General Crypto
February 12, 2026
At the Hong Kong Consensus 2026 conference, Binance CEO Richard Teng said that Hong Kong meets all the conditions to emerge as a global crypto hub.
Teng claimed that Hong Kong has the required talent pool, infrastructure, and regulatory capacity that is needed for large-scale adoption of cryptocurrency. He added that progress made anywhere is in the interest of the global crypto ecosystem.
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How the Hong Kong Crypto Hub Is Accelerating Regulation and Tokenization
Hong Kong, in recent years, has emerged as a crypto hub, attracting global investments. This is a result of Hong Kong’s crypto regulations, seen as friendly by crypto exchanges and organizations. The region was among the early ones to embrace cryptocurrency.
Teng highlighted how Hong Kong’s clear policies and strong regulatory framework make it an attractive region for investment.
Earlier during the Consensus conference, John KC Lee, Chief Executive of HKSAR, while talking about the Hong Kong crypto regulations, said,
“The HKSAR Government is committed to establishing Hong Kong as a global hub for innovation in digital assets. That’s why over the past few years, Hong Kong has been actively building the regulatory framework to promote the steady and sustainable development of our Web3 ecosystem. What’s more, Hong Kong’s financial regulatory system is robust, and our financial market stands out for its deep liquidity, innovative products and world-class investor protection.”
Lee also talked about Hong Kong’s second policy statement released last year that aimed at stablecoin regulation. The policy statement also revealed the efforts of Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau (FSTB) and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority in asset tokenization.
Also Read: Russia Blocks WhatsApp After Moving to Restrict Telegram Nationwide
Teng Talks About Institutional Bitcoin Demand and the Oct 10 Crypto Crash
Talking about institutional Bitcoin demand, Richard Teng says that while retail investors are cautious due to market volatility, institutional investors remain confident. He claims that institutional investors added approximately 43,000 Bitcoins in January, a month when Bitcoin’s value dropped dramatically.
Also Read: Citigroup Just Tokenized Real Trade Finance on Solana
Speaking on the Oct 10 crypto crash, Teng attributed the liquidations to a series of macroeconomic factors and geopolitical shocks. He highlighted that traditional markets also suffered during the period. Teng said,
“The U.S. equity market alone lost about $1.5 trillion in value, with roughly $150 billion in liquidations. Crypto is a much smaller market, and liquidations happened across all exchanges, centralized and decentralized.”
The Oct 10 market crash wiped $19 billion, and since then, the market hasn’t fully recovered. Speakers at the Consensus 2026 conclave, though, looked optimistic, calling this a bad cycle, with Bybit CEO Ben Zhou saying, “Now is a good time to buy Bitcoin.”
