Past editions - Blockchain for Europe Summit

Programme

09:00 - 09:20 AM

Keynote: The next wave of EU digital asset regulation

Introduction

Robert Kopitsch, Secretary-General, Blockchain for Europe

Speaker

Maria Luis Albuquerque, Commissioner for Financial Services and the Savings and Investments Union, DG FISMA

09:20 - 10:10 AM

Tokenisation and the Savings & Investments Union - Match made in heaven?

Speakers

Peter Kerstens, Advisor, DG FISMA

Stephan Mögelin, Lead Senior Officer, BaFin, Chair of the ESMA DLT Working Group

Roeland Van der Stappen, Head of EU Policy, Coinbase

Isadora Arredondo, Global Policy Director, Hedera

Moderator

Robert Kopitsch, Secretary-General, Blockchain for Europe

10:10 - 10:35 AM

Tokenisation and the views of Europe's regulators

Speakers

Carsten Ostermann, Head of Markets and Digital Innovation Department, ESMA

Alessandro da Rold, EU Government Relations & Policy – EMEA, Kraken Digital Asset Exchange

Moderator

Coco Chen, Associate Director, Technology & Operations, AFME

10:35 - 10:50 AM

Break

10:50 - 11:10 AM

Beyond Crypto: How Kraken Is Building the Future of Finance - KRAKEN

Speakers

Brian Gahan, Managing Director – Europe, Kraken Digital Asset Exchange

Moderator

Inbar Preiss, Senior intellectual property correspondent, MLex

11:10 - 12:00 AM

MiCA's first year - Let's take stock!

Speakers

Vojtech Belling, Executive Director, Czech National Bank

Oliver Stauber, CEO, KuCoin EU

Philipp Bohrn, Managing Director, VP, Group Governance, Bitpanda

Clara Guerra, Director of the Office for Financial Market Innovation and Digitalisation, Liechtenstein Government

Moderator

Ondrej Kovarik, Former Member of the European Parliament

12:00 - 12:30 PM

Stablecoins - How relevant is the tokenised Euro today?

Speakers

Peter Grosskopf, CTO and COO, AllUnity

Jens Hachmeister, Managing Director, Issuer Services & New Digital Markets, Deutsche Börse

Moderator

Patrick Hansen, Senior Director, EU Strategy & Policy, Circle

12:30 - 13:30 PM

Lunch Break

13:30 - 15:00 PM Room 4

How can BLOCKCHAIN be used FOR GOOD?’’

This high-level roundtable at the Blockchain for Europe Summit will explore how blockchain infrastructure can foster synergies in powering public-good systems, enhancing trust in digital interactions, and unlocking inclusive and socially impactful applications across sectors.

Introduction

James Newman, Chief Corporate Affairs Officer, Chiliz

Speakers

Lucy Mills, Co-Creator, Chiliz Includ3d Accelerator

Joachim Schwerin, Principal Economist, DG Grow

Juan Ignacio Ibañez, General Secretary, MiCA Crypto Alliance

Mykolas Majauskas, Senior Director, ByBit

Moderator

Mariana de la Roche Wills, Founder & CEO,, BlackVogel

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13:30 - 13:50 PM

From stablecoins to tokenised assets - unlocking Europe’s capital markets - COINBASE

Speakers

Tom Duff Gordon, VP, International Policy, Coinbase

Moderator

Nathalie Boyke, Ambassador Blockchain for Europe & Founder, nucleus42

13:50 - 14:30 PM

MiCA & global regulatory alignment - Perspectives

Lavan Thasarathakumar, Senior Advisor, Hogan Lovells / GDF

Ben Bowden, Regulatory Expert, former Binance & OKX

Chris Land, Staff Director, U.S. Senate Banking Subcommittee on Digital Assets

Moderator

Tommaso Astazi, Head of Regulatory Affairs, Blockchain for Europe

14:30 - 15:00 PM

Bridging the gap between TradFi & Crypto - Financial compliance in 2026

Speakers

Step into the legendary bar holding the world Guinness record for the largest beer selection and discover for yourself whether Belgian beer truly is the best in the world.

Enjoy a night of flavor, culture, and great conversations — all while diving into the future of digital assets until midnight.

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Speakers

Agata Ferreira

Chief Legal Officer, Institute of Free Technology

Alessandro da Rold

EU Government Relations & Policy – EMEA, Kraken Digital Asset Exchange

Alessandro da Rold

EU Government Relations & Policy – EMEA, Kraken Digital Asset Exchange

Alessandro Da Rold is part of the Policy & Government Relations team at Kraken, focusing on fintech policy, regulation and market expansion for the EMEA region. He brings a background in politics, advocacy and European affairs, having previously worked on digital policy and innovation at both the European Parliament and the European Commission. He holds a Master’s degree in Diplomatic Studies from the University of Economics in Prague.

Alex Wu

Senior Policy Manager, Stellar Development Foundation

André Vanyi-Robin

Founder, CEO, Plastiks.io

Arno Laeven

Founder and Executive Director, European Decentralisation Institute

Arno Laeven

Founder and Executive Director, European Decentralisation Institute

Arno Laeven is the Founder and Executive Director of the European Decentralisation Institute (EDI), an independent think tank dedicated to advancing decentralisation as a strategic foundation for Europe’s digital sovereignty. He leads EDI’s mission to embed Europe’s values of liberty, equality, and solidarity directly into digital infrastructures and governance systems. With a background at the intersection of technology, policy, and innovation, Arno has long focused on how decentralised technologies can strengthen Europe’s capacity to act independently and competitively in the digital age. Under his leadership, EDI develops policy frameworks and practical pathways—such as the Decentralisation for Digital Sovereignty Framework—to turn sovereignty from political intent into operational capability. His work bridges strategy, philosophy, and systems design to help Europe build a digital future that is resilient, democratic, and authentically its own

Asgeir Thor Oskarsson

Managing Director and CEO, BSV Association

Asgeir Thor Oskarsson

Managing Director and CEO, BSV Association

Ásgeir is the Managing Director of the BSV Association, bringing a renewed vision and culture to the Association, focused on collaboration, real-world applications of blockchain, and long-term impact. With more than a decade of experience in financial services, insurance, and blockchain—including roles at UBS, CSS, and several start-ups—he combines technical expertise with leadership in standards, policy, and innovation. With an academic background in both engineering and education, Ásgeir bridges technical insight with the ability to communicate complex ideas clearly. As an educator and frequent public speaker, he is committed to fostering understanding of blockchain’s potential.

Ben Bowden

Regulatory Expert, former Binance & OKX

Boris Petru Augustinov

Senior Policy Officer, DG FISMA

Brian Gahan

Managing Director – Europe, Kraken Digital Asset Exchange

Carsten Ostermann

Head of Markets and Digital Innovation Department, ESMA

Carsten Ostermann

Head of Markets and Digital Innovation Department, ESMA

Carsten joined ESMA in 2012, became Team Leader for Secondary Markets in 2014 and Head of the Trading Unit in 2019. Currently he is the Head of the Markets and Digital Innovation Department. The Department is responsible for developing implementing measures and supervisory convergence in the EU for secondary markets, market integrity, short selling, post-trading and settlement and commodity derivative issues. The Department is also covering implementation and convergence in the EU for crypto markets and digital operational resilience plus other files in the area of digital innovation. Prior to joining ESMA, Carsten was a seconded expert at the European Commission. He also served as a policy officer in the German Ministry of Finance and Germany’s financial regulator BaFin. Before joining the public sector, Carsten was a consultant for a consultancy in London. He holds a German law degree and an LL.M. in international law and is qualified as a lawyer in Germany and as a solicitor in England and Wales.

Catarina Veloso

Director, Regulatory and Compliance, Notabene

Catarina Veloso

Director, Regulatory and Compliance, Notabene

Catarina is Director, Regulatory & Compliance at Notabene, specializing in global crypto regulations and serves as a liaison between regulators and customers. With extensive policy involvement, including co-chairing the CryptoUK Travel Rule working group and being part of the EBA Technical Expert Group on CASPs and AML/CTF, she actively shapes the future of Travel Rule compliance. Catarina holds a Masters in Energy Law and BA in Law, and her previous roles include Head of Legal atFractal, focusing on AML regulatory solutions for crypto companies.

Chris Land

Staff Director, U.S. Senate Banking Subcommittee on Digital Assets

Clara Guerra

Director of the Office for Financial Market Innovation and Digitalisation, Liechtenstein Government

Coco Chen

Associate Director, Technology & Operations, AFME

Coco Chen

Associate Director, Technology & Operations, AFME

Coco Chen is an Associate Director in the Technology and Operations division at AFME. She works closely with financial institutions to advance industry and policy priorities relating to DLT, digital assets, and data in the EU and UK. She also leads on a number of industry-wide initiatives in these areas, including AFME’s roadmaps to scaling DLT-based capital markets. Before joining AFME in 2023, Coco was a Vice President at Credit Suisse, with a focus on EU and UK public affairs and prudential policy.

Cynthia Yang

Deputy General Counsel, Head of Regulatory and Government Affairs, IOHK

Danika Ahr

General Counsel, Aura Blockchain Consortium

Danika Ahr

General Counsel, Aura Blockchain Consortium

Danika Ahr is the General Counsel of the Aura Blockchain Consortium, the collaborative initiative, established by LVMH, Richemont, Prada, and OTB Group, to deliver trusted blockchain solutions for the luxury industry. Based in Geneva, she leads the Consortium’s legal and regulatory strategy, focusing on sustainability, compliance and contributes to drive innovation and governance across digital product passport, traceability, and authentication offerings. Before joining Aura, Danika spent over 20 years at BAT, where she held senior leadership positions at global and regional levels. Throughout her career, she has led global legal teams, supported large-scale digital and business transformations, and advised on complex regulatory, commercial, and compliance matters across multiple jurisdictions. Danika is passionate about leveraging digital innovation and legal foresight to advance sustainability.

Delphine Forma

Head of Policy, Solidus Labs

Delphine Forma

Head of Policy, Solidus Labs

Delphine is an experienced compliance and legal officer who worked across different countries and industries including large banks in the U.K. and blockchain/crypto businesses such as BitMEX (exchanges and miners for around 7 years). Holding a diploma from Sciences Po, and two master’s degrees specialized in European Criminal Business Law and Frauds and Money Laundering Prevention, Delphine currently works as Head of Policy at Solidus Labs and was a Board member of the OpenVASP Association and of the Crypto Valley Association. Delphine is also the founder of the Crypto Compliance and Legal TG group with more than 2,600 members, has been advising startups on their regulatory strategy in Switzerland and Europe, she is an Ambassador for the Association of Women in crypto and GBBC and the podcast host of MiCA Masters and Compliance Champions. Delphine is passionate about regulatory affairs and strategy, policy, as well as virtual assets, technology and how blockchain technology as well as AI can change (is changing) the world we are living in.

Dimitris Psarrakis

Senior Fellow, Wharton Business School

Dirk Hermans

Innovation Manager – Digital Assets Strategy, KBC

Dr. Jörn Erbguth

Consultant, Erbguth, University of Geneva, Geneva Macro Labs

Erwin Voloder

Director for Research & Strategy, Blockchain for Europe

Erwin Voloder

Director for Research & Strategy, Blockchain for Europe

Senior Government Relations and Strategy Advisor with international experience across the public and private sectors. Trusted for high-level strategic input on fintech regulation, blockchain and digital assets, payments and open finance, working at the intersection of innovation and policy. Helping shape forward looking frameworks that enable growth while safeguarding market stability.

Francesco Pagano

Senior Partner, JAKALA

Frederik Gregaard

CEO, Cardano Foundation

Frederik Gregaard

CEO, Cardano Foundation

Frederik’s key priorities are to drive the Cardano Foundation’s adoption strategy, lead integration and execution of its missions, and enable fast-track value creation for inclusive and equitable growth using Cardano. He brings vast experience of the professional services and financial industries to the Foundation, where he is building partnerships with institutions and enterprises across the globe.

Gene Deyev

Co-Founder and CEO, Stobox

Georg Brameshuber

Co-founder and CEO, Validvent

Georg Harer

Co-CEO, Bybit EU

Gert Jan van Hardeveld

Cryptocurrency Specialist, Financial Crime Team, Europol

Gert Jan van Hardeveld

Cryptocurrency Specialist, Financial Crime Team, Europol

Gert Jan van Hardeveld is a cryptocurrency specialist at Europol’s European Financial and Economic Crime Centre (EFECC). At EFECC Gert Jan is investigating and coordinating major money laundering and underground banking investigations involving cryptocurrency. Previously, Gert Jan was responsible for the development of Cryptopol 2.0, an award winning cryptocurrency training game for law enforcement on Ethereum, DeFi, and more. Together with his colleagues, he aims to bring Europol’s partners up to speed in the rapidly developing field of cryptocurrency investigations. Before joining Europol, Gert Jan worked as a Senior Cyber Investigation Specialist at Dutch law enforcement agency FIOD, where he focused on financial cybercrime cases related to money laundering and cryptocurrencies. Gert Jan holds a PhD in Web Science from the University of Southampton.

Gillian Lynch

Head of Europe and UK, Binance

Inbar Preiss

Senior intellectual property correspondent, MLex

Isadora Arredondo

Global Policy Director, Hedera

Isadora Arredondo

Global Policy Director, Hedera

Isadora Arredondo is Global Policy Director at Hedera, where she leads global engagement with regulators, policymakers, and industry stakeholders at the intersection of technology, finance, and public policy. She brings 10+ years of experience working in both the public and private sectors, more recently working as an advisor to leading financial institutions, investors, and technology companies on regulatory and policy issues across the EU and UK. Previously, she worked at the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority, where she developed regulatory policy for investment, payments, and digital assets firms. Her early career included roles at the OECD’s Observatory for Public Sector Innovation, Boston Consulting Group, and the Economist Intelligence Unit, where she led policy-focused thought leadership across EMEA, the U.S and Latam. Isadora has an MsC in Politics and Communications from the London School of Economics (with Distinction) and an MSC in Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Management from Imperial College London Business School.

Izabela Kuprasz

Director of Legal & Compliance, Web 3.0 Technologies Foundation

Izabela Kuprasz

Director of Legal & Compliance, Web 3.0 Technologies Foundation

Izabela Kuprasz is a lawyer with extensive experience in the financial services sector. She currently leads the legal and compliance department at Web 3.0 Technologies Foundation in Switzerland. In this role, Izabela supports the foundation’s groundbreaking work on the Polkadot project, tackling the complex legal challenges posed by blockchain technology and the rapidly evolving Web3 landscape.

James Newman

Chief Corporate Affairs Officer, Chiliz

James Newman

Chief Corporate Affairs Officer, Chiliz

James Newman joined The Chiliz Group as Chief Corporate Affairs Officer in 2022. With a background in corporate affairs across regulated industries such as gaming, finance, and technology, he brings extensive experience in helping corporations navigate complex regulatory and media landscapes. At Chiliz, he has been instrumental in shaping the company’s messaging. His deep understanding of blockchain’s practical applications allows him to effectively communicate how the technology can drive long-term value and engagement in the sports industry.

Jan Reinhart

Chairman, Ludo Labs AG

Jan Reinhart

Chairman, Ludo Labs AG

Jan Reinhart, is Managing Director at Reinhart Capital, a Swiss-based firm focusing on venture-stage information technology companies. During his career, Jan has performed and participated in over 100 investments in private companies in Europe and the USA. His experience as an international technology executive, bank executive, venture capital and private equity investor, was developed since 1998. Currently, Jan sits on the Board of Directors of several technology start-ups. Prior to founding Reinhart Capital, he served as Managing Partner at venture capital firm Aravis, Investment Officer at Swisscom, as VP Marketing & Business Development InnoPath Software in Sunnyvale, California (acquired by Qualcomm) and as Co-Founder and Co-CEO of PayCash (acquired by Mercedes Benz) a direct report for New Businesses to SAP’s Chairman, CEO and co-founder, Hasso Plattner.

Jan Sell

Jens Hachmeister

Managing Director, Issuer Services & New Digital Markets, Deutsche Börse

Joachim Schwerin

Principal Economist, DG Grow

Joachim Schwerin

Principal Economist, DG Grow

Dr. Joachim Schwerin is PhD economist, blockchain expert and privacy activist. He holds a position as Principal Economist in the unit in charge of Responsible Business Conduct within the Directorate-General Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs (DG GROW) of the European Commission. In this function, he is responsible for developing the policy approach of DG GROW towards the Token Economy and Distributed-Ledger Technologies as well as their applications for industry and SMEs. His current focus lies on developing positive framework conditions for DAOs and Web3. In the financial domain, he contributed to the Digital Finance Strategy, including the MiCA Regulation, and the preparatory work for the Digital Euro. Joachim holds a PhD from Dresden University of Technology and was Post-Doc Research fellow at the London School of Economics' Economic History Department before he joined the European Commission in 2001.

Johann Polecsak

Co-Founder and CTO, QANplatform

Johann Polecsak

Co-Founder and CTO, QANplatform

Johann Polecsak is an expert in quantum-safe and blockchain technologies, with several Intellectual Properties developed in these areas. He is the Co-Founder and CTO of QANplatform, the first Ethereum-compatible, quantum-resistant hybrid blockchain. QAN’s post-quantum technology was adopted by an EU government public sector entity in 2024. Johann Polecsak is a recognized advocate for implementing quantum-safe solutions within the decentralized Web3 ecosystem and beyond.

Jordi Mompart Penina

Director of Barça Vision, FC Barcelona

Juan Ignacio Ibañez

General Secretary, MiCA Crypto Alliance

Juan Ignacio Ibañez

General Secretary, MiCA Crypto Alliance

Juan Ignacio Ibañez is the General Secretary of the MiCA Crypto Alliance, an initiative to help blockchain companies deliver best practices under the EU MiCA sustainability and whitepaper requirements. He is also a research associate at the University College London Centre for Blockchain Technologies and a lecturer on blockchain at the Catholic University of Argentina.

Lavan Thasarathakumar

Senior Advisor, Hogan Lovells / GDF

Lee A. Schneider

General Counsel, Ava Labs, Inc.

Lee A. Schneider

General Counsel, Ava Labs, Inc.

Lee A. Schneider is a financial services and technology lawyer with extensive experience in blockchain, FinTech and global regulation. Lee serves as General Counsel for Ava Labs. He has been general counsel of several companies, led practice groups at major law firms, held board of directors positions with trade associations and other groups, served as the inaugural contributing editor for the Chambers and Partners Fintech Practice Guide, co-hosted the original FinTech podcast “Appetite for Disruption”, and co-founded Owl Explains. Lee is the father of two wonderful Oxford graduates who are gainfully employed. He learns about Japanese art history from his wife. He speaks and writes only in his personal capacity, so accept the views as his and his alone.

Leonard Franken

Technology/Innovation and Tiber, AFM

Leonard Franken

Technology/Innovation and Tiber, AFM

Leonard is employed by the Authority Financial Markets, spends one day a week at the Delft University of Technology (computer science/distributed systems) and teaches an applied blockchain master at the University of Amsterdam (Master of International Finance). His research interests are DLT, tokenisation and Trust in the online world. At the AFM he is involved in the Tiber Programme (threat intel based ethical red teaming), techn knowledge acquisition and IT supervision (.e.g DLT pilot regime). Please provide a sentence / quote that can be used when promoting your panel (max 500 characters) For example, this could be a statement summarising your main topics of expertise or what you will focus on during your panel.

Lewis McLellan

Head of content, OMFIF

Lewis McLellan

Head of content, OMFIF

Lewis is Head of Content of the Digital Monetary Institute. He is responsible for content, including reports, podcasts and commentaries. Before joining OMFIF, he spent six years at GlobalCapital, a capital markets newspaper and part of Euromoney Institutional Investor. There, he covered debt capital markets, breaking news and developing themes in public sector bond markets, emerging markets, ESG and digitalisation. He formed relationships with senior bankers and key borrowers. He holds an MA in Linguistics from the University of Edinburgh.

Lucy Mills

Co-Creator, Chiliz Includ3d Accelerator

Luke Dufour

EMEA Compliance Advisor, TRM Labs

Luke Dufour

EMEA Compliance Advisor, TRM Labs

Luke is TRM Labs' EMEA Compliance Advisor, where he supports financial institutions and crypto-natives in building financial crime frameworks for digital assets. Luke brings deep cross-sector experience at the intersection of financial crime intelligence, compliance, and public-private collaboration. His career spans both traditional finance and the virtual asset space - having previously held roles at BVNK, ClearBank, Barclays and MoneyGram - where his hands-on experience building financial crime frameworks uniquely positions him to help TRM's clients.

Maria Luis Albuquerque

Commissioner for Financial Services and the Savings and Investments Union, DG FISMA

Mariana de la Roche Wills

Founder & CEO, BlackVogel

Marina Markezic

CEO, EUCI

Martin Coxall

Director of Growth & Strategic Partnerships, Global Association, BSV

Matthew Osborne

Policy Director, Europe and UK, Ripple

Matthew Osborne

Policy Director, Europe and UK, Ripple

Matt is Policy Director for Europe and UK at Ripple, the leading provider of digital assets infrastructure to businesses. Matt previously held roles at the Bank of England and NatWest Group. He has a PhD in Finance from Bayes Business School and has authored numerous articles on financial services policy. Matt serves on the leadership councils of UK Crypto Business Council, Global Digital Finance and the Digital Pound Foundation.

Matthias Bauer-Langgartner

Head of Policy Europe, Chainalysis

Max Bernt

Managing Director & Global Head of Regulatory Affairs, Taxbit

Max Bernt

Managing Director & Global Head of Regulatory Affairs, Taxbit

Dr. Max Bernt is Taxbit’s Global Head of Regulatory Affairs and Managing Director for Europe. He holds a PhD in Transnational Criminal Law and Regulatory Affairs, with a research focus on cross-border collaboration and information reporting in the fight against organised crime. Max has served as a board member for multiple international companies and trade associations and brings over eight years of practical experience in criminal defense litigation from a leading law firm in Vienna. His exceptional work earned him an appointment to the Austrian judicial exam, which he passed with distinction in 2020. He is also a university lecturer and published author, contributing regularly to academic and industry discourse on crypto regulation, financial crime, and international compliance. Max has been deeply involved in shaping EU and global crypto policy, including the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA), DAC8, the EU Anti-Money Laundering Package, and the OECD’s Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework (CARF). Currently, he serves as the Global Ambassador for the Global Blockchain Business Council (GBBC) and Co-Chair of the OECD Business Advisory Group (WP10) negotiations on CARF.

Michael Carr

Irish Ambassador, Global Blockchain Business Council (GBBC)

Mykolas Majauskas

Senior Director, ByBit

Nathalie Boyke

Ambassador Blockchain for Europe & Founder, nucleus42

Nick Gersh

Regulatory Counsel, Paxos

Nick Waytula

Head of Tax, SUMM

Nico Poggi

Chief Marketing Officer, Interchain Foundation

Nicole Dyskant

Global Senior Advisor for Regulatory and Public Affairs, Fireblocks

Nicole Dyskant

Global Senior Advisor for Regulatory and Public Affairs, Fireblocks

Nicole Dyskant is 3x founder, advisor to global crypto unicorns, lawyer and expert in regulatory and policy affairs, with 25 years of experience. She is CEO & Co-founder at RegDoor, Co-founder at Compliasset (acquired by Sinqia in 2023), and Global Senior Advisor for Regulatory and Public Affairs for Fireblocks, Senior Advisor for Taxbit and 2TM (holding company of Mercado Bitcoin). Named one of the 50 Women of Impact in LATAM (Bloomberg Línea/2022).

Nikos Papandreou

Member of the European Parliament (S&D group)

Oliver Stauber

CEO, KuCoin EU

Oliver Stauber

CEO, KuCoin EU

Oliver Stauber, CEO, KuCoin EU | Certified Capital Markets & Crypto Lawyer Oliver Stauber, CEO of KuCoin EU, is a seasoned leader in the Web3 and digital asset space. With over 9 years of experience across legal, regulatory, and executive roles, Oliver brings deep expertise in crypto, fintech, and AI. Previously, he was Chief Legal Officer at Bitpanda and Glassnode, where he helped scale legal operations in fast-growth Digital Asset environments. As Founder and Board Member of the Digital Asset Association Austria (DAAA), Oliver actively contributes to shaping the regulatory dialogue in Europe. He is certified as a Capital Markets and Crypto Lawyer and is recognized by the Austrian Financial Market Authority (FMA) as fit and proper for Managing Director roles in MiFID II investment firms and PSP II/e-money institutions. Oliver also serves as a business angel and strategic advisor, leveraging his passion for Web3 to support early-stage innovation across the ecosystem.

Ondrej Kovarik

Former Member of the European Parliament

Ondrej Kovarik

Former Member of the European Parliament

Ondřej is a former Czech Member of the European Parliament. He served as a member of the Economic and Monetary Affairs committee, and in that capacity, he was the Chairman of the Working Group for Access to Finance for SMEs. He also worked on further committees on transport, budget and civil liberties. His portfolio extends from SME financing to transport and tourism, border management, research and the practical use of new technologies, such as those based on blockchain or artificial intelligence, and broader access and use of digital finance for businesses and consumers. His career to date has been dedicated to public service, primarily in various roles within the Czech civil service, but also in European public administration.

Patrick Hansen

Senior Director, EU Strategy & Policy, Circle

Patrick Hansen

Senior Director, EU Strategy & Policy, Circle

Patrick Hansen is Senior Director, EU Strategy & Policy at Circle, a leading financial technology firm and the issuer of regulated digital dollars and euros, USDC and EURC. Prior to that, Patrick was head of strategy & business development at crypto-wallet startup Unstoppable Finance and head of blockchain policy at Bitkom, Europe’s largest tech trade association. Patrick holds master degrees in business and political science.

Paul Hondius

Head of Unit – Harmful Tax Practices, OECD – OCDE

Paul Hondius

Head of Unit – Harmful Tax Practices, OECD – OCDE

Paul is Head of the Harmful Tax Practices Unit and Senior Advisor for Exchange of Information at the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD). His work covers the OECD’s Forum on Harmful Tax Practices reviews of preferential tax regimes and transparency on tax rulings pursuant to BEPS Action 5, as well as exchange of information policy, including the Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework and the Common Reporting Standard. Before joining the OECD in 2014, Paul worked as a tax lawyer in Luxembourg, focusing on international financial services taxation, as well as exchange of information matters. Paul studied Law and Economics in St. Gallen, Berlin, Washington D.C. and Sydney.

Pelle Brændgaard

CEO, Notabene

Pelle Brændgaard

CEO, Notabene

Pelle Brændgaard is CEO & Co-Founder of Notabene, where he’s building the trust layer for global crypto payments. An early member of the Financial Crypto community, Pelle has 25+ years across internet security, banking, and decentralized identity—bringing Bitcoin to Africa with Kipochi and co-founding uPort (ConsenSys), the identity platform credited with foundational privacy and identity standards on Ethereum. At Notabene, he led the development of TAP (Transaction Authorization Protocol), an open messaging standard that connects verified entities for secure, policy-based authorization and business-grade payment coordination. Notabene Transact, the leading Travel Rule–compliant transaction authorization network used by regulated institutions across 100+ jurisdictions, and Notabene Flow, the first open stablecoin payments platform for businesses are both built on the foundational open architecture of TAP. Pelle’s focus now is on enabling instant, compliant cross-border B2B flows while preserving an open-loop design that scales across chains, networks, and borders.

Peter Grosskopf

CTO and COO, AllUnity

Peter Grosskopf

CTO and COO, AllUnity

Peter Grosskopf is CTO/COO at AllUnity, a joint venture between DWS, Flow Traders, and Galaxy Digital, which established an e-money institution in Germany to issue a MiCAR-compliant euro stablecoin. Previously, he was co-founder and CTO of Unstoppable Finance, which developed Iron, an infrastructure for integrating stablecoins into fintechs and banks. In early 2025, Iron was fully acquired by US payments unicorn MoonPay to lay the foundation for its stablecoin payments segment. Unstoppable Finance also developed the wallet app Ultimate, which was acquired in 2024 by the decentralized exchange Jupiter. Before that, Peter served as CTO and Managing Director of Börse Stuttgart Digital Exchange, Germany’s first regulated exchange for digital assets, as well as co-founder and CTO of Solarisbank, a fully licensed bank for fintechs. He founded a software engineering company in 2008 and later served as CTO at Hitfoxgroup and Finleap, focusing on fintech. Since 2016, he has been deeply involved with blockchain and has pursued the vision of decentralized banking. He is a member of the Digital Finance Forum of the German Ministry of Finance and actively works on regulatory issues. In addition, he lectures on blockchain technology at IKF Lucerne and has been a lecturer at FH Münster and Saarland University. As a supervisory board member of 21x, he supports the development of a digital asset marketplace under the DLT Pilot Regime. Alongside his professional activities, he regularly appears as a speaker at industry events.

Peter Kerstens

Advisor, DG FISMA

Peter Kerstens

Advisor, DG FISMA

Peter advises on Technological Innovation, Digital Transformation and Cybersecurity at the European Commission’s financial services department. He has lead work on the European Commission’s Fintech Action Plan and Digital Finance Strategy and co-chaired the European Commission’s Fintech Taskforce. He also represents the European Commission in international policy and regulatory forums on innovation and security in finance. Peter is often referred to as the architect of Mica (the EU Markets in Crypto Assets Regulation) and Dora (the EU Digital Operational Resilience Act). He has extensive experience in EU policy and regulation. Earlier in his career, Peter was Finance Counsellor at the EU Embassy in Washington DC. He has also been a member of the private offices of the commissioners for the internal market and services and for health and consumer protection. Before joining the European Commission in 1996, Peter advised major corporations on EU policy and regulatory affairs, specialising on financial services and intellectual property. Peter holds double magna cum laude Master degrees in European affairs and political science from the College of Europe in Bruges and the University of Leuven, Belgium. He is an Adjunct Professor of Law at Vanderbilt University Law School and a consummate public speaker.

Philipp Bohrn

Managing Director, VP, Group Governance, Bitpanda

Philipp Bohrn

Managing Director, VP, Group Governance, Bitpanda

Philipp Bohrn was 9 years managing director of the association of financial intermediaries in Austria before joining Bitpanda. Philipp has built up licensed entities with E-Money, MiFID and CASP licenses for Bitpanda and led functions like Compliance, AML, Regulatory over the years and is now responsible for Governance and the Management of Bitpanda GmbH and Bitpanda Financial Services.

Pierre Marro

Policy Officer, DG CNECT

Pieter Den Dooven

CIO, mintBlue

Robert Kopitsch

Secretary-General, Blockchain for Europe

Robert MacDonald

Chief Legal & Compliance Officer, Bybit

Robert MacDonald

Chief Legal & Compliance Officer, Bybit

A UK-qualified barrister with over 19 years’ experience working in Financial Services, FinTech and Crypto/Web3. With experience in the public sector for the UK Ministry of Justice. During his career, Robert has held roles from Deputy Money Laundering Reporting Officer, Global Head of Programme Management & Regulatory Assurance, Head of FinTech Legal & Compliance, Global Head Sanctions & Advisory and Global Head of Compliance Oversight.

Roeland Van der Stappen

Head of EU Policy, Coinbase

Samuel Azzopardi

Deputy General Counsel, Head of Legal Europe, OKX

Silvana Koch-Mehrin

Former Member of the European Parliament

Sol Cinosi

Prosecutor’s Office, Buenos Aires, Argentina & President, Association for Women In Cryptocurrency

Sol Cinosi

Prosecutor’s Office, Buenos Aires, Argentina & President, Association for Women In Cryptocurrency

Sol Cinosi is a lawyer both in Argentina and in Spain, specialized in criminal law and blockchain investigations. She has completed several postgraduate programs in cybercrime and holds a variety of certifications in crypto investigations. She currently serves as Secretary at a Prosecutor’s Office and in the Specialized Cryptoassets Team of the Criminal Policy Secretariat of the Office of the Attorney General of Buenos Aires (currently on academic leave). Sol is President of the Spain Chapter of the Association for Women in Cryptocurrency (AWIC) and is pursuing a Master’s in Blockchain and Digital Assets. She is also an international educator and speaker, collaborating with different international organizations on best practices, training, regulation, and strategy in blockchain investigations.

Soledad Contreras

Director of Partnerships, CoinDesk

Soledad Contreras

Director of Partnerships, CoinDesk

Soledad Contreras is a global media and events professional with over two decades of experience in the financial publishing and events sector. Currently, she serves as the Partnerships Lead for Europe at CoinDesk, a leading platform in the digital assets space renowned for its media, data services, and indices. CoinDesk is also the team behind the flagship crypto and web3 conference franchise Consensus.

Stani Kulechov

Founder and CEO, Aave

Stephan Mögelin

Lead Senior Officer, BaFin

Stephan Mögelin

Lead Senior Officer, BaFin

Stephan is working at BaFin as Lead Senior Officer in the department responsible for supervision of financial market infrastructures (CSDs CCPs) also being responsible for the DLT Pilot Regime team within BaFin. During the last 9 years, Stephan Had a specific focus in new technologies such as DLT, Blockchain and Cloud and the potential implications of these technologies applied to post-trade services). In that context, Stephan is currently the Chair of the ESMA DLT working group and contributed to recently published IOSCO report in Financial Asset Tokenization.

Stephen Nikola Bartulica

Member of the European Parliament (ECR Group)

Thomas A. Mayfield

Head of Decentralized Trust and Identity Solutions, Cardano Foundation

Tom Duff Gordon

VP, International Policy, Coinbase

Tom Pikett

Executive Director, DTCC

Tom Pikett

Executive Director, DTCC

Tom serves as Executive Director Product Management of DTCC Digital Assets. Prior to DTCC, Tom was the Product Lead for Digital Collateral and Market Infrastructure products within the Digital Asset Business at BNY. Before joining BNY, Tom held the position of Global Digital Product Lead within the Trading Services division of Securities Services at JPMorgan. With a diverse background spanning various roles in banks, market infrastructure, and trading platforms.

Tommaso Astazi

Head of Regulatory Affairs, Blockchain for Europe

Vojtech Belling

Executive Director, Czech National Bank

Programme

Keynote: The next wave of EU digital asset regulation

Tokenisation and the Savings & Investments Union - Match made in heaven?

Tokenisation and the views of Europe's regulators

Break

Beyond Crypto: How Kraken Is Building the Future of Finance - KRAKEN

MiCA's first year - Let's take stock!

Stablecoins - How relevant is the tokenised Euro today?

Lunch Break

How can BLOCKCHAIN be used FOR GOOD?’’

From stablecoins to tokenised assets - unlocking Europe’s capital markets - COINBASE

MiCA & global regulatory alignment - Perspectives

Bridging the gap between TradFi & Crypto - Financial compliance in 2026

Break

Decentralised infrastructure as the next big leap in finance

DeFi - Quo vadis in Europe vs. the rest of the world?

Break

Stablecoins at Scale: Is the Travel Rule Friend or Foe - NOTABENE

Stablecoins and their potential role as global reserves

Networking Drinks

Speakers

Agata Ferreira

Alessandro da Rold

Alex Wu

André Vanyi-Robin

Arno Laeven

Asgeir Thor Oskarsson

Ben Bowden

Boris Petru Augustinov

Brian Gahan

Carsten Ostermann

Catarina Veloso

Chris Land

Clara Guerra

Coco Chen

Cynthia Yang

Danika Ahr

Delphine Forma

Dimitris Psarrakis

Dirk Hermans

Dr. Jörn Erbguth

Erwin Voloder

Francesco Pagano

Frederik Gregaard

Gene Deyev

Georg Brameshuber

Georg Harer

Gert Jan van Hardeveld

Gillian Lynch

Inbar Preiss

Isadora Arredondo

Izabela Kuprasz

James Newman

Jan Reinhart

Jan Sell

Jens Hachmeister

Joachim Schwerin

Johann Polecsak

Jordi Mompart Penina

Juan Ignacio Ibañez

Lavan Thasarathakumar

Lee A. Schneider

Leonard Franken

Lewis McLellan

​Lucy Mills

Luke Dufour

Maria Luis Albuquerque

Mariana de la Roche Wills

Marina Markezic

Martin Coxall

Matthew Osborne

Matthias Bauer-Langgartner

Max Bernt

Michael Carr

​Mykolas Majauskas

Nathalie Boyke

Nick Gersh

Nick Waytula

Nico Poggi

Nicole Dyskant

Lucy Mills

Mykolas Majauskas