Digital assets are no longer stuck in a “crypto winter” so
much as a period of industrial rewiring, according to panelists at the FM
Singapore Summit 2026, who said the sector is increasingly being shaped by
banks, custodians and institutional allocators rather than the speculative
traders who dominated earlier cycles.
The discussion painted a picture of a market that is still
fragmented and cautious, but also more regulated, more connected and more
useful to mainstream finance than it was even a few years ago.
The panel, titled “Buying the Deep: Digital Asset Adoption
in APAC and Beyond,” centered on whether the latest downturn has stalled
adoption or merely changed its form.
It brought together David Jenkins, the Chief
Product and Technology Officer at Openmarkets Group, Chris Knight, the Managing
Director of LMAX Digital, Andrew Leelarthaepin the Head of Business Product Maybank
Investment Banking Group, Luke Boland, the Head of Fintech at Standard Chartered, Karl Mohan, the EVP for
Financial Services and Crypto.com, and Zann
Kwan, the Managing Partner and Chief Investment Officer of REVO.
Continue reading: “For Founders, Singapore Is Less a Destination and More a Launchpad”: Lessons from FM Singapore Summit 2026
Knight argued that the industry is not in hibernation at all, but undergoing
a hard rewiring as banks and market infrastructure providers build the
plumbing needed for institutional participation.
Boland echoed that view, saying
the bank’s digital asset work had moved beyond siloed projects into broader
internal coordination across risk, compliance and custody functions.
Leelarthaepin of Maybank Investment Banking said
digital asset adoption in Asia-Pacific is still growing, but warned that the
region’s many regulatory regimes remain a practical obstacle. Karl Mohan of
Crypto.com framed the shift more bluntly: in his view, the old “cowboys” and
arbitrage-heavy business models that flourished in the 2021 bull market have
largely disappeared, replaced by a more serious, institution-led market.
Contents
What Institutions Want
A recurring theme was that the next phase of adoption will From left: David Jenkins, Chris Knight, Andrew Leelarthaepin, Zann Kwan, Luke Boland, and Karl Mohan
depend less on hype and more on operational efficiency. Panelists repeatedly
highlighted custody, connectivity, settlement and collateral management as the
real bottlenecks holding the market back.
Knight said credit risk remains one of the biggest
unresolved issues, adding that large institutions still need clearer central
clearing and stronger counterparty structures before they can participate at
scale.
Boland said the industry is already seeing practical use
cases move into production, including collateral mirroring with tokenized money
market funds in the UAE, which he said the bank plans to roll out in other
custody markets.
He also argued that stablecoins have become an important
settlement layer because they make money movement faster and more flexible,
particularly in a 24/7 market.
Stablecoins as Capital Tools
If one message cut through the discussion, it was that
stablecoins are no longer just a payment story. Mohan said their real value
lies in “capital efficiency,” allowing traders and funds to move collateral
quickly and stay active over weekends and outside traditional banking hours.
Knight used a vivid comparison, saying stablecoins are like
sending an email while fiat still feels like mailing a letter and waiting for
the post office to open.
Zann Kwan, managing partner and chief investment officer at
REVO, said many allocators had reduced risk exposure after a difficult year,
but still held stablecoins and could redeploy capital with “a click of a
button” when conditions improved.
More from the event: “When AI Is a Black Box, Traders Either Distrust It Completely or Trust It Far Too Much”: Insights from FM Singapore Summit 2026
She said the market had shifted from broad exposure across
dozens of tokens to a narrower focus on top assets, even as pockets of activity
continued in derivatives, tokenized products and M&A.
Regulation and Regional Momentum
The panel was notably upbeat about regulatory progress in
Asia-Pacific and the Middle East, even while acknowledging the patchwork nature
of local rules. Mohan said the days of setting up in offshore jurisdictions and
servicing the world from there are over, because major markets now have some
form of regulatory framework.
He argued that once the US fully settles its own rules,
other markets will be forced to follow because capital tends to move toward the
largest and most liquid venues.
Leelarthaepin said regional regulators have been
progressively more open to innovation, citing Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan and
the Philippines as examples of jurisdictions that have built workable paths for
digital assets. Still, he said fragmentation remains a challenge for large
institutions operating across multiple markets, with compliance requirements
often varying from one jurisdiction to another.
Human Stories and Anecdotes
The panel also offered several personal moments that
underscored how far the industry has come. Kwan recalled that, a decade ago,
even her daughter’s bank account had been shut down because of her family’s
involvement in crypto, making it difficult to handle even basic expenses such
as school fees. She said the fact that banking access is now far less hostile
marks an important form of progress for the industry.
Mohan, meanwhile, described the rise of 24/7 trading as
crypto’s most important contribution to traditional finance, saying it solved a
problem that decades of legacy markets had not. He also pointed to the
convergence of AI and crypto as the next frontier, arguing that agentic trading
systems linked to stablecoin wallets could eventually make every piece of
information, from headlines to social media posts, tradable in real time.
Broader Implications
The discussion suggested that digital assets are entering a
more mature phase in which infrastructure, compliance and utility matter more
than pure speculation.
Banks and institutions are increasingly treating the asset
class as part of a broader financial toolkit, whether for investment exposure,
treasury management or faster collateral deployment. That does not mean the
market has solved its structural problems, but it does suggest the industry is
moving from experimentation to integration.
For APAC in particular, the panel’s message was that the
region has a real chance to remain at the forefront if regulators and market
participants continue building practical rails for institutional use. The next
cycle, they implied, may not be about whether digital assets survive. It will
be about which firms can make them work in everyday finance.
Digital assets are no longer stuck in a “crypto winter” so
much as a period of industrial rewiring, according to panelists at the FM
Singapore Summit 2026, who said the sector is increasingly being shaped by
banks, custodians and institutional allocators rather than the speculative
traders who dominated earlier cycles.
The discussion painted a picture of a market that is still
fragmented and cautious, but also more regulated, more connected and more
useful to mainstream finance than it was even a few years ago.
The panel, titled “Buying the Deep: Digital Asset Adoption
in APAC and Beyond,” centered on whether the latest downturn has stalled
adoption or merely changed its form.
It brought together David Jenkins, the Chief
Product and Technology Officer at Openmarkets Group, Chris Knight, the Managing
Director of LMAX Digital, Andrew Leelarthaepin the Head of Business Product Maybank
Investment Banking Group, Luke Boland, the Head of Fintech at Standard Chartered, Karl Mohan, the EVP for
Financial Services and Crypto.com, and Zann
Kwan, the Managing Partner and Chief Investment Officer of REVO.
Continue reading: “For Founders, Singapore Is Less a Destination and More a Launchpad”: Lessons from FM Singapore Summit 2026
Knight argued that the industry is not in hibernation at all, but undergoing
a hard rewiring as banks and market infrastructure providers build the
plumbing needed for institutional participation.
Boland echoed that view, saying
the bank’s digital asset work had moved beyond siloed projects into broader
internal coordination across risk, compliance and custody functions.
Leelarthaepin of Maybank Investment Banking said
digital asset adoption in Asia-Pacific is still growing, but warned that the
region’s many regulatory regimes remain a practical obstacle. Karl Mohan of
Crypto.com framed the shift more bluntly: in his view, the old “cowboys” and
arbitrage-heavy business models that flourished in the 2021 bull market have
largely disappeared, replaced by a more serious, institution-led market.
What Institutions Want
A recurring theme was that the next phase of adoption will From left: David Jenkins, Chris Knight, Andrew Leelarthaepin, Zann Kwan, Luke Boland, and Karl Mohan
depend less on hype and more on operational efficiency. Panelists repeatedly
highlighted custody, connectivity, settlement and collateral management as the
real bottlenecks holding the market back.
Knight said credit risk remains one of the biggest
unresolved issues, adding that large institutions still need clearer central
clearing and stronger counterparty structures before they can participate at
scale.
Boland said the industry is already seeing practical use
cases move into production, including collateral mirroring with tokenized money
market funds in the UAE, which he said the bank plans to roll out in other
custody markets.
He also argued that stablecoins have become an important
settlement layer because they make money movement faster and more flexible,
particularly in a 24/7 market.
Stablecoins as Capital Tools
If one message cut through the discussion, it was that
stablecoins are no longer just a payment story. Mohan said their real value
lies in “capital efficiency,” allowing traders and funds to move collateral
quickly and stay active over weekends and outside traditional banking hours.
Knight used a vivid comparison, saying stablecoins are like
sending an email while fiat still feels like mailing a letter and waiting for
the post office to open.
Zann Kwan, managing partner and chief investment officer at
REVO, said many allocators had reduced risk exposure after a difficult year,
but still held stablecoins and could redeploy capital with “a click of a
button” when conditions improved.
More from the event: “When AI Is a Black Box, Traders Either Distrust It Completely or Trust It Far Too Much”: Insights from FM Singapore Summit 2026
She said the market had shifted from broad exposure across
dozens of tokens to a narrower focus on top assets, even as pockets of activity
continued in derivatives, tokenized products and M&A.
Regulation and Regional Momentum
The panel was notably upbeat about regulatory progress in
Asia-Pacific and the Middle East, even while acknowledging the patchwork nature
of local rules. Mohan said the days of setting up in offshore jurisdictions and
servicing the world from there are over, because major markets now have some
form of regulatory framework.
He argued that once the US fully settles its own rules,
other markets will be forced to follow because capital tends to move toward the
largest and most liquid venues.
Leelarthaepin said regional regulators have been
progressively more open to innovation, citing Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan and
the Philippines as examples of jurisdictions that have built workable paths for
digital assets. Still, he said fragmentation remains a challenge for large
institutions operating across multiple markets, with compliance requirements
often varying from one jurisdiction to another.
Human Stories and Anecdotes
The panel also offered several personal moments that
underscored how far the industry has come. Kwan recalled that, a decade ago,
even her daughter’s bank account had been shut down because of her family’s
involvement in crypto, making it difficult to handle even basic expenses such
as school fees. She said the fact that banking access is now far less hostile
marks an important form of progress for the industry.
Mohan, meanwhile, described the rise of 24/7 trading as
crypto’s most important contribution to traditional finance, saying it solved a
problem that decades of legacy markets had not. He also pointed to the
convergence of AI and crypto as the next frontier, arguing that agentic trading
systems linked to stablecoin wallets could eventually make every piece of
information, from headlines to social media posts, tradable in real time.
Broader Implications
The discussion suggested that digital assets are entering a
more mature phase in which infrastructure, compliance and utility matter more
than pure speculation.
Banks and institutions are increasingly treating the asset
class as part of a broader financial toolkit, whether for investment exposure,
treasury management or faster collateral deployment. That does not mean the
market has solved its structural problems, but it does suggest the industry is
moving from experimentation to integration.
For APAC in particular, the panel’s message was that the
region has a real chance to remain at the forefront if regulators and market
participants continue building practical rails for institutional use. The next
cycle, they implied, may not be about whether digital assets survive. It will
be about which firms can make them work in everyday finance.
SOURCE LINK : “Stablecoins Are like Sending an Email and Fiat Is like Sending a Letter in the Post”: FM Singapore 2026 Highlights
