Previewing policy at Consensus Hong Kong 2026: State of Crypto

CoinDesk is hosting its second annual Consensus Hong Kong conference, and as always, we’ll have a number of policy-focused sessions. Are you in town? Find me on stage or around the show floor and say hi!

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The narrative

CoinDesk’s annual Consensus Hong Kong conference will kick off this Wednesday with a speech from Hong Kong Chief Executive John KC Lee.

Why it matters

Hong Kong is playing an interesting role in the intersection of financial services between the global East and West. CoinDesk will be exploring that role at Consensus,

Breaking it down

We’ll be hearing from Financial Secretary Paul Chan and Securities and Futures Commission Chief Executive Julia Leung on day one of Consensus, and having conversations around the growth of real-world asset tokenization, stablecoins and evolving payment systems and how exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

Our speakers will include regulators and politicians from around the world, with panels looking at how both regulators and industry participants alike approach the sector — a conversation we’ve had every year at Consensus, but one that continues to evolve.

Privacy, artificial intelligence, decentralized finance and trading behaviors will also take one of the many stages throughout the conference.

It’ll be part of a busy week ahead: SEC Chair Paul Atkins will be testifying before the House Financial Services and Senate Banking Committees. Though the hearings are focused on SEC oversight generally, expect crypto and Atkins’ efforts to develop rulemakings around the sector to come up.

The White House is also convening yet another meeting between crypto and banking industry representatives. Not a lot of detail is available yet.

Tuesday

• The White House is convening a second meeting between representatives of the crypto and banking industries to discuss stablecoin yield concerns.

Wednesday

• 01:30 UTC (9:30 a.m. HKT) Day 1 of Consensus Hong Kong kicks off.
• 15:00 UTC (10:00 a.m. ET) The House Financial Services Committee is holding an oversight hearing with Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Paul Atkins.

Thursday

• 02:00 UTC (10:00 a.m. HKT) Day 2 of Consensus Hong Kong kicks off.
• 15:00 UTC (10:00 a.m. ET) The Senate Banking Committee is holding an oversight hearing with Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Paul Atkins.

If you’ve got thoughts or questions on what I should discuss next week or any other feedback you’d like to share, feel free to email me at [email protected] or find me on Bluesky @nikhileshde.bsky.social.

You can also join the group conversation on Telegram.

See ya’ll next week!