Discus Fish of Cobo and Samuel Tse of Animoca Brands discuss how AI agents, digital identity and blockchain could change the way money moves.
Updated
November 2, 2026 12:03 PM
The Agentic Economy Summit at CVCF 2026 explores how AI agents and digital assets could shape the future of business and finance. IMAGE: CYBERPORT
For an AI agent to manage money on someone’s behalf, it needs more than the ability to follow instructions. It must be able to establish whom it represents, access funds and transact within agreed limits.
These are among the questions informing the discussion of AI and digital assets at Cyberport Venture Capital Forum (CVCF) 2026. Ahead of the forum, Discus Fish, CEO and Co-founder of Cobo, and Samuel Tse, Head of Investment and Corporate Finance at Animoca Brands, shared their views on how this convergence could develop—and where they see opportunities for businesses.
Discus Fish points to a longstanding challenge: blockchain can be difficult for everyday users to navigate, but AI agents may find it easier to interact with these networks.
“Blockchains have always been hard for ordinary people to use. AI agents may be better users: the chain is fully transparent and every record is traceable, which suits agents well.”
His outlook comes with a qualification. Both the agents and the networks they would use still need to develop.
“Agents aren’t capable enough yet, and chains are still adapting. But once agents truly run on-chain, the number of users and what’s possible will grow by an order of magnitude.”
Discus Fish says blockchain could reshape how financial assets are issued, traded and settled over the next five years. He also notes that institutional adoption has progressed faster than Cobo initially expected, with individual users no longer leading the shift. “Since 2017, we have believed blockchain will become part of the financial infrastructure of the future. We expected individual users to lead, but institutions moved faster.”
For Fish, the next stage involves a broader range of assets and financial clients.
“What gets redefined next is how assets are issued, traded, and settled. As traditional assets like US equities come on-chain, a much wider range of financial clients will follow.”
Samuel Tse, Head of Investment and Corporate Finance at Animoca Brands, focuses on investment opportunities across digital assets and agentic AI. He sees digital identity as essential to allowing AI agents to act on behalf of people while keeping transactions within the permissions they set.
He believes users should set clear rules for what an AI agent can do, allowing it to complete transactions without requiring approval for each one.
“Once agents can prove who they represent, hold digital assets, and move value under clear rules, the economy stops being click-by-click. You set the policy once—who, how much, for what—and the agent transacts inside it.”
He describes applications ranging from everyday payments and transfers to subscriptions, swaps and earning returns on idle funds. “That’s agentic transactions: payments, transfers, subscriptions, swaps, even chasing a better rate on idle cash. Identity is the trust layer. Assets and credentials are the spending authority—always accountable to the human who granted permission.”
In Tse’s account, the human remains the source of that authority. The agent acts within the permissions granted to it.
To illustrate how AI agents, digital identity and digital assets might work together, Tse offers a hypothetical Hong Kong parent's weekday.
“A Hong Kong parent’s weekday: top up the child’s Octopus, book a weekend football slot, translate a school notice for the helper, check weather before pickup, restock milk at the member price, and keep leftover budget earning until tomorrow.”
At present, he says, completing these tasks requires navigating services that often operate separately.
“Today that means many apps that don't talk to each other, and rails that struggle with micro payments.”
His proposed alternative brings the tasks together under instructions established by the user.
“With an agent, they set the rules once and let it decide what to do. Identity unlocks trust and member prices without oversharing. Digital assets fit the money—per-use fees, hard limits, yield until spend.”
For Tse, this combination could create opportunities across payments, merchants, identity providers and digital-asset platforms. He compares the potential scale of agentic commerce to an earlier change in how consumers accessed services.
“The iPhone in 2007 rewired how people buy and use services for 20 years. We are just at the beginning of a similar paradigm shift, with outcomes we can barely imagine.”
Discus Fish and Samuel Tse offer two perspectives on the emerging agentic economy, from the blockchain infrastructure enabling transactions to the digital identity and permissions that allow AI agents to act on people's behalf. At CVCF 2026, these ideas will become part of a wider conversation with the leaders building and investing in this evolving space.
Be part of the conversation. Join industry leaders, founders and investors at CVCF 2026 on 4–5 November and explore the technologies and opportunities shaping the next phase of business.
Exclusive for Ventureport readers: Use code cvcf26vp to access a Full Access Pass for HK$300, subject to confirmation by the organiser.
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WIRobotics is betting that years of real-world movement data could shape the next generation of humanoid robots
Updated
August 10, 2026 5:56 PM
3D render of a person in various colours. PHOTO: UNSPLASH
Investor interest in humanoid robotics is continuing to grow as startups race to build systems capable of working alongside humans in real-world environments. That momentum was reflected after WIRobotics announced a KRW 95 billion (USD 68 million) Series B funding round to accelerate development of its humanoid robotics platform, ALLEX.
The Seoul-based startup said the funding comes roughly two years after its KRW 13 billion Series A round in 2024. JB Investment led the financing alongside investors including InterVest, Hana Ventures, Smilegate Investment, SBVA, NH Investment & Securities, Company K Partners, GU Investment and FuturePlay.
WIRobotics has spent the past several years building wearable robotics systems designed to assist human movement. The startup is now using that foundation to expand deeper into humanoid robotics and Physical AI, a category focused on AI systems that can interact with the physical world through movement, perception and manipulation.
Its humanoid platform, ALLEX, is being developed to support human-level object manipulation and interaction capabilities. The startup was recently selected for NVIDIA’s Physical AI Fellowship, a global robotics and AI development initiative aimed at supporting next-generation robotics research.
Rather than building humanoid systems entirely from scratch, WIRobotics is drawing on movement data collected through its wearable walking-assist robot, WIM. Over the past three years, the startup says it has built large real-world datasets around gait patterns, mobility and human movement control.
That wearable robotics business has also started showing commercial traction. WIM has sold more than 3,000 cumulative units and expanded into overseas markets including Europe, China, Türkiye and Japan. Revenue grew from KRW 560 million in 2023 to KRW 1.3 billion in 2024, then to KRW 2.79 billion in 2025. According to the startup, first-quarter 2026 revenue has already surpassed its full-year 2024 total.
The startup believes that real-world movement data collected through wearable robotics could become a competitive advantage as humanoid systems move closer to commercial deployment. WIRobotics is also expanding its global footprint alongside its robotics development efforts. The startup said it is establishing a North American entity in California while growing partnerships with overseas distributors and healthcare networks.
Its humanoid ambitions are moving into a more operational phase as well. Beginning later this year, WIRobotics plans to supply a research-focused version of its Mobile ALLEX platform to global research institutions and international partners for testing and collaborative development. The startup is also in discussions with a global automotive manufacturer around manufacturing-focused platform validation projects.
Yeonbaek Lee said: "This investment represents global recognition that the real-world movement data and control technologies accumulated through wearable robotics can evolve into next-generation humanoid robotics. We aim to accelerate the arrival of humanoid robots capable of interacting naturally with people".
Yongjae Kim added: "All investors from our previous Series A round participated again in this Series B financing, demonstrating strong confidence in WIRobotics' technological capabilities and growth potential amid intensifying global humanoid competition. Our mission is to realize humanoids capable of fundamentally human-like interaction and force control, driving a paradigm shift in high-performance manipulation technologies".
As competition intensifies across humanoid robotics, startups are increasingly trying to differentiate themselves through real-world deployment data rather than simulation alone. WIRobotics is positioning its wearable robotics business as the foundation for that transition, betting that years of human movement data could help shape the next generation of humanoid systems.