Hong Kong Web3 Festival 2026: RMB Globalization, Institutional Adoption & Cross-Border Payments

Hong Kong's Harbor View

Hong Kong Web3 Festival 2026 brought us back to Hong Kong in April. The city in April was warm and still comfortable. You get the occasional sprinkle of rain, but nothing that slows you down. The food is as delicious as ever. Some people based in Singapore for work reasons tend to appreciate Hong Kong's food even more on their return visits. The harbor view from our hotel was poetic. We even made time for the horse racing event organized by HashKey Capital.

As we do each time we return to this city, we caught up with old friends to get a better read on Hong Kong's capital markets and economy, while enjoying conversations with new ones.

Here are some of our findings：

Hong Kong Capital Markets: IPO Boom and U.S. Stock Fever

U.S. stocks remain extremely popular in Hong Kong. Both institutional and retail investors closely track developments in the U.S. economy and politics, and actively trade U.S. equities. At the same time, Hong Kong's stock market has enjoyed a tremendous boom. Mainland Chinese companies have been lining up for IPOs in Hong Kong, driven by the tightening of IPO review in Mainland China and ongoing U.S.-China tensions. Hong Kong has emerged as an attractive alternative to the stock markets of Mainland China and the U.S. The wait time for an IPO listing in Hong Kong can now stretch to three years.

RMB Globalization: Ambition vs. Reality

China has been aggressively pushing its currency RMB to become a global currency, not just as a settlement medium, but as a reserve currency. However, as several friends pointed out, achieving that ambition requires China to open up its domestic market and support the free flow of capital, neither of which appears realistic in the near future.

Hong Kong vs. Singapore: USD Liquidity and Capital Transparency

On the question of how Hong Kong compares to Singapore, a Singaporean working in Hong Kong made a compelling point: Hong Kong carries significantly deeper U.S. dollar liquidity than Singapore because the Hong Kong dollar is pegged to the U.S. dollar; therefore, converting HK$ to US$ is seamless, and the Hong Kong government is transparent about its US$ reserves. Singapore, by contrast, does not publicly disclose its U.S. dollar reserves.

De-Dollarization: Not Yet, But the Anxiety Is Real

When asked whether they're seeing a trend toward de-dollarization, a friend working with a U.S bank's APAC headquarters in Hong Kong said she had not witnessed any obvious shift. That said, Asian investors' underlying concerns about the expansion of U.S. deficits never fully go away; they sit quietly in the back of everyone's mind.

Web3 Conference: The Most Institutional Crowd Yet

This year's conference drew its most institutional audience to date, according to the organizer, a clear signal that DeFi is going mainstream.

KGA's Co-founder Kevin Goldstein hosted two panels at the conference.

Panel 1: The Present and Future of Cross-Border Payments and Asset Digitization.

Kevin was joined by Richard Teng, Co-CEO of Binance, Brian Mehler, CEO of Stable, Akhil Devmurari, Fintech Sector Head, APAC Payments J.P. Morgan, and Leonard Hoh, President of Bitstamp by Robinhood. The panel explored the evolving landscape of cross-border payments and digital asset infrastructure.

Watch the panel here - it starts at 3:05:44.

Panel 2: Institutional Adoption of Digital Assets

Kevin also hosted a second panel organized by HashKey Capital, joined by senior executives from CICC, China Asset Management, AON Life Solutions, Manulife, and Finality, focusing on how institutional players are navigating the digital asset space.

Hong Kong Web3 Festival 2026 brought together institutional players, crypto leaders, and capital market veterans against the backdrop of a booming Hong Kong IPO market. One thing is clear on both sides of the Pacific: DeFi is going mainstream, and the long-anticipated convergence of TradFi and DeFi is finally happening.