After Bitcoin Asia, Beyond the Trending Topics, Three Real Signals

Bitcoin Asia concluded with three major signals: Bitcoin is shifting towards global payment reserves, RWA holders increased by 440% month-on-month, and AI agents are using Crypto for automatic settlements. The industry is no longer asking when prices will rise, but rather who is truly using it.

Written by: Zeuspace Yao Kun

During the two days of Bitcoin Asia 2026, the atmosphere was particularly lively. The Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre was packed with 15,000 people, discussing corporate treasury allocations, national reserve assets, and stablecoin regulations; outside, trending topics included "Sun Yuchen and Jing Tian" and the meme coin of the same name skyrocketing by 14,283% overnight.

Two parallel worlds overlapped in Hong Kong. However, after the conference, it became clear that what truly deserves attention is a fundamental shift occurring in the industry: the crypto market is no longer discussing "when will it rise," but is starting to seriously consider "how to use it."

1. CZ's 30 Minutes: Bitcoin Aiming to Become a Global Payment and Reserve Asset

This was CZ's first public speech at a large crypto conference in Asia since his release in 2024. The theme was "The Bitcoin Century," and in 30 minutes, he pointed out a direction: shifting the narrative of Bitcoin from "how much it can rise" to "what it can do."

Regarding price: He stated that $1 million is inevitable and that "it doesn't need 25 years." However, he immediately added—what's more important than price is utility; payments need to be used on a truly large scale, and pension systems should treat Bitcoin as a reserve asset.

Regarding positioning: He believes the gap between Bitcoin and gold is only 10 times.

Regarding the next wave of users: In the future, billions of AI agents will engage in automatic trading and settlements, likely using cryptocurrency, and probably starting with stablecoins.

These judgments point in the same direction: Bitcoin is transitioning from "digital gold" to "global settlement layer."

2. RWA is Becoming the Core Entry Point for Incremental Users and Funds

At the CDDJAP forum, Vice President Wang Yang of the University of Hong Kong stated bluntly: "Regulation should serve the real existing market, not create rules that drive market participants away."

The core is: once assets are on-chain, they must also be able to be custodied, traded, cleared, and financed, with liquidity as a priority.

The market size for tokenized RWA has reached approximately $29 billion to $33 billion, with tokenized U.S. Treasury bonds exceeding $13 billion, and the stablecoin market size surpassing $320 billion.

BNB Chain data shows that there are about 1.25 million RWA holders, with a 440% increase in 30 days.

RWA is becoming the core entry point for acquiring incremental users and funds in the crypto market.

Hong Kong's role is also clear: it has established a regulatory framework for virtual assets and stablecoins, and is becoming a testing ground for RWA implementation in the Asia-Pacific region.

The next step is to fill the closed loop between issuance, custody, trading, clearing, and financing.

3. The Payment Issue of AI Agents, Crypto is the Only Answer

At the conference and forums, "AI Agent" was mentioned almost as frequently as "Bitcoin."

In the past, discussions about AI focused on large models, computing power, and agents, but few asked: when an AI entity needs to automatically call another service, purchase data, or complete a settlement, how does it pay?

With a bank card? It doesn't have one. With Alipay? It can't open an account. It can only use Crypto.

The collaboration and transactions between AI entities naturally require a 24/7, programmable, and non-human-authorized settlement network—this is precisely the scenario where crypto assets excel.

Binance research shows that there are currently over 20,000 active AI agents on-chain, autonomously managing wallets, executing DeFi strategies, and even issuing tokens.

4. Compliance in Place, Institutional Funds Dare to Enter the Market

CZ stated during the Q&A session a remark considered the most significant by the audience: "I have paid the price, learned the lesson, and am looking forward."

He provided specific advice to governments: establish a crypto regulatory framework, set up crypto reserves, issue stablecoins, and promote asset tokenization.

Regionally, the UAE's regulatory framework is leading, the U.S. is advancing in stablecoin and exchange regulation, and Japan and Hong Kong are progressing rapidly. Once the rules are clear, institutional funds will dare to enter the market.

In Conclusion

That lengthy article may have achieved its purpose in the frenzy of curiosity and traffic, but what investors should truly see is that the essence of this conference is------the industry's value judgment standard is switching: from "who tells the most compelling story" to "whose product is genuinely being used."

In recent years, the market has been accustomed to paying for concepts------metaverse, Web3, AI+Crypto, one narrative after another, with valuations based on expectations.

However, the signals released by Bitcoin Asia 2026 are very clear: we no longer need to rely on "what will happen in the future" to justify value, but rather there are already real products, real funds, and real users operating within the workflow.

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