MiCA is fully in force. Europe now has the world’s first cross-border rulebook for digital assets, and the question for banks and asset managers has shifted from whether to enter the market to how to build within this new regulatory framework. The European Blockchain Convention returns to Barcelona on 16-17 September 2026 for its 12th edition, the region’s first major institutional gathering since the deadline passed, with YAP Global as the official PR partner.
The numbers behind that shift are already visible. Deutsche Börse has put $200 million into Kraken. Santander’s digital bank, Openbank, has opened crypto trading to customers in Germany and Spain. Both institutions will be in Barcelona in September, alongside 80 of Europe’s top 100 banks, up from 50 last year.
“Eight years ago, we built EBC because we believed Europe would be where this industry matured. A lot of people thought we were early. In 2026, European banks are deploying capital, institutional products are live across major markets, and the regulatory framework is in place. EBC is where the people driving that change meet once a year to do real business.” said Victoria Gago, Co-CEO of the European Blockchain Convention and the Digital Assets Forum.
Rather than chasing mandates city by city across London, Paris, Frankfurt, Zurich, and Barcelona, EBC12 compresses the European digital asset market into a single two-day commercial arena at the Palau de Congressos de Catalunya. The programme covers institutional capital allocation, real-world asset tokenisation, market structure under MiCA, and what stablecoins and CBDCs mean for cross-border settlement. Alongside the main stage, EBC12 runs 10,000 pre-arranged one-to-one meetings, a Buy Side Breakfast for allocators and institutional investors, and a dedicated press room with direct access to speakers.
More than 300 speakers are confirmed. They include:
- Emma Landriault, Head of Kinexys Labs, J.P. Morgan
- Colin Payne, Head of Innovation, Financial Conduct Authority
- Mohamad Zaraket, Head of Digital Assets Strategy EMEA, BNY
- Kathleen Wrynn, Global Head of Digital Assets, Invesco
- Victor Jung, Vice President, Digital Assets and Currencies, Hamilton Lane
- Previn Singh, Head of Strategy & Architecture, Fidelity International
“Regulation used to be the main story at European events. It isn’t anymore, because the rules exist and firms already operate within them. What matters now is what banks and asset managers actually do with CASP licences, tokenised funds, and stablecoins. That is a harder story to tell than a policy debate. Our job in Barcelona is to get those decisions in front of the journalists and policymakers who report on how European capital markets work.” said Otto Jacobsson, CEO of YAP Global, an international digital assets PR consultancy.
EBC12 runs 16-17 September 2026 at the Palau de Congressos de Catalunya, Barcelona, with over 5,000 attendees expected from more than 90 countries. Media wanting press credentials or speaker interviews can contact the team at [email protected].
As YAP Global is an official media partner of EBC12, we are offering our audience a 15% discount. Use YAPGLOBAL_15 at the checkout [ticket link].
