BlackRock, HSBC and Standard Chartered signaled a new era in finance at the HSC Asset Management Hong Kong panel.

by
Alyssa Davidson

Posted: May 6, 2026 8:14 AM Updated: May 6, 2026 8:14 AM

by Anastasia Oh

Edit and fact check date: May 6, 2026, 8:14 AM

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On April 23, Hong Kong-based HSC Asset Management gathered industry leaders to examine the evolving landscape of cryptocurrencies and institutional finance.

One of the featured panel discussions, titled “The Future of Financial Institutions,” explored how traditional financial companies are adapting their business models and infrastructure to compete in an increasingly on-chain world.

The panel, moderated by Sangmi Cha, Asia equities reporter for Bloomberg, featured Barton Lui, director of global product solutions at BlackRock. Allan Song, head of financial and securities services data and digital at Standard Chartered Bank; Joseph Chalom, CEO of Sharplink; Don Ng, director of digital assets at China Asset Management; And Nimesh Panchal, Senior Product Manager, Global Payment Solutions at HSBC, shared insights on how the institution is making this transition.

Reallocating capital and ending existing market frictions

The panel began with the clear implication that significant financial changes were already underway. Speakers across traditional markets and digital assets agreed that capital is being pressured to reexamine where it is, how quickly it moves, and the infrastructure that can support it. Geopolitical tensions, regulatory changes, and limitations of existing payment systems have all been cited as factors accelerating this relocation. What once moved only through intermediaries with limited market hours and long settlement cycles is now being reimagined in a world of 24/7 markets, stablecoins, and tokenized assets.

The panel’s strongest shared belief is that this is not just a cryptocurrency story. This is a wide-ranging restructuring of financial rails. The discussion returned repeatedly to one point: that old assumptions about transaction times, settlement delays, and market access no longer fit the pace of modern capital.

From experimentation to implementation

A key topic was the industry’s transition from experimentation to implementation. Several speakers explained that the past few years have been a period in which institutions have been testing tokenization through pilots, spin-offs, and small-scale digital asset initiatives. They argued that the step was important but incomplete. Today the conversation has shifted from ‘Should we do this?’ “How can I do this properly?”

This change in attitude reflects a more mature market. Institutions no longer treat digital assets as side projects or speculative novelties. Instead, they are asking how tokenization can be applied to real-world product design, customer service, and regulated operations. Regulatory progress in Hong Kong, particularly recent developments on secondary trading and stablecoins, has been seen as an important sign that the market is moving closer to real adoption.

Why TradFi and DeFi have different strengths

The panel also explored the growing convergence between decentralized and traditional finance. Rather than characterizing the two as enemies, the speakers explained that they have different value propositions. DeFi offers speed, experimentation, and fresh ideas. Traditional institutions provide scale, trust, compliance, and customer protection.

That distinction was important. Large institutions have been described as moving more cautiously, not because they are inherently slow, but because they take on responsibilities that native DeFi players often do not. Protecting customers, complying with regulations, and maintaining reputational trust were presented as non-negotiable. At the same time, speakers acknowledged that innovation in DeFi is influencing the way banks and asset managers think about product design and user experience. They suggested that the future would not be two different worlds, but their convergence into a shared ecosystem.

What to tokenize first

When the conversation turned to which asset class was most likely to move up the chain first, cash-like instruments clearly came out ahead. Stablecoins, money market funds, and tokenized deposits have already been described as obvious starting points because they resemble the core logic of tokenization: speed, transparency, and efficient value movement. One speaker noted that tokenized money market funds are particularly useful as return-secured collateral, a use case already familiar in DeFi.

Bonds have been identified as another possible frontier, albeit more complex. Unlike cash, bonds are often a buy-and-hold vehicle, so the promised liquidity benefits may be less dramatic. Nonetheless, tokenized bonds constitute part of a broader shift toward more efficient market infrastructure. The panel was united in the view that tokenization is most successful when it improves what the market already wants, rather than forcing entirely new behavior.

The real bottleneck is liquidity, not technology.

One of the sharpest disagreements concerns the biggest barrier to tokenizing everything. For some speakers, liquidity was the answer. Tokenization can technically make any asset tradable, but that doesn’t mean there are buyers, market makers, or meaningful trading volume. They argued that before tokenized markets can expand on their own, liquidity will first have to come from traditional assets and institutions.

Others have added a related but slightly different concern: cash leg readiness. They argued that while the asset side may already be ready, the full promise of tokenization cannot be realized if the payments side remains stuck on legacy rails. This was particularly relevant in Hong Kong, where the recent move toward regulated stablecoins was seen as important because it would finally allow the cash side of transactions to be made entirely on-chain.

Regulation, coexistence and geopolitical competition

Panels have repeatedly returned to regulation as essential facilitators. Clarity on securities status, settlement, custody and cross-border rules were considered the basis for institutional adoption. However, regulations were also discussed from a geopolitical perspective. Speakers warned that stablecoins, especially dollar-denominated coins, are reshaping global finance and creating anxiety in jurisdictions that do not want to lose their financial clout. This has made local currency stablecoins and digital hubs in Asia part of a much larger strategic competition.

Despite these concerns, the panel did not see digital assets as a replacement for traditional finance. Instead, they depicted a future of coexistence. Existing systems such as banks, payment rails, and custodians are not going away. Rather, tokenization and digital assets will gradually sit next to each other and merge, until the technologies become invisible to most users.

AI, Risk, and the Next Inflection Point

The final topic focused on the increasing role of AI in the digital asset ecosystem. Speakers saw clear benefits in using AI for anomaly detection, screening, and code analysis, especially in systems that must operate in real time. But they also warn that AI raises new kinds of systemic concerns. Legacy code and vulnerable infrastructure can now be exposed faster than agencies can fix them. One speaker called this the most worrying near-term risk and argued that AI could find bugs and vulnerabilities in already critical financial systems.

The final message from the panel was that the next major inflection point will not come from a single invention, but from a combination of regulation, liquidity, interoperability and better infrastructure. The tool is now available. The challenge now is to make the entire system work together.

As a dedicated journalist at MPost, Alisa specializes in the broad areas of cryptocurrency, AI, investing, and Web3. With a keen eye for new trends and technologies, she provides comprehensive coverage to inform and engage readers about the ever-evolving digital financial landscape.

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