Author: LTP HK

What's it like to experience firsthand the pulse of global digital assets and traditional finance (TradFi) during times of market turmoil?

On February 9, 2026, the annual flagship digital asset institutional summit "Liquidity 2026", hosted by LTP HK, successfully concluded in Hong Kong. As the fourth consecutive year of this institutional-level industry event, we are very honored to once again bring together senior representatives from hedge funds, market makers, high-frequency trading firms, family offices, asset management companies, exchanges, custodians, banks and technology service providers from around the world to witness another milestone in the accelerated integration of digital assets and traditional financial markets.

Throughout the day, the agenda included several in-depth roundtable discussions, fireside chats, and keynote speeches, engaging guests in brainstorming and systematic exchanges on "new opportunities" and "new paradigms" regarding the accelerated integration of the global financial system with digital assets, tokenization trends, and multi-asset ecosystems.

As the summit concluded, through the collision of diverse perspectives, LTP and its partners reached a high degree of consensus, jointly outlining a more realistic and actionable industry landscape: at this turning point in the reshaping of the global financial landscape, infrastructure construction, regulatory dialogue, and cross-institutional collaboration will become key variables driving the healthy development of the industry.

Detailed agenda and corresponding transcripts

At this summit, LTP and top global experts conducted an in-depth analysis of the future of the institutional digital asset market, engaging in a comprehensive discussion from dimensions such as underlying architecture, liquidity bridging, tokenization trends, and future paradigms.

Multi-asset trading and market integration: the "compatibility" and "resilience" of institutional entry.

In discussions on multi-asset trading and market integration, participants generally agreed that crypto assets are being redefined as an asset class that must be incorporated into portfolio management systems, rather than an alternative market independent of traditional finance. BitMex CEO Stephan Lutz stated at the conference that CIOs can no longer ignore this asset class. As institutional CIOs begin to formally incorporate it into their portfolio management frameworks, the design logic of trading systems is also changing: the focus is no longer on pursuing maximum performance, but on how to achieve smooth integration within existing governance structures, API architectures, and risk control logic. At the same time, system resilience was repeatedly emphasized. Gold-i founder and CEO Tom Higgins stated in a roundtable discussion that system design must assume failure is inevitable, achieving redundancy and survivability through multi-exchange aggregation. On a broader level, regulatory fragmentation is considered a core obstacle to global market interoperability; without cross-jurisdictional rule harmonization, true integration of multi-asset markets will remain limited.

New Settlement Layer: Clearing, Custody, and Interoperability

Discussions regarding settlement and custody reveal a clear direction: the role of custody is shifting from simple asset safekeeping to becoming a core layer of infrastructure supporting clearing, settlement, and risk management. With increased institutional participation, custody is no longer merely a compliance requirement but is seen as a key hub connecting regulatory certainty with global operational efficiency. The connotation of trust is also changing. Ceffu CEO Ian Loh emphasized that trust should be embodied in executable on-chain mechanisms, enabling assets to generate real returns through collaboration between custody and prime brokers. In this process, the importance of mature third-party technologies is becoming increasingly prominent. Fireblocks Head of APAC Amy Zhang proposed that the industry must rely on mature third-party technologies, noting that Europe is becoming a new strategic focus for global digital asset institutions, with compliance and infrastructure maturity attracting more investment. Simultaneously, technological redundancy is considered a necessary condition for preventing systemic disruptions, and the question of whether assets can be securely accessed is replacing "whether they are securely stored" as the new standard for evaluating custody value. Komainu Chief Commercial Officer Darren Jordan pointed out at the meeting that the future of custody lies in asset availability, and redundancy should be introduced into the underlying technology to reduce the risk of systemic disruptions.

Reconstructing the infrastructure and data pricing layer

Robinhood Crypto SVP and GM Johann Kerbrat shared that Robinhood is moving from a crypto trading platform to a general financial infrastructure, using blockchain to restructure payments, settlements, and traditional asset trading, while hiding all the underlying complexities from users.

In his view, the core bottleneck of TradeFi is settlement efficiency (T+1 or even longer), while crypto systems naturally possess 24/7, instant transfer, and fragmentation capabilities, which can significantly reduce capital costs and counterparty risk. Therefore, Robinhood chose to promote stock tokenization within the regulatory framework using a 1:1 physical peg, and predicted that tokenization would gradually expand to a wider range of assets such as stocks, ETFs, and private equity after stablecoins. The real challenge is not in technology, but in regulatory implementation and collective adoption.

Pyth Network Head of APAC Cory Loo believes that market data is an undervalued giant industry: the industry generates over $50 billion in revenue annually, and data costs have increased more than 15 times over the past 25 years. The high cost is not due to a lack of information disclosure, but rather because data quality determines whether traders can get the best price.

He explained that Pyth is attempting to reconstruct the traditional data chain—allowing data from traders and exchanges to directly enter the price layer, be aggregated by Pyth, and then flow back to institutions, providing millisecond-level updated data for multiple assets with higher quality and lower cost. He also disclosed that Pyth Pro has attracted 80+ subscribers in about two months since its launch, with an ARR of over $1 million in the first month. He further plans to form a systemic value accumulation through a mechanism of "subscription revenue entering DAO → DAO repurchasing tokens → reserve accumulation".

Institutional Fund Flows and Allocation Trends: From Speculation to Systemic Allocation

In discussions about capital flows and allocation trends, a significant shift is underway: institutional capital is moving away from assets heavily reliant on narratives towards core assets with genuine demand and predictable regulatory compliance. Sygnum CIO Fabian Dori points out that with the cooling of the metaverse narrative, institutions are focusing on value chain integration and process automation through smart contracts. Risk management capabilities are gradually replacing profit expectations as the primary criterion for strategy selection. Tokenization is widely considered to bring about structural rather than gradual changes, but its scalability still depends on the emergence of genuine customer demand, not technology itself. Meanwhile, interest in index-based and structured products is rising. Giovanni Vicioso, Head of Crypto Currency Product at CME Group, observes that the future will see a convergence of various technologies and market structures.

Transaction Integration: Bridging, Pricing, and Risk Management

In discussions about liquidity and risk management, participants focused on the system's ability to maintain stable operation under extreme market conditions. Ludisia CIO Jeremi Long mentioned that infrastructure upgrades significantly improved execution quality and emphasized that risk management must prepare for the worst-case scenario. Improving cross-venue capital efficiency is considered a key direction for addressing the problem of dispersed capital occupation, and achieving capital pool sharing through collaboration between exchanges and custodians is becoming a practical approach. Against this backdrop, the importance of market transparency was further amplified. Giuseppe Giuliani, VP of the Kraken Institutional Team, stressed that liquidity presupposes that risk can be clearly priced, and the transparency and stability of exchanges directly determine the participation of market makers.

Building an institutional framework for the digital asset economy: Ushering in a new era on the blockchain

At the longer-term institutional and infrastructure level, multiple cases show that institutions are gradually moving from proof-of-concept to practical deployment. Testing of stablecoins in scenarios such as insurance and payments demonstrates the real value of on-chain settlement in improving efficiency. Some institutions have begun to envision migrating their flagship products directly to the blockchain to gain broader global liquidity support. In this process, system stability is being redefined as a form of "income protection." Zeng Xin, Senior Architect at AWS, points out that system stability is essentially a form of income insurance, and cloud infrastructure provides the necessary resilience and elasticity for the digital market. Meanwhile, the structural constraints of traditional regulatory frameworks on capital allocation remain. Sherry Zhu, Head of Digital Assets at Futu Group, believes that trust and convenience are core opportunities for brokerage platforms, but also points out the structural constraints imposed on institutional allocation by frameworks such as Basel. Finding a balance between compliance, privacy, and custody has become a key hurdle for institutions entering DeFi.

Everything can be used as collateral: RWA, stablecoins, and tokenized lending

The discussion surrounding whether tokenized assets can serve as core collateral is gradually moving from concept to practice. Compared to traditional structures, on-chain collateral, with its 24/7 settlement capability, is better suited to handle sudden margin demands in derivatives trading. However, the clarity of the legal structure becomes a key factor determining its feasibility. Franklin Templeton SVP Chetan Karkhanis emphasizes choosing a pure on-chain native digital asset structure rather than a digital twin to ensure a single, credible legal source. The impact of regulatory classification on capital requirements is also significant; clear institutional frameworks are considered a prerequisite for unlocking institutional participation. During the evaluation process, legal ownership, operational risk, custody arrangements, and liquidity constitute the four dimensions that institutions are most concerned about.

After the hype: the present and the future

At the summit's conclusion, attendees reached a highly consensus: tokenization itself does not constitute a competitive advantage; the real dividing line lies in whether it can provide clear, quantifiable functional improvements in key areas such as reserves, trading, or settlement. ABEX CEO Erkan Kaya believes that tokenization has the potential to completely absorb traditional finance into the crypto ecosystem, predicting a dominance inflection point in the next decade. As compliance, system stability, and user experience become new competitive focal points, the evolution of financial infrastructure is entering an irreversible phase. Digital assets are no longer merely a supplementary option to traditional finance, but may gradually reshape its operational logic and power structure. Moses Lee, Head of Anchorage Digital Asia Pacific, summarized that tokenization does not equal success; its value depends on whether it provides clear functional advantages in reserve, trading, or settlement scenarios.

In conclusion

For LTP, the gradual entry of the industry into the "maturity stage" may mean the fading of hype, but it is also the best time for infrastructure, compliance and sustainable innovation to take root. We firmly believe that the real value creation is hidden in the infrastructure construction that silently supports the operation of the market.

Therefore, from 2023 to 2026, from regional markets to a global perspective, we have always been committed to witnessing and recording the continuous evolution of the digital asset industry in terms of structure, participants and systems. The successful conclusion of "Liquidity 2026" is just another important milestone in our long-term journey of promoting the deep integration of digital assets and TradeFi.

In the future, LTP will invest more resources in promoting and developing its ecosystem, and embrace the next decade of digital assets through more robust infrastructure and a more open collaborative approach.

We believe that, with the combined efforts of infrastructure development, regulatory dialogue, and inter-agency collaboration, a healthier, more professional, and mainstream era of digital assets is dawning.

Although "Liquidity 2026" has just concluded, the marathon of promoting the deep integration of digital assets and TradeFi has only just entered its second half. As long-term observers and participants in this process, LTP and the Liquidity Summit will continue to invest greater resources to promote ecosystem building and industry dialogue, and to welcome the next decade of digital assets through more robust infrastructure and a more open collaborative approach.

The full conference report (including key points from the roundtable discussions and the core viewpoints of the guests) will also be released shortly, further systematically presenting the discussion results of this summit. Please stay tuned.

Friendly reminder: The full conference report (including key points of the roundtable discussions and core viewpoints of the guests) will be officially released after the conference, further systematically presenting the discussion results of this summit. Please stay tuned.

About LTP

LTP is a global institutional prime brokerage firm founded to meet the evolving needs of digital asset market participants. By applying traditional financial standards to blockchain innovation, LTP provides full-chain prime brokerage services across trade execution, clearing, settlement, custody, and financing. Its services extend to institutional asset management, regulated over-the-counter block trading, and compliant fiat currency deposit and withdrawal solutions—providing secure and scalable infrastructure for various institutions within the digital asset ecosystem.

LiquidityTech Limited holds licenses for Type 1, 2, 4, 5 and 9 regulated activities from the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission.

Liquidity Technology Limited is licensed by the British Virgin Islands Financial Services Commission to engage in investment trading and virtual asset service provider activities.

Liquidity Technology SL has registered with the Bank of Spain as a virtual asset service provider.

Liquidity Fintech Pty Ltd is registered with the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre to provide digital currency exchange, remittance and foreign exchange services.

Liquidity Fintech Investment Limited is licensed by the British Virgin Islands Financial Services Commission to provide investment management services.

Neutrium Trust Limited is registered as a trust company under the Trustees Ordinance and holds a trust or company service provider license under the Anti-Money Laundering Ordinance.

Liquidity Fintech FZE Dubai has received in-principle approval from the Dubai Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority to operate a virtual asset service provider business.

For more information, please visit: https://www.liquiditytech.com