Event Report: “Web3 & AI Super Conference in Mercari”

On March 29, 2025, the “Web3 & AI Super Conference in Mercari,” organized by the student group WeCreate3 and Neurabit, was held.

WeCreate3 is a student-led community in Japan dedicated to raising awareness of AI and Web3.0, primarily among university students. As of the time of writing, it is the largest student Web3.0 community in Japan, spanning 17 universities. For this event, WeCreate3 partnered with Neurabit, a group mainly composed of students from Keio University.

The “Web3 & AI Super Conference” featured a wide range of engaging content—from panel discussions to networking sessions—designed to help participants explore the latest trends in technology and career development in an enjoyable way. The event was a major success, drawing a crowd far exceeding its 470-person capacity.

The most promising adoption scenario

Mr. Morita, Director of Business Design, JVStudio, Mirai Design Business Unit, Hakuhodo, pointed out that Web 3.0 will make it possible to construct multi-year targeting menus for advertising products on the blockchain. This is expected to lead to the realization of “sites that sell your own information,” where users can earn points by providing their own data, which until now has been monopolized by platforms.

Mr. Kasai, Group Leader of Web3 Promotion Department, Business Creation Division, KDDI Corporation, noted that points have taken root as a unique culture in Japan, and by making this culture compatible with blockchain and cryptographic assets, he believes it is possible to spread on a scale of millions of users. Furthermore, he believes that it is sufficient to design the system in such a way that users can recognize them as “points.

How will the traditional financial system be transformed by Web3.0?

Mr. Takarada, Vice President of Digital Asset Promotion Office, Nomura Holdings, Inc. stated that blockchain has potential for financial institutions to reduce counterparty risk at settlement and improve the efficiency of middle-office operations.

However, at this point in time, he believes that it will take a considerable amount of time for blockchain to replace existing systems that are already extremely efficient.

Mr. Chino, the representative of Binance Japan K.K., commented on the centralized players, “There is a prospect that their existence will become unnecessary as society as a whole becomes digitalized, but at this point, there are security and privacy issues that need to be addressed by centralized players during the transitional period. However, at present, there are issues related to security and privacy, and there is a role to be played by centralized operators in the transitional period.

In the Web 3.0 area, he said he would like to experiment with initiatives that are difficult to realize in the existing financial sector, and through these experiments, accelerate the movement to bring about a drastic change in the existing financial sector.

Mr. Roi, Ava Labs Head of Japan, expressed his view that “just as the liberalization of entry into the financial industry in the past led to greater participation by the Internet and individual investors, on-chain transactions are likely to become more active in the future as well.

In addition to a panel discussion featuring a distinguished lineup of experts, meow, Cat, representing Jupiter, a decentralized exchange (DEX) aggregator built on the Solana blockchain and playing an important role in the DeFi (decentralized finance) space, spoke on behalf of Jupiter. Mr. Cat also gave a speech.

He stated that in the current era of Web 3.0 to Web 4.0, the era of social money requires “new systems, new collaborations, new connections, and new rules,” rather than being bound by the rules of the past, and that this is what Web 4.0 is all about. That is what Web 4.0 is all about.

Jupiter also revealed that it is focusing on building a reliable system based on the arrival of the Web 4.0 era.

He also mentioned that Jupiter's business development is inspired by various concepts and contents in Japan, and cited Toyota's “Kaizen” (continuous improvement) attitude of continuous improvement, the spirit of self-establishment symbolized by “The Courage to Be Disliked,” and the philosophy of “Renunciation” as important concepts. He also mentioned Toyota's “Kaizen” (continuous improvement), the spirit of self-establishment symbolized in “The Courage to Be Disliked,” and the philosophy of “renunciation.

How Will Traditional Content Experiences Change with Web3.0 Technologies?

Mr. Kurihara, General Manager of Japan Business Division, Web3 Business, LINE NEXT Start Corporation, stated that as part of the overall efforts, there are examples of focusing on issuing tokens that can be used in common, and examples are appearing that can be used in the next game. He stated that the user experience is gradually changing.

According to him, the “Dapp Portal,” which is based on the LINE Messenger function, currently has approximately 6 million users worldwide, and there are dApps with billing sales exceeding 300 million yen.

Mr. Otake, the founder of boarding bridge, pointed out the superiority of the UI/UX of LINE's “Dapp Portal” and “Mini Dapp”. He said that existing blockchain games had problems such as high hurdles to start the game, inability to pay for gas, and smooth billing, but these problems have been solved by using KAIA for the technology infrastructure.

On the other hand, Mr. Kurokawa pointed out that the traditional game business model has been established through user fees, but that it is important to continue to attract users after the Token Generation Event (TGE) after attracting a large number of new users through the “earning” factor. He also recognized that it is important to continue to be attractive to users after the Token Generation Event (TGE).

He also mentioned the importance of adding value to the experience, which is a growing trend in projects related to idle NFTs, and emphasized the need for blockchain as an infrastructure.

Mr. Ozawa, President of CryptoGames, Inc. stated that, in the process of developing NFT-related businesses, he realized the limitations of selling NFT in an IP context due to server maintenance and ecosystem structure, and therefore started a business of NFT trading cards by combining NFT technology with physical products that have value from the beginning. He stated that he started the business of NFT trading cards by combining NFT technology with something of value as a physical product from the beginning.

What is the Definition of an AI Agent?

Mr. Hioki, co-founder of INTMAX, noted that there are still delays with respect to AI operations in an environment that is based on privacy protection. He said that this problem is not an issue with AI itself, but with the surrounding technology and environment, and that urgent action is required.

Mr. Mabuchi, a board member of Japan Blockchain Week, pointed to the automation of business operations as another breakthrough brought about by AI agents. He also said that the era of competition between humans and AI will soon arrive, where three out of five team members will be AI due to the progress of business automation.

Regarding the importance of ethical use of AI agents and social responsibility, Momoi, a customer engineer at Google Cloud Japan, LLC, explained that Google has a strict “Responsible AI” rule and that the release of the AI tool Gemini He explained that it has taken a certain amount of time for the release of the Gemini AI tool.

He pointed out that AI is still unable to fully grasp human intentions, especially in terms of understanding modality and context, and stressed that it is essential to build a system that can control its own information so as not to raise doubts about “how does it know that?

In response, Mr. Mabuchi, based on his experience of mobilizing approximately 4,000 people to provide human feedback on privacy issues at Facebook, where he was an executive officer of the Japanese subsidiary, said that the need for human support for AI is still high, especially in the privacy area. He added that the importance of human support for AI is still high, especially in the privacy area.

What Mindset Is Needed to Build a Career in Emerging Technologies?

Mr. Ando, Product Manager at Mercari, explained that the company utilizes Web3.0 not as an end goal, but as a means to an end. By delivering user experiences based on clear objectives rather than focusing on the technology itself, Mercari has seen a resulting increase in the number of account openings.

He emphasized that when building a career, it is crucial to view technologies like AI and Web3.0 not as ultimate goals, but as tools to achieve specific purposes. While noting that this was based on his personal experience, he also suggested that the rate of AI utilization among Mercari's application developers may be as high as 99%.

Meanwhile, Mr. Okabe, CEO of JPYC Inc., shared his perspective on career development in the field of advanced technologies. He stated that the advantage of possessing specialized knowledge is now almost negligible, and that the future will demand individuals with strong execution capabilities and foresight. He encouraged the students participating in the event to maintain a forward-looking mindset and continue challenging the future.

Comments from representatives of both student organizations

WeCreate3 Representative Taiga Yano

This was the largest event ever hosted by WeCreate3, and although we initially expected 100-150 people, over 300 people attended, and over 500 people applied, resulting in a huge response. We received positive feedback from speakers, companies, and attendees, and felt that we had made progress. However, we also learned the importance of careful handling of corporate relations and legal issues as the scale of the event increases. Going forward, we will strengthen the relationship building among the management members, encourage partner participation through short-term welcome events and summer crypto events, and increase awareness.

WeCreate3

A student organization whose goal is to spread awareness of Web3 and the Metaverse through students from all over Japan and provide a place to create new possibilities. It hosts many main events, numerous projects and collaborative events, and is currently active as the largest student Web3 community in Japan.

Kazutoshi Nakane, CEO of Neurabit

As the event organizer, I gained a new perspective and great inspiration from the speech by the founder of Jupiter, touching on cutting-edge trends such as the transition from Web 3.0 to Web 4.0. I realized how quickly technology is evolving and reaffirmed the importance of students being exposed to this field early on. Neurabit would like to continue to convey the appeal and potential of Web 3.0 and blockchain technology to students!

Neurabit

A student group centered around Keio University, the group is active mainly in the areas of generative AI and Web 3.0, with the aim of sharing knowledge and building practical experience. The group aims to deepen students' learning by matching projects with companies.

Images: Iolite, WeCreate3, taken from event page

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