Hong Kong’s Web3 Turning Point: Eddie Chong’s Stablecoin Strategy Powering the RWA–AI Flywheel

ByCaesar Reading Time: 5 minutes

April marked a defining chapter for Hong Kong as it emerged as a global center for Web3 compliance and innovation. A rapid succession of regulatory developments signaled a decisive shift in the region’s stance toward digital assets. On April 10, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) issued its first batch of stablecoin licenses, with major financial players such as Standard Chartered-backed “Anchor” and HSBC leading a competitive pool of 36 applicants. Just days later, on April 19, the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) expanded the regulatory landscape by permitting tokenized authorized investment products to be traded on licensed virtual asset platforms in the secondary market.

This wave of policy clarity did more than reinforce Hong Kong’s regulatory framework—it created fertile ground for the evolution of stablecoins and real-world assets (RWA). For Eddie Chong, Chairman of the SFI (Stable Coin Infrastructure) Ecosystem Foundation, this moment represents the culmination of years of strategic positioning. What he calls the long-awaited “Hong Kong moment” has finally arrived—a convergence of compliance, liquidity, and infrastructure that aligns perfectly with his vision: leveraging stablecoins as the central axis to power a value flywheel connecting RWA and artificial intelligence.

A Builder Focused on Gaps, Not Hype

Eddie Chong’s journey in the Web3 space reflects a consistent pattern of foresight and disciplined execution. As Chairman of the SFI Ecosystem Foundation, founder of X Infinity, and Executive Chairman of HK Web3 Club, Chong operates across a vast global network spanning Southeast Asia, East Asia, Europe, and the Americas. His ecosystem touches over 100 companies and influences a community exceeding 20 million individuals.

Yet behind these numbers lies a more defining principle: Chong does not chase trends—he identifies structural gaps and builds where others hesitate.

His early entry into Bitcoin in 2015 led to a critical realization: the technology, while revolutionary, lacked the scalability required for global payment systems. This insight drove him to establish X Infinity, a public blockchain designed to address these limitations. Later, during the 2019–2020 crypto downturn, while many retreated, Chong shifted focus toward RWA, anticipating that blockchain’s long-term value would depend on its ability to integrate real-world assets.

That conviction has since materialized into a $5 billion RWA portfolio, encompassing more than 400 investments. By 2026, Chong co-founded SFI with a clear mission: to solve the fundamental bottleneck in RWA adoption—not technology, but access and liquidity. Without compliant entry points and active markets, even high-quality tokenized assets remain stagnant.

SFI: Building the Infrastructure for a Connected Ecosystem

SFI is not merely a stablecoin project—it is an integrated infrastructure platform designed to unify payments, asset tokenization, trading, and consumption into a seamless ecosystem. Its goal is to create a closed-loop system where value flows continuously across every stage: from asset creation and payment to investment, usage, and appreciation.

At the heart of this ecosystem is Solulu Club, which serves as the liquidity engine with over 200,000 active users and substantial liquidity depth. Around it, five key components form a tightly connected network:

  • Solulu Pay bridges traditional finance and crypto through compliant payment cards and fiat on/off-ramps, addressing one of the biggest barriers to adoption.
  • Caviar, a Web3 luxury marketplace, provides a real-world spending channel for stablecoins, especially targeting high-net-worth individuals.
  • COPX DAO integrates AI-driven quantitative trading strategies to enhance asset performance and liquidity management.
  • RWA Incubator offers institutional-grade support for asset tokenization and compliance.
  • RWA Exchange enables secondary market trading, ensuring liquidity and price discovery for tokenized assets.

Chong refers to SFI, COPX DAO, and Caviar as the “Iron Triangle”—a system where infrastructure, value growth, and consumption work together. Stablecoins serve as the unifying axis that keeps this flywheel in motion.

Seizing the Hong Kong Opportunity

For years, the RWA sector struggled with two critical limitations: lack of compliant user access and insufficient liquidity. Hong Kong’s regulatory breakthroughs in April addressed both challenges simultaneously.

The introduction of a stablecoin licensing regime established trust and legitimacy for digital currency issuance and circulation. Meanwhile, opening secondary markets for tokenized products unlocked liquidity pathways that had long been missing. Together, these measures positioned Hong Kong as a leading hub for compliant Web3 innovation.

Recognizing this opportunity, Chong led SFI and its ecosystem partners to take center stage at the Hong Kong Web3 Festival. Their participation went beyond visibility—it demonstrated the practical application of a fully integrated Web3 infrastructure.

During a key roundtable discussion, Chong highlighted a persistent issue within the RWA space: many projects successfully tokenize assets but fail to sustain momentum due to a lack of users and liquidity. He emphasized that SFI’s strength lies in its existing user base and its ability to provide real consumption scenarios, particularly for high-net-worth individuals seeking to utilize stablecoins in everyday transactions.

This pragmatic approach resonated strongly with industry stakeholders, reinforcing SFI’s role as a foundational layer for the next phase of Web3 growth.

At the same time, SFI has been advancing a global compliance strategy, securing licenses in the United States and Canada while progressing in regions such as the UAE and Hong Kong. This regulatory framework not only supports its own operations but also provides a reusable compliance infrastructure for other projects entering the RWA space.

The Next Phase: Where RWA Meets AI

While RWA adoption is gaining momentum, Chong believes the true transformation lies ahead—in the convergence of RWA and AI.

Current data already points to rapid growth: on-chain RWA value (excluding stablecoins) has surpassed $25 billion, with projections reaching trillions by 2030. Simultaneously, AI is evolving from a supportive tool into an active participant in blockchain ecosystems, capable of executing transactions and managing assets autonomously.

Chong sees these two forces as inherently complementary. RWA represents vast untapped value, while AI offers the intelligence needed to activate and optimize that value.

Within the SFI ecosystem, this integration is already underway. COPX DAO leverages AI-driven strategies to automate trading, hedging, and arbitrage, ensuring that tokenized assets generate consistent returns. Meanwhile, AI models provide real-time pricing insights based on market data, sentiment, and asset fundamentals—addressing long-standing challenges in valuation and transparency.

Chong summarizes this vision succinctly: compliance forms the foundation, stablecoins act as the axis, AI drives the system, and RWA fuels it. Together, these elements create a self-sustaining cycle of value creation and circulation.

From Vision to Reality

Eddie Chong’s trajectory—from early Bitcoin adopter to blockchain builder, RWA investor, and stablecoin infrastructure architect—reveals a consistent philosophy: focus on what the industry lacks, not what it hypes.

Today, that philosophy is materializing through SFI. By connecting compliance, liquidity, technology, and real-world application, the ecosystem is turning abstract concepts into tangible outcomes.

Hong Kong’s regulatory momentum has provided the ideal environment, but it is the underlying infrastructure that will determine long-term success. In this evolving landscape, SFI is positioning itself not just as a participant, but as a foundational layer—one capable of driving Web3 beyond speculation and into meaningful economic activity.

As the integration of stablecoins, RWA, and AI accelerates, the flywheel Chong envisioned is no longer theoretical—it is already in motion.

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