What began as a community gathering in Bonifacio Global City is now pointing toward a much bigger regional shift.
During a fireside session hosted at Coins.ph headquarters in Taguig, Michael Lau, Chairman of Consensus Hong Kong, laid out a clear message: Consensus Hong Kong is not just another crypto conference — it is being built as crypto’s gateway to Asia, and a strategic bridge between Western Web3 ecosystems and the region’s fast-growing markets.
With Consensus Hong Kong returning on February 10–12, 2026 at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, the event is positioning Asia not as a side story in Web3, but as its next center of gravity.
Consensus Hong Kong as crypto’s “Gateway to Asia”
According to Lau, the decision to bring Consensus to Hong Kong was intentional. While global attention has traditionally centered on the U.S., he believes the momentum in Asia — often overlooked — is where meaningful growth is unfolding.
“Asia has significant growth happening, and there’s a lot of work here that deserves global attention,” Lau said, framing Consensus Hong Kong as a platform that both explains Asia to the world and projects Asia’s builders, founders, and institutions onto the global stage.
That vision is reflected in the scale of the event. After a sold-out debut in 2025 with over 10,000 attendees and more than 350 side events, Consensus Hong Kong 2026 is expected to draw around 15,000 participants, with roughly three-quarters coming from outside Hong Kong. This mix underscores the event’s role as a regional meeting point for global capital, talent, and ideas.
Why Asia is drawing global builders and capital
Several factors are making Asia increasingly attractive to Web3 companies and investors.
Lau highlighted Hong Kong’s consistent public-sector support for Web3 since 2022, alongside improving regulatory clarity—an increasingly rare combination globally. Beyond policy, Asia’s market dynamics are hard to ignore: large, mobile-first populations; high digital wallet penetration; and real-world use cases that move faster from experimentation to adoption.
To surface these regional narratives, Consensus Hong Kong is introducing a full-day Asia Macro Summit, dedicated to unpacking what is happening across East and Southeast Asia — from regulation and infrastructure to consumer adoption and institutional participation.
Rather than repeating Western narratives, the goal is to spotlight Asia’s own Web3 story, told by the people building it on the ground.
Where the Philippines fits in
For Philippine Web3 players, the message from the Manila gathering was clear: local platforms are no longer operating in isolation.
As host of the BGC event, Coins.ph provided a practical example of how Southeast Asian companies fit into this regional momentum. Philippine-based exchanges, fintechs, and founders are increasingly positioned as connectors — bridging local user bases with regional liquidity, partnerships, and infrastructure.
Consensus Hong Kong offers a concrete entry point into that ecosystem. With institutional summits, hackathons, Layer 1 founder participation, and deep networking opportunities, the conference is shaping up as a launchpad for Philippine Web3 companies looking beyond the domestic market.
The presence of global protocols, venture capital firms, family offices, and regulators creates a setting where Southeast Asian players can move from local traction to regional relevance.
A regional signal, not just an event
More than the speakers or side events, Consensus Hong Kong signals something bigger: a shift in how Web3’s future is being mapped.
By anchoring the conference in Hong Kong and actively engaging Southeast Asian communities like Manila’s, Consensus is reinforcing Asia’s role not just as a growth market, but as a co-architect of the global Web3 ecosystem.
Asia is no longer waiting for the next wave of Web3 — it is helping define it.
