October marked a month of highlights for Neo this year.

• The four-month-long Neo APAC Hackathon concluded with enthusiasm, infusing vitality into the Neo ecosystem.

• Neo embarked on a new journey with the introduction of an EVM-compatible MEV-resistant sidechain, unveiled shortly after celebrating the 7th anniversary of the MainNet launch.

• New partnerships were forged as a result of active outreach within the industry and collaborations with universities.

• Intensive community engagement unfolded through a series of online and offline events.

• Progress continued on Neo- and community-initiated projects.

Read on for more detail.

🎉 Neo’s Productive Trip to Hong Kong

💻 Neo APAC Hackathon Hong Kong Finale at Cyberport

The Neo APAC Hackathon culminated its four-month journey of events across the region with a grand finale in Hong Kong. The two-day event ran from October 27th to 28th and was hosted at Cyberport, a pivotal hub in Hong Kong's Web3 evolution. More than 50 guest speakers from the Hong Kong government, local universities, and leading Web3 companies gathered at the hackathon finale to foster innovation. All 22 teams shortlisted from the previous five City GAS Stations and online submissions converged to present their projects, competing for the ultimate prize. The event attracted more than 500 attendees eager to be part of the excitement.

Key highlights from the event follow.

Johnny Ng Kit-chong, Member of CPPCC and Hong Kong Legislative Council, kicked off the "HK Web3 Evolution" event emphasizing the significance of the Web3 community's role in creating tangible applications that enhance people's lives. He expressed his excitement about hearing the new ideas and innovations presented at this year's event.

Ben El-Baz, Head of Ecosystems at HashKey Group, delved into the intricacies of how Web3 has the potential to enable "the tradability of everything.”

John Wang, Head of Neo Eco-Growth, and Caspar Wong Chun-long, CEO of Web3Labs, officially signed to launch the "Web3.0 Global Acceleration Program," witnessed by Neo Founder Da Hongfei and Jack Kong, Founder of Nano Labs.

As the highlight of the event,  Da Hongfei took the stage to deliver his keynote speech. Here he revisited Neo's journey to date and unveiled a new chapter—a groundbreaking EVM-compatible sidechain with an MEV-resistant feature.

Released details about the Neo sidechain, named Neo X in collaboration with the community, can be found here. 

The event continued with four panel discussions covering topics such as Hong Kong's Web3 future and its regulatory landscape, diverse approaches to Web3 development across Asian countries, and the significance of incubation programs in advancing the cause.

(The morning session of the first day's event was live streamed on YouTube and is available on demand here.)

On the morning of October 28th, King Leung, Head of Financial Services and Fintech at InvestHK, emphasized three key advantages for individuals pursuing a career in Web3 in Hong Kong: favorable visa policies, access to top-tier university talents, and a thriving open economy.

Following this were the keynote speech by Adrian Lai, Founder and Managing Partner at Newman Capital, and panel discussions on security and privacy in the Web3 sphere, the development of virtual assets in Hong Kong, and the potential of Real World Assets (RWA).

In the afternoon session of the second day, all 22 shortlisted teams presented their projects. Five of them won the final big prize for the five tracks, and one team won the Neo Star prize for college participants. To learn more about the winning teams, click here.

In the closing remarks, Duncan Chiu Tat-kun, Member of the Hong Kong Legislative Council, extended a warm welcome to Web3 projects. He emphasized that in Hong Kong, the financial center of Asia, there's much more to explore. Da Hongfei echoed these sentiments, expressing gratitude to all who joined the event and highlighting that this marks the beginning of Neo’s Hong Kong journey. 

🌳 Second Neo Community Assembly to Map the Future

Following the Neo APAC Hackathon Finale and the 7th anniversary of the Neo MainNet Launch, Neo brought together core developers, leaders of developer communities, and some community representatives for the second Neo Community Assembly (NCA) in Hong Kong at the end of October. Here, they held intensive discussions and planning regarding the newly announced sidechain and the future of Neo.

🎃 Web3 Halloween Night at Lan Kwai Fong

Neo wrapped up the series of events in Hong Kong with a chance for all participants to unwind at a Halloween-themed after-party at the California Building, Nan Kwai Fong. Neo co-hosted the party in collaboration with Cyberport, OKX Web3, Animoca Ventures, and more. In another real-world use case for NFTs, OKX Web3 partnered with Neo to issue NFT tickets for the event. 

🗒️ Neo General Updates

🎉 7th Anniversary of Neo MainNet Launch 

October 17th, 2023 marks seven years since the launch of the Neo MainNet. Looking forward, Neo remains steadfast in its mission to bring the Smart Economy to fruition, and we are excited to continue this journey with our global community.

🏛️ Insights on Asia’s Web3 Regulation from the Head of Eco-Growth at NGD

John Wang, Head of EcoGrowth at Neo Global Development (NGD), shared insights on Web3 regulation in Asia with Forkast News. 

"Asia has lifted the shutters and is ready to do business." - John Wang

💬 Neo Chat Update

On October 12th, NeoChat announced that it has now integrated GPT-4.0 into the platform. This update aims to provide more accurate and intelligent responses to user queries.

🤝 Partnerships and Collaborations

🆔 Strategic Partnership with Aspecta

Neo formed a strategic partnership with Aspecta, an AI-powered identity network to empower builders and foster ecosystem growth. The partnership is expected to empower Neo’s developer ecosystem with Aspecta’s identity solutions. Together, the two aim to facilitate a new paradigm for builders to collaborate and foster innovation.

🚀 $1 million Acceleration Program to Catalyze Web3 Innovation in Hong Kong

On October 12th, Neo joined hands with Web3Labs to launch the “Web3.0 Global Acceleration Program” aimed to drive Web3 innovation in Hong Kong. As part of the partnership, Neo has contributed $1 million USD to the Web3.0 Global Acceleration Program as well as providing vital technical support, access to co-marketing resources, workshops, funding opportunities, and an extensive range of ecosystem benefits.

🙌 Community Engagement

🎙️ Head of Development at NGD’s Community Moment

On October 13th, from 2:00 to 3:00 PM, UTC +8, Steven Liu, Head of Development at Neo Global Development (NGD), participated in a community session with "0xU Hong Kong Blockchain Club," a Web3-focused student society initiated by university students in Hong Kong. Liu introduced the group to Neo’s consensus mechanism, supported languages, smart contracts, and recent activities.

📚 Neo’s Campus Tour in Hong Kong Universities

In October, Neo participated in a series of campus tour activities called “Web3@Campus.” Here, Neo introduced the Web3 industry and Neo’s thriving ecosystem to young and promising students from major universities in Hong Kong, including The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU), The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), and Hong Kong University.

🪙 Token Listing Updates

📈 GAS Token Listing on Bitget

Bitget Exchange listed the $GAS/USDT trading pair on October 25th. To celebrate the listing, Bitget held a giveaway of $10,000 in GAS. 

📈 GAS/USDT Perpetual on OKEX

On October 25th, leading crypto exchange OKEX rolled out the perpetual swap trading for GAS/USDT. 

📈 GAS/USDT Perpetual on BitMEX

On October 30th, crypto exchange BitMEX launched the perpetual for GAS/USDT with up to 10x leverage. A giveaway of $5,000 in BMEX Tokens was available for new users.

🌳 Ecosystem News

📈 Ecosystem Project Updates

Neo News Today compiles weekly reports on the progress of various projects within the Neo ecosystem. The reports cover a wide range of topics including, but not limited to, product updates, NFT/token releases, airdrops, and other market or community activities. Please see below for the updates on projects within the Neo ecosystem for the month of October.

October 2 - October 8: COZ, AxLabs, Flamingo Finance, Meme2Earn, Neo SPCC, Neo News Today, DogeRift

October 9 - October 15: Neo Global Development, Carrot Swap, Meme2Earn, GrantShares, ITEM Systems, Flamingo Finance, COZ, Neo SPCC, Neo News Today

October 16 - October 22: Neo Global Development, Flamingo Finance, COZ, AxLabs, Neo

October 23 - October 29: Neo Global Development, Neo, Flamingo Finance, Quicky Soul College, Meme2Earn, World of Elements, Neo News Today

October 30 - November 5: Neo Global Development, COZ, Battle Hardened, Supernova, Flamingo Finance