On April 28, 2025, at the Unchained Summit held in Dubai, CertiK co-founder and Columbia University professor Ronghui Gu delivered a keynote speech, emphasizing that Web3 development needs to find a balance between innovation and security. He pointed out that blockchain technology has become a global financial infrastructure with a market value of US$2.95 trillion, but security challenges remain severe. In the first quarter of 2025, the industry lost as much as US$1.67 billion due to hacker attacks, a month-on-month increase of 303%, with the Ethereum ecosystem becoming the main target of attacks.
Gu Ronghui took CertiK as an example to give an in-depth interpretation of solutions such as smart contract auditing, security rating, threat monitoring, compliance consulting and anti-money laundering. As the worlds leading Web3 security company, CertiKs services cover 150 countries, with more than 4,900 customers and a total asset value of US$530 billion. It also cooperates with regulators in six countries or regions including Singapore, Hong Kong and Dubai to help implement compliance policies.
As Dubais leading Web3 event, Unchained Summit, supported by Dubai Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority (VARA), attracted top institutions such as Bitwise Asset Management and Franklin Templeton to participate. With its high-profile lineup and forward-looking vision, it attracted many industry leaders to participate in the discussion. In addition to Gu Ronghui, guests also included experts and leaders such as Ella Zhang, CEO of YZi Labs, May Zabaneh, Vice President of PayPal Global Crypto Products, Lennix Lai, Chief Business Officer of OKX, and Sandeep Nailwal, co-founder of Polygon Labs, who conducted in-depth discussions on cutting-edge topics such as the integration of AI and Web3, the expansion of decentralized finance, and RWA.
As a system security expert in formal verification, CertiK co-founder Gu Ronghui further elaborated on the importance of compliance to the development of Web3 at the Unchained Summit. He pointed out that compliance is not only a guarantee of order beyond technology, but also a core pillar for the sustainable development of the industry. Gu Ronghui emphasized that regulatory policies should be based on the principle of controllable, visible, and enforceable. To this end, CertiK supports global regulators to better understand and supervise blockchain transactions and technical paths through public audit reports and on-chain tools such as Skynet, and assist in policy formulation and implementation.
It is worth noting that this scholar-entrepreneur is participating in the construction of the global Web3 governance system in multiple capacities: According to public information, Gu Ronghui has participated in the policy-making work of institutions such as the Monetary Authority of Singapore and the Hong Kong Web3 Task Force, and contributed insights on optimizing the regulatory framework from a technical perspective. Industry observers pointed out that this new model of deep participation of technical experts in policy-making may provide an important practical sample for Web3 regulatory innovation.
Gu Ronghui said at the end of his speech: CertiK hopes to promote the orderly and compliant development of the industry through cooperation with regulatory agencies in various countries, as well as large institutions such as New York Community Bancorp and Ant Group. He has mentioned many times before that compliance is the only way for Web3 to move towards the mainstream. Only through collaboration among all parties can a win-win situation of innovation and security be achieved. CertiKs practice has set a benchmark for the industry, but how to find a balance between the concept of decentralization and regulatory requirements is still the key to future development. As global policies gradually become clear, Web3 is expected to usher in more stable growth in the next few years.
