Solana’s Lily Liu Unveils “Internet Capital Markets” Vision at Consensus Hong Kong 2026

At Consensus Hong Kong 2026, Solana Foundation President Lily Liu shared her bold vision for the future of blockchain technology during a fireside chat with Consensus Chairman Michael Lau. Liu argued that the real power of blockchain lies in finance and capital markets—not in building utopian, general-purpose technology platforms. Her concept of “Internet Capital Markets” centers on tokenizing global assets on-chain to create a unified, borderless financial system.

Liu explained that blockchain infrastructure can enable everything from everyday digital payments to high-frequency trading within a single, interoperable ecosystem. By bringing traditional assets on-chain, she believes crypto can unlock seamless capital formation and provide broader access to global investment opportunities. This vision positions decentralized finance (DeFi) and tokenization as foundational pillars of the next-generation financial system.

Reflecting on crypto’s evolution, Liu traced the industry’s capital-raising journey from early Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) to today’s rapid and more sophisticated fundraising models. She described token-based fundraising as an extensible financial primitive that should empower not only crypto-native startups but also traditional companies and non-crypto projects worldwide. According to Liu, democratizing access to capital and talent is one of blockchain’s most meaningful societal contributions, particularly in markets where capital formation remains limited or exclusive.

Liu also emphasized Asia’s critical role in the digital asset ecosystem, calling it crypto’s “core market” rather than a frontier region. She highlighted Asia’s early Bitcoin adoption, deep developer talent pool, and large user base as key drivers of innovation and growth in blockchain technology.

On value creation, Liu stressed the importance of revenue-focused metrics over speculative governance tokens. Sustainable token value, she argued, must be driven by real network usage and application adoption. For blockchain networks to achieve long-term sovereignty and create genuine economic opportunity, they must generate measurable utility and tangible financial returns for token holders.