CoinDesk Live at Consensus Hong Kong 2026 | Day 2
Speakers
Haseeb Qureshi — Managing Partner, Dragonfly
— Dragonfly managing partner
Summary
- Institutional Convergence is Reality: The primary theme of Consensus 2026 is no longer "will institutions come," but "how are they integrating." Major players like ICE and Franklin Templeton are launching specific crypto derivatives and tokenized money market funds.
- The "Super Cycle" Shift: While retail sentiment is described as "smoked" or "depressed" due to price action, institutional infrastructure building is at an all-time high. The disconnect between price and development activity is cited as a classic accumulation signal.
- Regulatory Clarity Driving Product: The "Genius Act" and "Clarity Act" in the US (referenced as passed or pending legislation in this 2026 timeline) have emboldened issuers to file for ETFs beyond Bitcoin and Ethereum, specifically targeting XRP, SOL, HBAR, and LTC.
- Asia as the Liquidity Engine: Multiple speakers highlight that while the US provides regulatory signals, the actual liquidity and user adoption for the next cycle is driven by Asia (Hong Kong, Korea, Thailand) due to export wealth and faster technology adoption curves.
- The Agentic Economy: A major emerging thesis is AI Agents as the primary users of crypto rails. Since AI agents cannot easily open bank accounts, they will utilize stablecoins and crypto for micro-transactions and resource procurement.
Trade Ideas
The "Midnight" privacy partner chain is launching on mainnet in March 2026; Layer Zero and USDC are integrating directly with Cardano. Cardano has historically lacked top-tier stablecoin liquidity (USDC) and interoperability (Layer Zero). Fixing these two bridges, combined with a privacy narrative (Midnight) that appeals to enterprise use cases, removes the two biggest caps on the ecosystem's growth. LONG ADA as the liquidity sink for these new integrations. Execution risk on the Midnight launch; failure to attract users despite technical upgrades.
ICE Futures US (parent of NYSE) is launching futures contracts for Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, XRP, and BNB, plus the CoinDesk 20 Index. This provides a regulated rail for massive institutional capital that cannot hold spot assets. The selection of these specific assets (SOL, XRP, BNB) by a conservative exchange like ICE validates them as "institutional grade" classes, separating them from the long tail of altcoins. LONG the exchange (ICE) as the infrastructure play and the specific assets listed (SOL, XRP, BNB) as they gain legitimacy. Regulatory reversal or low volume on the futures products.
Canary Capital has filed for ETFs for XRP, SUI, HBAR, Litecoin, and Solana, citing "generic listing standards" that no longer require a pre-existing futures market for approval. The regulatory shift allows for spot ETFs on assets with high utility and passionate communities. Front-running the approval of these specific assets offers high asymmetric upside compared to BTC/ETH which already have ETF pricing in. LONG the basket of ETF candidates. SEC rejection or delays in the approval process.
Mining difficulty is increasing, and the "halving" economics are squeezing margins; only miners with low capital costs and high efficiency will survive 2026. This is a consolidation phase. Inefficient miners will capitulate, increasing the market share and pricing power of the large, efficient, industrial-scale miners. LONG efficient US-listed miners (Marathon, CleanSpark as proxies). Bitcoin price drops below production cost for an extended period.
Grayscale is converting its Zcash Trust into an ETP and highlights the growing institutional need for "privacy" (e.g., supply chain payments not being visible to competitors). Privacy coins were previously shunned due to regulatory fear. Grayscale's move signals a shift where "privacy" is rebranded as "commercial confidentiality," making ZEC investable for institutions again. LONG ZEC as a contrarian play against the "surveillance chain" narrative. Delisting by centralized exchanges due to AML concerns.
Maple Finance (MPL) sees 30-40% of capital markets moving on-chain within 5-7 years. Aptos (APT) is partnering with BlackRock and Franklin Templeton for tokenized money market funds. The "Real World Asset" (RWA) narrative is moving from theory to deployment. Protocols that have secured partnerships with TradFi giants (BlackRock/Franklin) become the default infrastructure for trillions in tokenized assets. LONG the infrastructure tokens facilitating this migration. Regulatory crackdown on permissionless DeFi interacting with KYC'd assets.
"MegaETH" is launching to scale Ethereum for high-frequency usage. Ether.fi's cash product (Visa card) is doing $1B in annualized volume, allowing users to spend against staked ETH collateral. The "Agentic Economy" (AI agents paying each other) requires high throughput and programmable money. Ethereum (via L2s like MegaETH) and liquid staking layers (Ether.fi) are positioning as the base money layer for AI commerce. LONG ETH as the settlement layer and ETHFI as the banking layer. AI agents migrating to cheaper chains like Solana; smart contract risk in restaking protocols.
Kyrgyzstan has launched USDKG, a stablecoin backed by gold reserves held by the Ministry of Finance. This represents a sovereign-level move to tokenize gold as a settlement currency, bypassing the USD banking system. It validates the thesis of gold as a digital collateral asset. LONG GLD (Gold) as digital tokenization increases velocity and utility of the metal. Failure of the specific stablecoin project; USD strength suppressing gold prices.
Up Next
This CoinDesk video, published February 12, 2026, features Charles Hoskinson, Jennifer Ilkiw, Stephen McClurg, Fakul Mia, Craig Salm, Sidney Powell, Haseeb Qureshi, William Campbell discussing ADA, ICE, BTC, ETH, SOL, XRP, BNB, HBAR, LTC, SUI, MARA, CLSK, ZEC, MPL, APT, ETHFI, GLD. 8 trade ideas extracted by AI with direction and confidence scoring.
Speakers: Charles Hoskinson, Jennifer Ilkiw, Stephen McClurg, Fakul Mia, Craig Salm, Sidney Powell, Haseeb Qureshi, William Campbell · Tickers: ADA, ICE, BTC, ETH, SOL, XRP, BNB, HBAR, LTC, SUI, MARA, CLSK, ZEC, MPL, APT, ETHFI, GLD