Recapping day 1 of Consensus Hong Kong

Finance Share Share this article Copy link X icon X (Twitter) LinkedIn Facebook Email Recapping day 1 of Consensus Hong Kong Hong Kong is looking to build its digital assets economy, its leaders said on stage. By Nikhilesh De | Edited by Sheldon Reback Feb 11, 2026, 12:56 p.m. Make us preferred on Google (Graham Uden/Consensus modified by CoinDesk) What to know : Hong Kong officials used the opening day of Consensus Hong Kong to signal a push into digital assets, pledging stablecoin licenses as soon as next month and new rules for perpetual contracts. Speakers at the conference framed crypto as central to emerging trends such as an AI-driven “machine economy,” with Financial Secretary Paul Chan envisioning AI agents transacting onchain. Market voices including Anthony Scaramucci and Tom Lee urged investors to look past recent price declines, with Scaramucci reiterating a $150,000 bitcoin target tied to U.S. legislation and Lee calling current conditions a buying opportunity rather than a time to sell. HONG KONG — Consensus Hong Kong's first day wrapped up with the promise of new financial products tied to crypto in the Special Administrative Region of China. Hong Kong's chief executive and financial secretary and the CEO of the Securities and Futures Commission all laid out their priorities for regulation, saying Hong Kong would begin issuing stablecoin licenses next month, publish a framework for perpetual contracts and otherwise work to develop the local crypto economy. STORY CONTINUES BELOW Don't miss another story. Subscribe to the Crypto Daybook Americas Newsletter today . See all newsletters Sign me up By signing up, you will receive emails about CoinDesk products and you agree to our terms & conditions and privacy policy . Financial Secretary Paul Chan said he sees AI as one of a handful of trends maturing at this stage: "As AI agents become capable of making and executing decisions independent to it, we may begin to see the early forms of what some call the machine economy, where AI agents can hold and transfer digital assets, pay for services and transact with one another onchain." Skybridge Capital's Anthony Scaramucci said he would stick to a prediction that bitcoin BTC $ 67,107.12 would hit $150,000, pointing to legislation under negotiation in the U.S. "I think once that legislation does pass, it's gonna open a floodgate of activity in the money center, banks in the United States," he said. "If we're just in the four-year cycle, then bitcoin is starting to reascend at the end of the year, starting in the fourth quarter." Consensys' Joe Lubin said Ethereum is anti-fragile, which is important for a decentralized foundation that can support further decentralized finance (DeFi), which in turn would let developers "build, rearchitect the systems of the world essentially on sounder financial and trust foundations. "DeFi is roughly as safe as traditional finance," he said. Nigel Feetham, Gibraltar's minister for justice, trade and industry, said smaller jurisdictions regulating crypto are focused on ensuring market safety and integrity. "We are jealous about guarding our reputation because all it takes is one market failure, if I can put it that way, and clearly everybody gets damaged by that. Once you are licensed in a jurisdiction, you become a stakeholder, and therefore we have an obligation to ensure that we look after all our stakeholders." Recent market action also attracted speakers' attention. Bitmine's Tom Lee , whose company is sitting on a nearly $8 billion unrealized loss through its ether ETH $ 1,950.42 holdings, said people "should be thinking about opportunities here instead of selling." "Gold is a meme," said Selini's Jordi Alexander. Consensus' final day will see panels focused on scaling the Bitcoin, Ethereum and Solana blockchains with a keynote by World Liberty Financial's Zak Folkman and a fireside conversation with the Chairman of Pakistan's Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority, Bilal Bin Saqib. Consensus Hong Kong 2026 Більше для вас Aviva Investors to tokenize funds on XRP Ledger in Ripple partnership Автор Will Canny , AI Boost | Відредаговано Sheldon Reback 55 хвилин тому The U.K. asset manager teamed up with Ripple to bring traditional fund structures onchain in its first tokenization push. Що варто знати : Aviva Investors plans to tokenize traditional funds on the XRP Ledger in partnership with Ripple. The initiative marks Aviva’s first tokenization effort and Ripple’s first deal with a Europe-based asset manager. The firms aim to develop regulated, blockchain-based fund structures starting this year. Читати повну версію Latest Crypto News Crypto's latest selloff was a TradFi event, not a crypto crisis 3 хвилини тому As bitcoin extends declines, industry figures say it's time to buy 30 хвилин тому Aviva Investors to tokenize funds on XRP Ledger in Ripple partnership 55 хвилин тому Franklin Templeton and SWIFT say the future of banking is 24/7 and onchain 1 годину тому Bearish sentiment prevails as bitcoin falls below $67,000, ether drops 1 годину тому Joe Lubin claims DeFi is as safe as traditional finance, adding that bitcoin is in crisis 1 годину тому Top Stories Crypto's banker adversaries didn't want to deal in latest White House meeting on bill 13 годин тому SkyBridge's Scaramucci is buying the bitcoin dip, calls Trump a crypto president 10 годин тому Tokenization still at start of hype cycle, but needs more use cases, specialists say 2 години тому Hong Kong working to allow perpetual contracts, chief regulator says 7 годин тому Citadel Securities backs LayerZero as it unveils ‘Zero’ blockchain for global markets 15 годин тому Crypto PAC Fairshake leaps into first midterm Senate race with $5 million in Alabama 13 годин тому