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The DePin company based in Hong Kong triumphed over 11 other finalists with its identity verification solution designed to mainstream DeFi.
PitchFest winner (Consensus Hong Kong 2026)
What to know:
- ZkME Technology, with a user base of 3.5 million and currently in the process of raising a Series A, positions itself as the critical infrastructure for mainstream adoption of DeFi.
- Hubble AI, the runner-up, provides AI-driven custom trading strategy development through natural language inputs, asserting its focus on offering infrastructure rather than strategies.
- The panel of judges featured members from Bullish Capital Management, CMT Digital, Fabric Ventures, and YZi Labs.
A DePin firm with 3.5 million users currently seeking Series A funding secured victory at this year’s PitchFest during Consensus Hong Kong.
Hong Kong’s zkME Technology claimed the $20,000 award after an intense two-day competition where participants showcased their solutions as vital for addressing various challenges within the crypto industry.
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"If DeFi aspires to achieve mainstream status, this is the sole solution," remarked founder and CEO David Alexander Scheer.
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Scheer informed CoinDesk that 2026 is predicted to be "the year when the boundaries between TradFi and DeFi begin to merge" while maintaining a practical outlook, stating that Monday morning will be "back to business."
The competition was assessed by Alasdair Foster, CEO of Bullish Capital Management (the venture capital division of CoinDesk parent Bullish Global); Augie Ilag, Head of Asia at CMT Digital; Fabric Ventures co-founder Richard Muirhead; and Ella Zhang, head of YZi Labs.
The other three finalists included Switzerland-based OnchainLabs, which focuses on tokenized real-world assets; U.S.-based Coinbax, a DePin firm; and Hong Kong’s Hubble AI.
In second place was Hubble AI, a company that enables users to create personalized trading strategies through prompts to its AI system.
"We offer infrastructure, not strategies," stated the company’s CEO during the pitch, addressing an inquiry about the public accessibility of the AI’s trading functionalities.
Onchain Labs co-founder Florian Ehrbar presented Engage, a platform that allows crypto companies to provide tokenized gold solutions and responded to judges’ inquiries regarding revenue and user experience.
Peter Glyman, founder and CEO of Coinbax, detailed how his company develops infrastructure and smart contracts for crypto enterprises, with plans to launch a mainnet in the second quarter of this year.
Eight additional semi-finalists participated, including Agant from London, a tokenized real-world asset initiative; Brickken from Barcelona; Satsume Labs from Hong Kong; BetterX and OKcontract Labs from Singapore; Morpheus AI from Malaysia; PokeSeed from Japan; and Dubai’s Synnax Technologies FZCO.
