Recapping day 2 of Consensus Hong Kong

Finance Share Share this article Copy link X icon X (Twitter) LinkedIn Facebook Email Recapping day 2 of Consensus Hong Kong The conference's second day focused more on developers after day 1 concentrated on institutional providers and traders. By Nikhilesh De | Edited by Sheldon Reback Feb 12, 2026, 12:52 p.m. Make us preferred on Google A packed show floor during Consensus Hong Kong (Graham Uden/Consensus modified by CoinDesk) What to know : Consensus Hong Kong concluded with more than 11,000 attendees and a second day focused on developers and scaling challenges. World Liberty Financial, a crypto project linked to President Donald Trump, plans a foreign-exchange platform using the USD1 stablecoin to offer cheaper cross-border transfers than traditional remittance services. Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson announced that LayerZero will port to Cardano and that the privacy-focused Midnight mainnet will debut next month. ZkME won the Consensus PitchFest and FoundrAI took top spot a the Easy A x Consensus Hackathon. HONG KONG — CoinDesk wrapped up Consensus Hong Kong on Thursday with north of 11,000 attendees visiting booths and stages. While day 1 focused on institutional projects and professional investor audiences, the second day concentrated on developers. Representatives of the Bitcoin, Ethereum and Solana communities all spoke to the challenge of scaling their networks and the tooling needed to support growing user bases. 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 . World Liberty Financial, the crypto project linked to U.S. President Donald Trump and his family, is planning to start a foreign-exchange platform called World Swap, which co-founder Zak Folkman said will target cross-border transfers. World Swap will use the USD1 stablecoin and charge less than traditional remittance providers, which can impose a cost of up to 10% per transaction. The institution-focused LayerZero blockchain will port over to Cardano , and the privacy-focused Midnight mainnet will go live next month, Input Output Global CEO Charles Hoskinson said on stage. In a question-and-answer session, he added that Midnight would not be targeting deeply committed privacy users who might use ZCash and Monero. Binance co-CEO Richard Teng defended his company from accusations that it played an outsize role in the Oct. 10 liquidation event, which saw $19 billion worth of liquidations. Rather, macro shocks caused a broader market downturn, he said. Consensus day 2 also saw zkME win the Consensus PitchFest and FoundrAI win the Easy A x Consensus Hackathon . Both of these events will return on May 5-7, when CoinDesk hosts its flagship North American Consensus — this time in Miami. Consensus Hong Kong 2026 More For You Espresso network launches ESP token with 10% airdrop amid Ethereum layer-2 debate By Margaux Nijkerk | Edited by Stephen Alpher 53 minutes ago The network transitioned to proof-of-stake and coincides with the rollout of the ESP token, which is used for staking, securing the network and protocol participation. What to know : The Espresso Network has officially transitioned to a permissionless proof-of-stake blockchain with the launch of its ESP token, opening participation in securing the network and distributing a community airdrop representing 10% of total supply. The transition coincides with the rollout of the ESP token , which is used for staking, securing the network and protocol participation. The Espresso Foundation said the total supply is 3.59 billion ESP, with 10% allocated to a fully unlocked community airdrop aimed at early ecosystem participants and users of Espresso-integrated rollups. Read full story Latest Crypto News Forget $80k: Michael Terpin warns bitcoin could revisit the $40,000s before a real recovery 28 minutes ago Crypto bulls ignore 'extreme fear' to push bitcoin higher 32 minutes ago Espresso network launches ESP token with 10% airdrop amid Ethereum layer-2 debate 53 minutes ago Bitcoin defies 'extreme fear,' hot jobs report to show signs of resilience 1 hour ago AI-powered agents dominate the EasyA x Consensus Hong Kong hackathon 1 hour ago Binance converts its $1 billion safety net into 15,000 BTC 1 hour ago Top Stories Charles Hoskinson confirms deal to onboard LayerZero on Cardano 10 hours ago Privacy-focused Midnight blockchain to go live next month, says Cardano's Charles Hoskinson 10 hours ago SEC's Paul Atkins grilled on crypto enforcement pull-back, including with Justin Sun, Tron 19 hours ago Why crypto VCs at Consensus Hong Kong are playing a 15-year game 19 hours ago BlackRock exec says 1% crypto allocation in Asia could unlock $2 trillion in new flows 17 hours ago U.S. DOJ hits Paxful for $4 million in case tied to illegal sex work, money laundering 18 hours ago