April marked a decisive shift in Hong Kong’s position within the global Web3 landscape, as the city rapidly evolved into a leading hub for compliant digital asset innovation. A series of regulatory breakthroughs signaled this transformation. On April 10, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) issued its first stablecoin issuer licenses, with major institutions such as Standard Chartered-backed “Anchor” and HSBC among the leading approvals out of 36 applicants. Shortly after, on April 19, the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) expanded the market framework by allowing tokenized authorized investment products to be traded on licensed virtual asset platforms in the secondary market.
Together, these developments marked more than policy updates—they represented the foundation of a regulated Web3 financial system. For Eddie Chong, Chairman of the SFI (Stable Coin Infrastructure) Ecosystem Foundation, this moment reflects years of strategic preparation finally aligning with real-world policy execution. What he calls the long-anticipated “Hong Kong moment” is now unfolding: a convergence of compliance, liquidity, and infrastructure that enables stablecoins to function as the central axis of a broader digital economy powered by real-world assets (RWA) and artificial intelligence.
A Builder Focused on Structural Gaps, Not Market Trends
Eddie Chong’s role in the Web3 ecosystem is defined by long-term thinking and infrastructure-driven execution. As Chairman of SFI, founder of X Infinity, and Executive Chairman of HK Web3 Club, he operates across a global network spanning Asia, Europe, and the Americas, with influence across more than 100 companies and a community exceeding 20 million participants.
Rather than following market cycles, Chong consistently focuses on identifying foundational inefficiencies and building solutions ahead of demand.
His early exposure to Bitcoin in 2015 revealed a key limitation: scalability constraints made it unsuitable for mass payment adoption. This insight led him to establish X Infinity, a proprietary blockchain initiative aimed at improving infrastructure performance. Later, during the 2019–2020 market downturn, while speculative interest declined, he shifted focus toward real-world asset tokenization, anticipating that blockchain’s long-term sustainability would depend on tangible asset integration.
That conviction has since evolved into a $5 billion RWA portfolio spanning over 400 investments. By 2026, he co-founded SFI with a clear objective: solve the industry’s core bottleneck—not tokenization itself, but liquidity access and compliant user entry. Without these, tokenized assets remain structurally incomplete.
SFI: A Full-Stack Ecosystem for Value Circulation
SFI is designed not as a single product, but as a coordinated infrastructure layer connecting stablecoins, RWA markets, AI systems, and real-world consumption.
At its core is Solulu Club, which serves as the ecosystem’s liquidity foundation with over 200,000 active users and deep transactional activity. Around this base, five interconnected modules form a closed-loop value system:
- Solulu Pay enables compliant fiat on/off-ramps and crypto payments, bridging traditional finance with digital assets.
- Caviar provides a Web3 luxury commerce platform where stablecoins can be used in real-world consumption scenarios.
- COPX DAO applies AI-driven quantitative models to optimize trading strategies and liquidity efficiency.
- RWA Incubator supports compliant tokenization of real-world assets with institutional-grade infrastructure.
- RWA Exchange creates secondary market liquidity, allowing tokenized assets to be actively traded and priced.
Chong describes SFI, COPX DAO, and Caviar as the “Iron Triangle”—a system where infrastructure, value generation, and consumption reinforce each other. Stablecoins function as the central settlement layer that connects every component.
Hong Kong as the Catalyst for Scale
For years, RWA adoption was constrained by two structural issues: lack of compliant entry channels and insufficient liquidity mechanisms. Hong Kong’s April policy expansion directly addressed both.
Stablecoin licensing introduced regulatory clarity for issuance and circulation, while secondary trading approval for tokenized products unlocked real market liquidity for digital assets. These combined shifts positioned Hong Kong as one of the most advanced compliant Web3 jurisdictions globally.
SFI leveraged this momentum by actively participating in the Hong Kong Web3 Festival, where its ecosystem partners demonstrated integrated applications across payments, trading, and asset tokenization.
During industry discussions, Chong highlighted a persistent structural weakness in the RWA sector: tokenization alone does not guarantee usability. Without users and liquidity, assets remain dormant. He emphasized that SFI’s advantage lies in its existing user base and its ability to provide real consumption channels, especially for high-net-worth participants using stablecoins in practical financial ecosystems.
At the same time, SFI has been building a global compliance foundation, securing regulatory licenses across multiple jurisdictions including the United States and Canada, while progressing in regions such as the UAE and Hong Kong. This compliance-first structure is designed not only for internal operations but also as reusable infrastructure for other Web3 projects.
The Next Phase: RWA Meets AI at Scale
According to Chong, the current stage of RWA development is only the beginning. The next evolution lies in its convergence with artificial intelligence.
On-chain RWA assets (excluding stablecoins) have already surpassed $25 billion, with projections suggesting multi-trillion-dollar expansion by 2030. At the same time, AI systems are transitioning from analytical tools to autonomous on-chain agents capable of executing transactions and managing capital flows.
Chong views this convergence as structurally inevitable. RWA provides real-world value, while AI provides the intelligence layer needed to activate and optimize it.
Within SFI’s architecture, this integration is already taking shape. COPX DAO deploys AI models for automated trading, hedging, and arbitrage strategies, enabling yield generation from tokenized assets. Meanwhile, AI-driven analytics support real-time pricing based on market behavior, asset fundamentals, and sentiment data—addressing long-standing inefficiencies in valuation.
He summarizes the framework simply: compliance forms the base, stablecoins serve as the axis, AI acts as the engine, and RWA supplies the fuel. Together, these components create a self-reinforcing economic system.
From Vision to Infrastructure Reality
Eddie Chong’s progression—from early crypto participant to infrastructure builder—reflects a consistent philosophy: identify structural gaps and build foundational solutions before mass adoption arrives.
With SFI, that philosophy is now taking shape as a functional ecosystem that connects finance, technology, and real-world usage. Hong Kong’s regulatory acceleration has provided the external catalyst, but the long-term impact will depend on infrastructure that can sustain liquidity, compliance, and real adoption.
As stablecoins, RWA, and AI increasingly converge, the value flywheel Chong envisioned is no longer theoretical. It is actively forming—driven by systems designed not for speculation, but for sustained economic utility.
Follow SFI and ecosystem partners:
- SoluluPay: https://x.com/SoluluClub_web3
- Caviar: https://x.com/shopcaviar
- COPX DAO: https://x.com/Copx_DAO
Related links:
https://hackernoon.com/preview/69dd93f363a00fd65ee51d8f
https://www.me.news/contents/273131
https://www.techub.news/articleDetail/9ecd8c5e-616d-41bf-9da2-c0a99e918ddf