Hash Global Founder Discusses Digital Asset Allocation and Web3 Development Stages

Summary: Hash Global

Recently, Hash Global founder KK and Noah Olive CEO Ms. Peng Jing discussed the development stages of Web3, the value of the BNB ecosystem, and digital asset allocation at the Noah Black Diamond Client Annual Meeting. The content is as follows:

Jing: Hash Global has been investing in Web3 since 2018, engaging in early project investments as well as secondary markets; we were early nodes on BNB Chain and also launched crypto funds targeting institutions and families. You could say we have experienced the industry through a “full cycle, full link” approach. Looking back from 2018 to today, what has truly been discredited in the crypto industry, and what long-term directions are you increasingly confident in?

KK: I think what has been discredited is overbuilding disconnected from actual needs, done purely for visions. Web3 has many “I think the metaverse needs this, so I build it” kinds of infrastructure, which will be abandoned eventually, just like the overlaid submarine cables in the early internet days. Over these years, the Web3 industry has seen many meaningful attempts—socialfi, gamefi, etc.—but none have truly taken off yet. I believe these are phase-wise discredited, but there will be another wave, and then another. Maybe the third wave will succeed. Many things that were unproven or immature before will become viable once the business environment and policies are ready, and when there are enough users for real Web3 products, they will naturally mature and become feasible. In my view, the technology is already there; now it’s about identifying weak points in existing business models and core pain points, and having the right teams develop new models. The AI industry is similar—its development is spiral upward. Many phase-wise discredited things might just have been too early. You couldn’t have built Yahoo in 1990 or Google in 1996; even the strongest teams couldn’t. That’s an objective law of development.

In recent years, despite occasional bubbles and falsehoods, the industry has been steadily progressing every year, making tangible advances. I often say that Web3 is too close to “money,” which causes entrepreneurs to get distracted, unlike AI entrepreneurs who are more focused. Some early entrepreneurs may have left the industry, but more are coming in. Not long ago, I heard from friends that this year’s Wanxiang Shanghai Summit was very well attended—more than in years, even more lively than the Hong Kong Bitcoin Conference. Wanxiang’s blockchain team and Xiao Feng have been continuously pushing the industry upward in a spiral.

Web3 technology has already demonstrated enormous power in finance and payments, but as the infrastructure of the next-generation internet, it has not yet seen large-scale application. Some friends in the industry even ask if Web3 is just a form of Fintech. We believe that the significance of Web3 for business is similar to Bitcoin’s significance for finance. The underlying ledger technology has changed, and finance and commerce will change accordingly. But currently, Web3 communities are still too small and haven’t formed network effects. Web3 is a network-based technology that needs to cross a certain user threshold, unlike AI, which is a point technology—productivity, explicit. Web3 is a relational technology; when it explodes, it’s subtle and pervasive. Our parents are using it, but they probably don’t realize it.

Web3 applications now need to focus on solving business problems. We’ve seen projects that use Web3 technology to significantly improve internet product operations. While reducing costs and increasing efficiency, new business models are emerging. For example, fans and creators can use Web3 tech to bind and verify interests and revenue sharing. Because these are commercially viable, we remain confident long-term—it’s just a matter of who develops and scales first.

Jing: What is the role of BNB within the entire Binance ecosystem? From an external perspective, everyone knows Binance has an exchange, a chain, Launchpad, and ecosystem projects, but they may not understand what role BNB truly plays in this system. What is the long-term “value anchor” of BNB? Over the next 3–5 years, where will BNB’s focus in the ecosystem shift to?

KK: BNB is the native token issued by Binance and is the core value carrier of the BNB ecosystem. If you pay close attention, we usually don’t say “Binance ecosystem” or “Binance’s ecosystem,” but rather “BNB ecosystem.”

To understand BNB, let me give an example. If Tesla hadn’t issued shares on Nasdaq, I believe Elon Musk would issue Tesla tokens on the blockchain. Tesla owners could use Tesla tokens at any charging station worldwide for discounts. Elon could use Tesla tokens to align interests among shareholders, users, management, upstream and downstream partners, and even in related companies like SpaceX. In the Web2 world, corporate points are hard to interoperate; but in Web3, points or tokens on a ledger (chain) are inherently interoperable. Tesla tokens could extend beyond Musk’s business empire. This is a new organizational model—no need for complete decentralization to generate huge economic and emotional value. Tesla stock (data) only becomes a token on the chain after leaving Nasdaq and DTC databases. The entire world’s businesses can exchange value via Tesla tokens and Musk’s ecosystem, enabling verifiable commercial trust. Compared to that, Tesla stock can at most bind management and shareholders—that’s the value of Web3 technology. How can Web3 be just Fintech? BNB is Binance’s ecosystem token, and it has been practically tested for 8 years—our model is already there.

Hash Global regards BNB as a “value functional token” supported by both value input and various functional tokens. We expect a huge explosion in the number of functional tokens over the next three years. Recently, we published a somewhat academic report discussing the tokenization of everything and value functional tokens. Noah’s Chairman Wang also provided a review of our report, which can be found online. Our investment in the entertainment industry leader Meet48’s token IDOL is also a value functional token. We encourage project teams to design their own ecosystem tokens based on BNB. For a token to have value, its underlying business model should be healthy and sustainable.

BNB’s value anchors include: 1) various utilities within the ecosystem; 2) the value support provided by BNB Chain and Binance Exchange. The core of the BNB ecosystem is BNB itself. After 8 years of exploration, Binance has effectively centralized and empowered various ecosystem benefits onto BNB; the core engine—BNB’s value appreciation—helps attract more users, facilitate issuance and trading of high-quality assets, and draw more developers. This engine is already organically and efficiently linked with all parts of the BNB ecosystem. In our view, the efficiency and strength of this engine are industry-leading.

Binance recently obtained a full license from ADGM in Abu Dhabi. Binance Exchange has over 300 million users worldwide, and the entire BNB ecosystem, including BNB Chain users, exceeds 500 million. This is a truly internet-like financial infrastructure. CZ, He Yi, and the Binance management team have spent over 8 years building a large financial aircraft carrier capable of providing comprehensive services for the upcoming AI-powered digital economy. When it emerges, it will inevitably collide with traditional financial structures and institutions. During this process, Binance has faced significant pressure, even some unfair treatment of individuals. We should thank Binance’s founders and team—they have driven the entire Web3 finance and ecosystem development more than any other platform. Because this path is arduous, full of uncertainties and pressures most cannot bear, and requires continuous innovation and resilience, we believe her growth path will be hard to replicate.

In the future, all assets will be issued and traded on-chain. This is not just my opinion; it was said by Paul Atkins, Chairman of the US SEC. I add that not only financial assets but all non-financial assets and many assets that are currently not yet tokenized will also be issued and traded on-chain. You may not know that many tokenized US stocks are already tradable on-chain, and over half of global trading volume occurs on BNB Chain. BNB has effectively become the primary pricing tool for many digital assets post-tokenization, rather than stablecoins. For a new stablecoin to gain liquidity and scale, it also needs Binance’s support. Over the next 3–5 years, in this new era of everything being on-chain, we believe the BNB ecosystem will be the biggest beneficiary—assets will seek liquidity support from BNB ecosystem. BNB is not only the engine of the BNB ecosystem but also the entire Web3 ecosystem and digital economy.

Jing: How should family offices and high-net-worth clients “first get on board”? In a global multi-asset portfolio, what is the reasonable range for Web3 / Crypto allocations?

KK: I think once an investor has allocated a portion to low-risk, guaranteed assets like insurance, gold, bonds, and real estate, they should also allocate a certain proportion to growth assets. Among growth assets, we are most optimistic about AI and Web3. Professor Zeng Ming once said that the future of intelligent commerce’s upper layer is AI-driven productivity, while the underlying large-scale coordination network can only be Web3. In my view, AI and Web3 are two sides of the same coin in the digital economy. Let me give an example: everyone expects a big explosion in agents, and the value exchange between agents can’t happen through bank accounts, only via on-chain addresses provided by Web3. During Binance Blockchain Week, we held a machine economy forum in Dubai with Robo.AI and Arkreen, a leading Web3 project in the machine economy. Value exchange between machines can only be through Web3. So I suggest that growth assets be split evenly between AI and Web3.

Jing: Looking at 2025, from the perspective of family offices and high-net-worth clients, what three main themes would you use to summarize the main opportunities and risks over the next 3–5 years?

KK: 1) First, I believe that in the next 3–5 years, the risk and opportunity for traditional investors may lie in under-allocating to Web3 and over-allocating to AI. Given the high consensus around AI, but the noise and low attention in digital assets, investors should consciously increase their allocation to digital assets.

2. Second, investors may over-focus on finding Alpha and neglect Beta. It’s very difficult to outperform BTC or BNB in Web3 investments, just as it’s hard to beat Nvidia or Google in AI investments. So, investors must first capture Beta to avoid missing out on leading assets. Look at internet giants—during the mobile internet and AI eras, they remain leaders. How many times have they multiplied? They benefit from technological and era-driven dividends: Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Alibaba, Tencent, etc. The same applies to Web3—first, capture leading and core assets. Once you do, don’t let go. These are foundational assets, even more important than real estate in my personal view.

3. The third opportunity and risk is insufficient attention to Web3. Everyone knows what to do with AI—what to allocate, what reports to read. But do you really understand BTC? If you’ve studied it seriously, you wouldn’t ask me, “Can I buy BTC at this price?” Sometimes, friends ask me about Coinbase and Circle stocks—I say I don’t know much, but they’re probably good. But I wonder, why has no one asked me about BNB, a leading digital asset? I suggest spending some time learning about BNB—look for YZi Labs’ research on BNB and our report “Valuation Methods for Value Functional Tokens.” Believe me, you might not fully grasp BTC’s value, but if you understand Coinbase’s research, you’ll understand BNB’s analysis. To me, buying Coinbase stock versus buying BNB is like the difference between Suning stock and Alibaba equity in 2009: one is a traditional internet company, the other a native internet company. They are on different levels—the native value creation mode of new tech is much more valuable. Coinbase is good; you should invest. But if you believe in Web3 and digital assets, you should focus on native Web3 assets.

Last week, I spoke with two major investment institutions in the Middle East. Everyone agrees that BNB is the elephant in the room. You must pay attention to BNB. I’ve worked in traditional asset management for over ten years. I think the most underestimated and yet most understandable and acceptable asset for traditional investors in the digital asset space is BNB. Buffett calls Bitcoin rat poison, but if given the chance, I believe I could persuade him to buy BNB. Don’t miss this asset in the next decade.

I see BNB now like Moutai stock in 2004. Before 2004, only retail investors drinking Moutai knew how good it was; after 2004, institutions started studying and accumulating. Now, only Web3 insiders realize how valuable holding BNB is; outsiders don’t feel it and don’t recognize BNB’s core position. I tell everyone, institutions are starting to look—recently, VanEck filed for a BNB ETF in the US. Such high-growth, high-yield monopolistic assets are best held long-term—hold for ten or twenty years. Currently, institutional holdings of BTC are about 12%, ETH about 9%, and BNB only 0.4%. Look at Moutai’s stock price after 2004—over ten times in four years, partly from performance growth, but mainly from institutional consensus. Institutional views are contagious.

Jing: How should assets like BTC / ETH / BNB and others be layered and combined within crypto?

KK: We’ve been saying for years that BTC, ETH, and BNB are the three “one of its kind” assets in the digital asset industry. They each belong to a unique category. Their long-term value is high—they are completely different things. In terms of proportions, I suggest 40% BTC, 20% ETH, and 40% BNB. I recommend a higher allocation to BNB mainly because holding BNB yields better ecosystem benefits, and the development speed and efficiency of the BNB ecosystem are much higher. I believe in the medium to short term, BNB can surpass ETH in value. The value of Ethereum will only fully unfold after the Web3 ecosystem is complete—maybe in ten years? We’ll see then how much we need fully decentralized infrastructure to develop. There’s a sequence, and uncertainty. I must emphasize I am very optimistic about ETH; we hold ETH too. But in business, those who can better serve and solve real problems are more valuable.

The current ecosystem yield for holding BNB is over 10%, plus 3-4% annual burn, totaling nearly 15%. This yield comes from BNB’s central role in the Web3 industry, similar to Nvidia in AI. Everyone knows Nvidia in AI; I tell you, Web3 also has Nvidia. Just spend a bit more time learning, and you’ll find the huge Beta for the next ten years. The most beautiful part is that traditional big institutions are just starting to learn and understand—like institutions in 2004 starting to look at Moutai, but those fund managers didn’t drink Moutai before.