B2C2 adds Asia wealth veteran as crypto liquidity demand broadens

B2C2 has appointed Jason Lai, the former chairman of Schroders Wealth Management Asia, as a senior adviser in Singapore, according to a press release reported on 13 August 2026. The move is aimed at deepening the firm’s ties with family offices, funds and asset managers across Asia-Pacific, a sign that institutional crypto liquidity providers are still building distribution around wealthy and professional investors rather than only trading venues.

The hiring matters because it shows where crypto market infrastructure is competing for growth. B2C2 is a market maker and liquidity provider, not a retail exchange. Its role is to supply execution and round-the-clock liquidity to banks, exchanges, brokers, hedge funds and asset managers. In plain terms, firms like this sit behind the scenes of crypto trading and settlement, where access to reliable pricing and execution can matter as much as product branding.

Asia is a logical focus. The report cites growing interest from traditional wealth managers and family offices, along with broader regional adoption. It also notes that Singapore and Hong Kong are competing to position themselves as regulated digital-asset hubs. For operators, that combination usually means more demand for institutional-grade conversion, treasury movement and settlement workflows, plus closer scrutiny on controls, reporting and counterparties.

“Asia's wealthiest families and managers are increasingly investing in digital assets,” Lai said in the press release, as quoted by CoinDesk. That is consistent with the wider pattern in the article: crypto infrastructure firms are no longer speaking only to traders. They are also trying to serve allocators who want exposure, execution quality and operational clarity.

What this means for crypto treasury and settlement teams

For businesses moving money between fiat, stablecoins and crypto, the practical lesson is that liquidity strategy is becoming more regional and more relationship-driven. A desk that supports spot, derivatives, structured products and over-the-counter execution can help larger buyers manage size and timing, but it still needs clean settlement logic on the business side. If you are moving funds between assets for payments, treasury or payouts, the operational question is not only where the best price is. It is also how quickly the result can be reconciled and routed to the right destination.

That is where conversion and settlement infrastructure becomes relevant. Teams that need to move between supported digital assets can use tools like Radom’s crypto conversion workflow to manage asset changes in a business context, rather than treating every conversion as a trading decision. The useful question for finance teams is whether the platform supports clear settlement records, controlled routes and enough visibility for reconciliation.

Limits, caveats and what to watch next

The main operational limitation in this story is scope. B2C2’s announcement is about a senior adviser hire and a regional business development push, not a new product, new license or new market structure. The practical response for operators is to avoid reading it as a signal that liquidity, execution or wealth demand has changed overnight. What it does show is that institutional crypto firms are investing in senior relationships to win distribution in Asia, and that makes execution quality, reporting and settlement discipline more important, not less.

Another caveat is that the article’s market context is broad. It references large regional asset pools and rising onchain activity, but those figures are background, not a guarantee of demand for any one venue or product. The next thing to watch is whether more liquidity providers and exchanges add senior coverage in Singapore and Hong Kong, and whether that leads to new workflows for family offices, asset managers and the businesses that serve them.

For teams building around crypto payments, treasury or payouts, the takeaway is straightforward. Institutional demand tends to reward platforms that can move value predictably, document settlement clearly and support multiple rails. That is the operating layer buyers should evaluate, whether they are handling conversions, payouts or cross-asset settlement.