International fintech govt Henry Chen is aware of the convention circuit effectively. He has spent years assembly with leaders and blockchain professionals internationally, together with in main monetary and tech hubs like Hong Kong, New York and San Francisco.
“Every metropolis is taking a look at the way forward for blockchain and digital belongings by way of a barely completely different lens,” Chen stated.
What separates Chen from a lot of the crowd is what he does as soon as the lights come up. He’s on a mission to create long-term alternatives for founders, traders, builders and establishments. He believes the trade strikes sooner when these teams collaborate as a substitute of working in silos.
Henry Chen Kucoin is a 15-year veteran of funding banking and digital asset markets. He held senior roles at Goldman Sachs, UBS, Summer time Capital and KU Holdings Group earlier than founding Swiss Digital Labs, an advisory agency that helps crypto ventures, blockchain foundations and fintech firms construct cross-border partnerships.
Extra not too long ago, he took on a second position as chief enterprise officer of SNZ Holding, the place he helped rise up ETH Hong Kong Hub, Asia’s first everlasting bodily dwelling for the Ethereum group. That twin vantage level – dealmaker and group builder – has put him inside dozens of occasions this 12 months and sharpened his learn on how in another way every metropolis approaches the identical know-how.
Hong Kong is constructing regulated, institutional-grade infrastructure and utilizing coverage to tug severe builders and capital right into a long-term ecosystem, Chen stated, whereas additionally pushing onerous on smarter cost networks and inclusive finance because the area’s fintech hub. New York filters the identical know-how by way of world capital markets, compliance and product structuring. San Francisco stays the place the place probably the most experimental concepts take form first, formed by Silicon Valley’s product tradition and its present fixation on agentic and decentralized AI.
“What stands out throughout all three cities is that on-chain finance more and more appears to be like like the following era of fintech,” stated Chen, an ecosystem connector whose work extends effectively past conferences and talking engagements.
“The infrastructure remains to be at an early stage, however the route is evident.”
Recognizing that sample throughout three cities is the simple half for Chen. The more durable work, he explains, begins after the panel ends and the room clears out.
Constructing the Room, Not Simply Attending It
Henry Chen’s clearest instance of that after-the-panel work sits in West Kowloon, the place ETH Hong Kong Hub formally opened in April 2026.
The occasion was billed as Asia’s first everlasting bodily dwelling for the Ethereum group. The hub is backed by the Ethereum Basis’s Ethereum All over the place staff and co-operated by SNZ Holding and ETHTAO. Its grand opening drew greater than 1,500 registrants, together with Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin, Ethereum Basis President Aya Miyaguchi and Hong Kong Legislative Council member Duncan Chiu.
Nevertheless, Chen stated the opening was by no means the purpose. It was proof of demand for one thing conferences can not present.
“In-person gatherings are the place probably the most significant insights emerge unexpectedly,” Chen stated. “Casual conversations reveal the place capital is shifting, the place founders are adjusting their methods, and the place establishments have gotten extra engaged. That can’t be replicated by way of on-line commentary alone.”
In an trade the place attending panels and showing at conferences usually will get mistaken for contribution, Chen stated he wished to construct one thing with extra endurance than a single occasion.
The hub’s first main programming session was held in March 2026, a month earlier than its official grand opening. The occasion introduced collectively audio system from the Ethereum Basis, Spark, Hubble AI, Unified Labs and Asseto Finance for periods on synthetic intelligence, real-world belongings and decentralized finance. Its inaugural membership now spans greater than 30 ecosystem contributors, from protocol builders to institutional traders exploring on-chain markets for the primary time.
“On-line discussions are helpful for velocity and attain,” Chen stated. “However in-person occasions present a a lot clearer learn on conviction, seriousness, and intent. Face-to-face conversations reveal whether or not persons are genuinely constructing, whether or not an establishment is actually dedicated, and whether or not a market theme has actual depth behind it.”
Henry Chen Kucoin: ‘It Indicators That The Trade Is Coming into A Extra Structural Section’
Henry Chen believes in substance over spectacle; in truth, it drives how he talks about real-world asset tokenization, a theme that has dominated latest RWA Day periods and ETHConf discussions throughout the trade.
Throughout his tenure overseeing capital markets and RWA enterprise improvement at KU Holdings Group, Chen constructed a pipeline spanning money-market funds, non-public fairness, commodities and yield-bearing stablecoins – designing paths from origination by way of non-public placement and change itemizing. That have taught him the place tokenization efforts are inclined to stall, and what it takes to push previous the stall level.
“Early tokenization efforts usually stopped at issuance,” Chen stated. “Now the work is about making these belongings tradeable, auditable, and usable as collateral throughout each CeFi and DeFi.”
He stated the trade solely crosses into sensible implementation as soon as establishments construction merchandise that match inside present authorized and danger frameworks, reasonably than treating compliance as an afterthought bolted on on the finish.
“When giant asset managers and banks commit actual sources to those merchandise, it modifications the dialog from ‘if’ to ‘how’ and ‘when,’” Chen stated.
That shift, Chen stated, tends to floor in the identical form of unhurried, follow-up conversations that outline his method to occasions typically.
“When asset managers, banks, exchanges, and Web3 builders are discussing tips on how to deliver conventional belongings on-chain, tips on how to design sustainable yield and liquidity fashions, and tips on how to make consumer expertise and compliance work at scale, it alerts that the trade is coming into a extra structural part,” he stated.
The place AI, Capital and Self-discipline Meet
Henry Chen Kucoin has additionally watched synthetic intelligence transfer from a aspect dialog to a headline matter at almost each gathering he attends, and he has resisted treating it as a separate monitor from blockchain.
“AI improves productiveness, whereas blockchain upgrades how the financial system interacts and operates by making possession, incentives, and coordination extra clear and programmable,” Chen stated.
That framing carries over into how he evaluates the founders and initiatives he meets on the circuit. Chen stated the market has grown much less affected person with narrative alone, and the initiatives that earn actual consideration from skilled traders share a standard thread.
“The strongest alternatives often emerge the place technique, timing, and real-world utility align,” Chen stated. “The initiatives that stand out often really feel inevitable, not modern.”
He applies the identical self-discipline to his personal funding philosophy at SNZ, the place he stated the agency avoids chasing short-term tendencies in favor of backing more durable, longer-term bets.
“The philosophy has at all times been to again the onerous however proper factor for the long run,” Chen shared. “We aren’t seeking to commerce round tendencies. We’re most involved in actual functions on-chain, whether or not in fintech, funds, AI, content material, or different use instances that may create lasting worth.”
What Comes Subsequent For International Govt Henry Chen
Henry Chen’s subsequent chapter appears to be like much less like a talking tour and extra like a development venture. He needs to spend the approaching years working immediately alongside founders reasonably than advising them from a distance, serving to translate technical concepts into merchandise individuals truly use and serving to establishments transfer previous curiosity into lively participation.
“The aim isn’t merely to spend money on founders from a distance, however to work with them as a real companion and co-builder,” Chen shared. “Founders usually want greater than capital. They want confidence that their concepts can truly materialize with out pointless trial and error.”
That mindset is already seen in West Kowloon, the place ETH HK Hub’s success won’t be measured by its opening-night visitor checklist however by what occurs on an extraordinary Tuesday months from now.
Chen stated the actual take a look at is whether or not founders maintain coming again, whether or not builders discover collaborators and whether or not establishments develop extra snug partaking with on-chain finance as a result of they now have a constant place to do it.
The panels will maintain occurring in Hong Kong, New York and San Francisco. The badges will maintain coming off on the finish of the night time. For Chen, that has by no means been the place the story ends.
It’s the place his a part of it begins.
“Having everybody collectively additionally accelerates decision-making,” Chen defined. “As a substitute of concepts bouncing round in isolation for months, stakeholders can take a look at assumptions in actual time, construct belief extra shortly, and establish the place collaboration is definitely possible. It is usually more and more vital to deliver the suitable individuals collectively not for pure social interplay, however for enterprise collaboration. The market is turning into way more result-driven, so the worth of the room lies in whether or not it helps create actual partnerships, actual execution, and actual outcomes.”
