, University Alliance Builds Long-Term Incubation Bridge
The 48-hour geek hackathon held concurrently at the venue became the innovation focal point of this year's conference. The hackathon attracted over 120 Builder teams (more than 150 developers) from 8+ countries and regions including China, South Korea, Singapore, Vietnam, Thailand, and Japan, participating both on-site and online. The conference extends special thanks to 39 media partners, 31 communities, and 30 university alliances for their strong support!
At the closing ceremony, the Top 3 winning teams from the two hackathon tracks were officially announced:
TRON Track:
1st Place: Protocol Alpha Finder (Project: Protocol Alpha Finder) | Tsinghua University Team;
2nd Place: b.p (Project: faat) | Joint Team from Seoul National University / Chung-Ang University / Sungkyul University;
3rd Place: Team J (Project: SettleMap) | Independent Developer Team
FuriosaAI × Bricksum (FxB) Track:
1st Place: 404 Found (Project: CFO Agent) | Joint Team from Kyonggi University / Gyeongsang National University;
2nd Place: Make the world better (Project: Accord lock) | Independent Developer Team;
3rd Place: ; (Project: Agent Accord) | Kyonggi University Team
In addition, Alex Chung-hyun, Head of Bitrise Korea, stated that the team conducted in-depth visits to over 100 universities in South Korea and established a total prize pool of $100,000 to support young developers. The conference officially established the University Alliance as a permanent organization, which will continuously connect universities, enterprises, and global accelerators to provide long-term incubation and funding support for outstanding student teams.
About GWDC 2026 KOREA
GWDC (Global Web3 Dev Con) is a premier global Web3 and AI developer conference, dedicated to bringing together Builders, investment institutions, and policymakers from around the world to jointly advance the cross-border adoption and commercialization of cutting-edge technologies.
Official Website: https://www.gwdc.net/
