Galaxy Digital And Invesco Explore Institutional Readiness For Digital Assets At HSC Asset Management’s Hong Kong Fireside Chat

In Brief

HSC Asset Management in Hong Kong hosted a fireside chat with Galaxy Digital and Invesco discussing how digital assets can meet institutional standards to attract trillion-dollar capital.

On February 12th, HSC Asset Management hosted its latest event in Hong Kong, bringing together senior market participants to review current developments and emerging opportunities in the institutional digital-asset sector

A highlight of the agenda was a fireside chat “What Makes an Asset Investable for Trillion Dollar Capital?” with Matthew Newton, Co-Head of Sales APAC at Galaxy Digital, and Kathleen Wrynn, Head of Digital Assets at Invesco

The discussion focused on the structural requirements for attracting large-scale institutional capital, including custody infrastructure, governance standards, transparency, scalability, and regulatory clarity—key prerequisites for enabling trillion-dollar allocations.

Digital Assets And Institutional Readiness

The speakers opened the discussion by highlighting the evolving landscape of digital assets. The conversation emphasized that for cryptocurrency and tokenized products to be “investable” for large capital pools, they must meet institutional-grade standards. This includes scale, liquidity, operational readiness, governance, and durability across market cycles. Kathleen stressed that factors like liquidity profiles, drawdown frequency, volatility, and access to derivatives are critical for assessing the suitability of these assets within large asset managers’ portfolios.

The conversation also discussed how blockchain technology enables faster settlement—from T+1 or T+2 to near-instantaneous transactions—and supports tokenized fiat and funds, providing efficiency gains for traditional investment processes. These developments are crucial for making digital assets compatible with existing institutional frameworks while ensuring fiduciary and regulatory obligations are met.

Strategic Relevance And Innovation

Invesco’s approach to digital assets extends beyond immediate returns, focusing on structural shifts in asset management. Kathleen outlined four strategic advantages: new economic opportunities, innovative infrastructure, access to younger investor demographics, and the creation of novel business models. Blockchain enables programmable, transparent, and efficient workflows, opening the door to tokenized funds, staking mechanisms, and multi-manager portfolios.

The discussion highlighted that institutional adoption is being driven by stablecoins finding product-market fit, tokenized funds scaling up, and improvements in blockchain infrastructure. Regulatory clarity, particularly in the U.S. and APAC regions like Hong Kong and Singapore, further supports adoption. Collaborations between traditional managers and on-chain native players are accelerating go-to-market capabilities and expanding product offerings.

Risk, Governance, And Future Outlook

The speakers stressed the importance of robust risk frameworks when evaluating digital assets. Beyond traditional measures like valuation, drawdown history, and liquidity, new considerations include transparency, interoperability, and real-time monitoring of tokenized portfolios. Kathleen emphasized the role of internal education to ensure all teams—investment, compliance, legal—understand the operational and strategic implications of blockchain-based products.

When evaluating blockchains, considerations include public vs. private networks, institutional-grade readiness, and suitability for specific products, with Ethereum and Solana cited as leading examples. Outlining long-term plans, Kathleen highlighted that Invesco is focused on responsible innovation across digital assets, ETFs, and private markets, aiming to leverage tokenization to deliver scalable, client-centered solutions. The discussion concluded with optimism about continued collaboration between digitally native companies and traditional managers to harness blockchain’s full potential.