Events

The Avenir-HKU Web3 Quantitative Trading Challenge 2025 Global Grand Final, co-organised by the HKU Business School and Avenir Group, has successfully concluded at the University of Hong Kong. The competition received strong support from the HKU Web3 Research Centre, the Institute of Digital Economy and Innovation (IDEI), the HKU–Standard Chartered Foundation FinTech Academy, and industry partner Bitfire by Xinfire Technology.

Spanning six months, the competition was built around the core design philosophy of “simulated real market conditions combined with institutional-grade quantitative standards,” establishing Asia’s first truly institutional-grade Web3.0 quantitative competition platform for university students worldwide. The event attracted nearly 1,200 elite students from over 200 top-tier universities across 15 countries — including members of China’s C9 League, the US Ivy League, and the UK Russell Group — setting a new regional benchmark in terms of scale, professional depth, and industry influence.

The competition drew widespread recognition for its rigorous process design, benchmarked against the standards of professional quantitative institutions. Participating teams were required to complete key stages including strategy development, risk management, and robustness testing within a simulated environment driven by real-time live market data. Following two rounds of intensive evaluation, 12 outstanding global teams advanced to the Grand Final. In front of an audience of over 300 guests in-person and online, the 12 teams delivered public presentations covering strategy logic, performance quality, and defence capabilities. Under a professional judging framework, the annual champion and multiple specialist award winners were ultimately determined.

In his address, Professor Lin Chen, Vice-President of the University of Hong Kong, remarked: “Avenir Group has not only brought a competition of the highest calibre — it has built an unprecedented bridge between the global academic community and the digital asset industry.”

Professor Fang Yulin, Director of the HKU Institute of Digital Economy and Innovation (IDEI), further emphasised that the opportunity for students to validate models and strategies within a simulated environment built on real-time live market data represents a depth of training that traditional classrooms are rarely able to provide, while also meaningfully advancing the boundaries of university education in digital finance.

Running alongside the Grand Final was a roundtable forum titled “How the Convergence of AI and Web3 Will Drive the Future of the Crypto Industry,” which brought together leading figures from academia and industry — including Professor Lo, Associate Director of the HKU Business School’s Institute of Digital Economy and Innovation; Tim Xing, Chief Operating Officer of Bitfire by Xinfire Technology; Adrian Wang, Chairman and CEO of Metalpha; Chris Yu, Co-Founder and CEO of SignalPlus; and Jessica Yang, CEO of ME Group. The forum delved into topics spanning on-chain market structure, the evolution of trading strategies, and the role of AI in asset management.

Participants broadly agreed that AI is set to reshape the full-chain capability stack — from data processing and model construction through to execution logic. Several speakers also shared with the young attendees the competencies most valued by professional institutions, including mathematical and analytical foundations, engineering capability, risk awareness, and cross-asset understanding, offering students concrete and actionable guidance for their future career paths.