Coin Market Watch × ABGA Kevin: The Mass Adoption Truly Begins When AI Becomes the “Avatar” of Web3
- Core Thesis: ABGA’s upgrade from the Asia Blockchain Gaming Alliance to the AI Blockchain Global Alliance reflects founder Kevin Shao’s judgment on the next industry direction: AI Agents, rather than human users, will become the core driver of Web3 mass adoption; the blockchain will evolve into the underlying infrastructure for AI to autonomously execute on-chain interactions.
- Key Takeaways:
- ABGA’s brand upgrade reflects a logical complement: AI unleashes productivity, while blockchain handles trust, payments, and rights verification between Agents — the two are naturally integrated foundational technologies.
- Kevin believes future Web3 mass adoption will be driven by AI Agents: wallet operations and on-chain interactions pose high barriers for users, but for Agents, they are just code instructions that can be executed automatically, enabling seamless on-chain interaction.
- Addressing the "Web3 VC is dead" narrative, Kevin points out that primary investing is inherently a high-failure-rate industry (70% of projects fail). The current phase is a process of "disillusionment," not the disappearance of the role.
- Monitor long-term trends such as RWA: Since the STO era in 2019, stablecoins, RWAs, and the renewed entry of traditional institutions have validated directions that previously failed to land.
- In the future Web3 ecosystem, AI Agents will become new participating entities, while the blockchain recedes to the background as hidden infrastructure. DeFi will continue to evolve and accelerate through AI iteration.
- Kevin emphasizes that interest-driven passion is more important than "timing the market": wealth involves an element of luck, but passion determines persistence when the industry is quiet — opportunities often emerge during the quiet times.
Over the past year, the primary market has cooled down, GameFi has stalled, and fundraising has become more difficult. Many once-popular narratives have quickly fallen silent. Yet, amidst this environment, ABGA, an organization previously focused on Web3 Gaming, recently completed a brand upgrade: from Asia Blockchain Gaming Alliance to AI Blockchain Global Alliance. Behind this change lies Kevin Shao's reassessment of the next industry direction.
In this episode of "Market Watch," we spoke with Kevin Shao, founder of ABGA & ICC, discussing: When AI enters Web3, what changes will occur in the next wave of truly large-scale applications? Why does he believe Web3 VCs haven't actually died out? And, in today's rapidly changing world, how should an entrepreneur perceive cycles, opportunities, and long-termism.
Guest: Kevin Shao, Founder of ABGA & ICC
Host: yuanyuan, BitMart Marketing VP
(Link to this episode: https://www.xiaoyuzhoufm.com/episode/6a057f061b7bd50295231bee )
From "Asia Game" to "AI Global": The Industry Has Changed, and the Organization Must Change Too
In 2013, inspired by Chang Jia's book "Bitcoin: A Real and Unreal Financial World," Kevin entered the blockchain world through mining. He later quit his traditional finance job to go all-in. As the Web3 ecosystem expanded, he gradually shifted from pure investment to work more focused on the ecosystem and industry organizations, which was also the starting point for founding ABGA.
When ABGA was founded, it coincided with the boom in GameFi and public chain ecosystems. At that time, Asia had a mature gaming industry base, so they started with the "Asia Blockchain Gaming Alliance" as an entry point, helping early-stage teams connect with capital and hosting large-scale developer events during global blockchain conferences.
With ABGA's recent rebranding to AI Blockchain Global Alliance, the most obvious external reaction is that the focus area has changed. But Kevin sees it more as completing a logical picture. He believes that technological competition today is inherently global, and AI is massively unleashing productivity. Simply put: AI creates new intelligent agents, while blockchain solves the trust, payment, and rights verification issues between these agents.
These two are not about replacing each other; they are foundational technologies meant to work together. The deep resources accumulated over the past few years will continue to help ABGA base itself in Asia, connect globally, and reorganize resources within this new technological cycle.
Why AI Could Become the Next Driver for Web3
In Kevin's view, the protagonist for Web3's long-awaited "mass adoption" might not be "humans" at all.
He stated directly in the conversation: "Agents belong on the blockchain, just as naturally as they possess innate skills." Wallet operations and on-chain interactions, which present a high barrier for ordinary users, are merely code instructions that should be automatically executed for an Agent.
Therefore, he believes that future mass adoption may not be directly driven by humans. Humans have a long cognitive hurdle to overcome in learning this technology. But when a person delegates most of their operations to their AI avatar to execute, the blockchain becomes a natural underlying entry point. Web3's real breakout might not come from ordinary users learning to use wallets, but from our AI Agents behind the scenes seamlessly handling all on-chain interactions for us.
Meanwhile, he is also very focused on the integration of AI with finance and RWA. In fact, Kevin started paying attention to STO (Security Token Offering / asset tokenization) as early as 2019, but the industry environment wasn't mature then. Now, with stablecoins, RWA, and traditional financial institutions re-entering the market, many things that failed to materialize back then are being validated again. For him, whether it's AI or RWA, these are long-term trends, not short-term fads.
Demystifying Investment: The Primary Market Was Never a Tale of Exorbitant Profits
Regarding the topic of "Web3 VCs are dead," Kevin, an investor who has backed hundreds of projects, offers a different perspective.
He first believes that VCs shouldn't be categorized by "Web3." Although the primary market has indeed been difficult over the past few years, with "unable to invest, unable to exit" being the norm, he doesn't think the role of VCs has disappeared. On the contrary, he sees this as a process of "demystification" for the industry. In the past, many people thought the primary market was easy money, but after engaging in long-term investing, they realize primary investment is a field with a very high failure rate — a 70% project failure rate is normal. VC is fundamentally hard work, demanding extremely high industry understanding and risk resilience from a team.
Kevin stated he prefers to look at things that can transcend cycles. For example, the move from STO in 2019 to RWA today shows that truly valuable technological directions don't disappear. The key is whether you can persist and stay in the game during the downturns.
Future Web3 Ecosystem: A Hidden Infrastructure in the Background
In Kevin's view, the future Web3 ecosystem will inevitably look very different from today. The current core of the industry is still "humans" conducting financial transactions on-chain, but in the future, AI Agents will become the new participants. When Agents start executing complex trades, performing tasks, and making automatic payments for humans, the blockchain will gradually recede into the background, becoming a hidden infrastructure where all the complexity is handled by AI.
At the same time, DeFi will continue to evolve. Despite experiencing many bubbles, Kevin believes blockchain's value in the financial sector is real and irreversible. Whether it's stablecoins or on-chain finance, both will continue to grow, and the addition of AI will only accelerate the iteration speed of these systems.
Interest-Driven is More Important Than "Timing the Market"
Throughout the conversation, Kevin repeatedly used a key word: Interest.
He is reluctant to label himself a "successful investor." For him, what matters more is whether he still maintains passion for this field. Wealth often involves an element of luck, but interest and passion determine if a person will stay even when the industry is at its quietest.
When asked if he would advise young people today to go all-in on Web3 or AI, his answer was very direct: "If you truly believe in it, just do it." Many opportunities appear precisely when the industry is least active.
Like the case he shared in the podcast: a friend with poor English, overwhelmed by emails from his three kids' school, solved a specific annoyance using AI. It might not be a world-changing event, but it genuinely improved someone's life. This is precisely the most valuable aspect of AI—it doesn't have to tackle the grandest problems first; it will enter everyone's specific lives.
Conclusion
By the end of the discussion, you find that Kevin is not someone swayed by industry sentiment. He doesn't become overly optimistic when a certain track heats up, nor does he become deeply pessimistic when a bear market arrives.
In his view, both AI and Web3 are still in very early stages. Many things that seem improbable today might suddenly become obvious in a few years due to a breakthrough in some technical node. What truly matters is not short-term price fluctuations, but whether you are willing to persistently stay at the table, keep learning, and adapt to change.
Perhaps this is why, while many are discussing the "death of Web3 VCs," he still chooses to deeply cultivate ABGA. Because truly long-term opportunities are often born when the industry is at its quietest. As for the rest, time will tell.
Recording date for this episode: April 28, 2026
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