“A second one would be, ‘What else besides bitcoin? What else can I invest besides bitcoin?’ So that’s also another very commonly asked question that we get,” observes Eugene Ng, Head of Business Development for APAC at Gemini, identifying the institutional inquiry that drives crypto product innovation beyond simple spot Bitcoin exposure. With over 15 years of experience spanning traditional finance at Barclays, Deutsche Bank, and Citibank before building institutional crypto relationships across Asia, Ng has witnessed how institutional demand for sophisticated products transforms cryptocurrency from single-asset speculation to comprehensive investment platform.
Ng’s perspective on product innovation reflects deep understanding of how institutional needs drive financial market evolution. His traditional finance background exposed him to how derivatives, structured products, and alternative investments emerged to serve institutional requirements that simple equity or bond exposure couldn’t satisfy. His crypto experience reveals how similar institutional demand patterns are accelerating product development at unprecedented speed.
“And with the innovation that we’re seeing in crypto space today, you don’t just buy bitcoin and hold it, there are so many other use cases,” Ng explains, articulating how institutional sophistication drives comprehensive product ecosystems rather than single-asset strategies. This evolution mirrors traditional finance development patterns but occurs far faster due to crypto’s programmable nature and global market access.
The Institutional Question That Drives Innovation
The “what else besides Bitcoin” question that Ng repeatedly encounters from institutional clients represents more than curiosity—it reflects institutional investment mandates that require diversification, risk management, and strategic flexibility that single-asset exposure cannot provide. His institutional conversations reveal growing sophistication about how different crypto assets serve different portfolio functions and strategic objectives.
“The type of conversations, a lot deeper, a lot more thoughtful,” Ng notes, describing evolution from basic Bitcoin exposure inquiries to comprehensive discussions about portfolio construction, yield generation, and strategic positioning across multiple blockchain platforms and use cases. This sophistication acceleration reflects institutional recognition that crypto represents investment platform rather than individual asset.
The institutional adoption pattern that Ng observes follows predictable evolution: “A third narrative I would say it’s really the top five tokens you get. You will start seeing greater inflow of money coming to these top five tokens because institutions come in, they will likely buy the top five tokens and then subsequently look into the others.” This staged approach to diversification mirrors how institutions expand into any new asset class.
DeFi: The Institutional Yield Revolution
Among the product innovations that excite institutional interest, decentralized finance stands out for addressing fundamental institutional needs around yield generation and capital efficiency. “I think DeFi, I think that’s a great use case and that’s such a promising space. It’s really breaking down the whole centralized finance narrative,” Ng explains, recognizing how blockchain-based financial services create institutional products that traditional finance cannot replicate.
The institutional appeal of DeFi extends beyond simple yield generation to encompass comprehensive financial services—lending, borrowing, trading, derivatives—delivered through programmable protocols rather than traditional intermediaries. Ng’s derivatives expertise helps him recognize how DeFi protocols can provide institutional-grade functionality while offering efficiency advantages that traditional markets struggle to match.
“You can invest in interest-bearing product—it’s more than just diversifying and it’s becoming more of an investment,” Ng notes, describing how DeFi transforms crypto from speculative trading to institutional asset management with yield characteristics that attract capital-efficient strategies.
NFTs and Digital Asset Ownership
The institutional product innovation that perhaps best illustrates crypto’s comprehensive platform potential concerns non-fungible tokens and digital ownership models. “I think NFTs, non-fungible tokens, that is such a great narrative. I think it’s going to gain a lot of momentum,” Ng predicted, recognizing how blockchain-based ownership certificates would create institutional investment categories.
His insight extends beyond current art market applications to encompass comprehensive tokenization of physical and digital assets. “Whether it is your favorite whiskey, your favorite art piece, I think they’re all going to be on the blockchain in a matter of time,” he observes, envisioning product innovation that brings institutional-grade ownership, custody, and transfer mechanisms to previously illiquid asset classes.
The institutional applications of NFT technology address longstanding challenges in alternative asset management—authentication, provenance tracking, fractional ownership, and liquidity enhancement. These capabilities create institutional products that traditional finance infrastructure cannot efficiently deliver.
Structured Products and Multi-Asset Evolution
The institutional product innovation that most directly mirrors traditional finance development concerns structured products and yield strategies that combine multiple crypto assets and strategies into comprehensive solutions. Ng’s derivatives background provides unique perspective on how crypto’s programmability enables product innovation that exceeds traditional structured product capabilities.
“It’s really increasing the Sharpe ratio of that entire portfolio,” Ng observes about crypto adoption generally, noting how sophisticated product structures that combine Bitcoin exposure with yield generation, downside protection, or strategic optionality create risk-return profiles that attract institutional capital beyond simple spot holdings.
The 24/7 trading, instant settlement, and programmable execution that characterize crypto markets enable structured product innovation that traditional markets struggle to replicate. Institutions can access complex strategies through products that would require multiple counterparties, extended settlement times, and significant operational complexity in traditional finance.
“Obviously with any new asset class, there are going to be some that will eventually go, a majority of these tokens going to zero. And it’s obviously some that are going to hit 10x, 100x, 1000x. So I think it comes down to really understanding what you’re investing in,” Ng explains, acknowledging both opportunities and risks in multi-token strategies.
This realistic assessment reflects sophisticated understanding that drives institutional product development. Rather than speculating across hundreds of tokens, institutions require curated product solutions that provide diversified exposure to vetted projects with genuine utility and sustainable economics.
Regional Product Innovation Leadership
Ng’s experience across Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia, and India reveals how different regional markets drive distinct product innovation patterns. Asian institutional investors, with their comfort with alternative assets and technological sophistication, often demand products that Western markets haven’t yet developed or adopted.
“I think being in Singapore, it’s really allowing Gemini to help Asians to access cryptocurrency more easily than ever before,” Ng notes, highlighting how regulatory clarity in certain jurisdictions enables product innovation that remains constrained elsewhere. Singapore’s approval of Bitcoin and Ethereum Singapore dollar fiat pairings exemplifies how regional product innovation addresses local market needs.
The Future Beyond Bitcoin
For Eugene Ng, the evolution from “just Bitcoin” to comprehensive digital asset strategies represents permanent transformation rather than temporary expansion. His experience suggests that institutional product innovation will continue accelerating as markets mature, regulatory frameworks develop, and institutional sophistication increases.
The institutional question “what else besides Bitcoin” drives product development that transforms cryptocurrency from alternative investment to comprehensive financial platform. As Ng’s experience demonstrates, the firms that answer this question with sophisticated, compliant, and institutionally-appropriate products will capture the institutional capital that drives sustainable market growth.
