Blockchain Life 2026 Agenda: The December 1st and 2nd Program

The Blockchain Life 2026 agenda is online for both days of the forum, December 1 and 2 in Dubai. Indeed, the preliminary program lists 34 slots on the Space Stage, spanning keynotes, panels, interviews and ceremonies. As a result, stablecoins, tokenization, AI, regulation and mining share the spotlight.

To book your Blockchain Life 2026 ticket at the early bird rate, use our partner link and the Cointribune discount code (10% off). Click here.

Blockchain Life 2026 Agenda: What Is Planned for December 1 and 2

This forum comes right after the Singapore FinTech Festival, another major end-of-year event. Thus, the first day in Dubai opens with a keynote by Sergei Khitrov, founder of Listing.Help, Jets.Capital and Blockchain Life. Then, the second starts with a fireside chat with Arthur Hayes, CIO of Maelstrom. It finally ends with the Blockchain Life Awards 2026 ceremony.

However, the organizers stress that the program is still provisional.

PRELIMINARY SCHEDULE — More sessions to be announced. Subject to change.

Blockchain Life organizers, agenda page

Moreover, all sessions detailed so far take place on the Space Stage. In addition, the agenda also references an AI-focused stage tied to the AI Future Forum.

December 1st: Institutional Crypto, Exchanges and Privacy

First, the opening panel covers institutional crypto, from venture bets to strategic acquisitions. Danil Gaidamakin (Jets.Capital) moderates it alongside John Cahil (Galaxy Digital), Andrei Grachev (DWF Labs), Amit Mehra (Borderless) and James Wo (Digital Finance Group).

Another highlight concerns trading platforms. Indeed, Ben Zhou, co-founder and CEO of Bybit, will discuss AI, infrastructure and trust in a fireside chat hosted by Alex Falcon. Meanwhile, a panel brings together executives from BingX, MEXC, KuCoin, Bybit and BitMart on AI-driven trading and its new attack surfaces.

Next, Sandeep Nailwal (Polygon) takes the stage with “The 2 Quadrillion Dollar Wave.” Finally, Mert Mumtaz (Helius) tackles privacy in the age of AI and quantum computing. In turn, Felix Fan (Trust Wallet) explores social wallets.

December 1st: Stablecoins, Tokenization, and BTCFi

Afterwards, payments take up a large share of the schedule. Thus, a panel moderated by Koray Koska (Ether.fi Cash) covers stablecoin cards, with Polygon Labs, Bakkt, Bitcoin.com and Mastercard. Later, a second panel presents stablecoins as a new rail for remittances and corporate FX, with Ripple and BCG among the speakers.

These themes echo the stablecoin debates at the Singapore FinTech Festival, which we covered in detail. Moreover, tokenization comes up in keynotes by Marius Smith (Ethereum Institutional) and Marcin Kaźmierczak (RedStone). Finally, one panel focuses on BTCFi, or finance built on Bitcoin.

In addition, the interview “Who Owns the Future of Compute?” brings together Vadim Krutov (Bitfury) and the co-creators of the Gonka protocol. Therefore, it covers chips, inference and decentralized AI infrastructure. This topic also echoes Cocoon, the decentralized AI network Pavel Durov presented at the 2025 edition.

December 2nd: Arthur Hayes, Animoca Brands, and Gaming

The second day starts strong with Arthur Hayes. However, the title of his fireside chat is still to be announced. Then, Yat Siu, co-founder of Animoca Brands, follows with a keynote on the agent economy, at the crossroads of AI and Web3.

Next, a panel on GameFi after play-to-earn brings together Marc Shawn Brown (MSB Intel, moderator), Jamie King (co-founder of Rockstar Games) and Brendan Ma (Arbitrum Foundation). Moreover, Jamie King returns at 12:15 for a keynote on gaming, ownership and the next consumer internet.

December 2nd: UAE Regulation and Tokenization

First of all, regulation takes pride of place. Thus, a panel brings together Ruben Bombardi (VARA), Dmitry Fedotov (ADGM) and Ahmed Allam, of the Ruler’s Court of Dubai, to explain why the UAE is setting the pace. Then, at 3:00 p.m., Irina Heaver (NeosLegal) questions Ruben Bombardi on building a licensed digital-asset business. Besides, Cointribune already covered how Dubai’s tokenized asset market is taking off with a groundbreaking fund launch, a tokenized money market fund approved by the DFSA regulator.

On the finance side, a panel weighs Bitcoin against diversification in institutional digital-asset allocation, with Bitcoin Suisse, XBTO and Rakbank. In addition, a large tokenization panel moderated by Marcin Matyja (BCG) covers treasuries, credit and funds on-chain. It notably includes CoinMarketCap, Algorand Foundation, Cardano Foundation and Oracle.

December 2nd: Mining After the Halving and Ceremonies

Mining, absent on December 1, finally appears at 5:00 p.m. Thus, the “Mining After the Halving” panel brings together Naeem Aslam (Zaye Capital Markets, moderator), Davis Hui (Canaan) and Li HanQiang (SpiderPool). Before that, several keynotes with titles still to be announced follow one another, with Nikita Anufriev, Leonid Maloletov, Emil Panakhov and Magzhan Madiyev. Then, Andrei Grachev (DWF Labs) speaks on liquidity.

Finally, the day closes with the Startup Pitch award ceremony at 5:35 pm. Afterwards, the Blockchain Life Awards 2026 ceremony follows at 5:40 pm, and the forum ends at 6:10 pm. Besides, for VIP ticket holders, the official afterparty takes place on December 2, from 9 pm to 2 am.

Blockchain Life 2026 Agenda: Full Day-One Schedule, From Opening Keynote to InfoFI

December 1 Morning: From the Opening Keynote to AI-Driven Markets

• 10:10 – Keynote: Opening Keynote, with Sergei Khitrov (Listing.Help, Jets.Capital)
• 10:25 – Keynote: TBA, with the Secret Speaker
• 10:45 – Panel: From Venture Bets to Strategic Acquisitions: Institutional Crypto’s New Playbook, with Danil Gaidamakin (mod.), John Cahil, Andrei Grachev, Amit Mehra, and James Wo
• 11:15 – Panel: Beyond Fan Tokens: What Sports Brands Can Actually Monetise Onchain, with Paul Shikhaleev (Cointelegraph, mod.) and Max Rabinovitch (Chiliz)
• 11:40 – Fireside chat: The Next Generation of Crypto Exchanges: AI, Infrastructure and Trust, with Alex Falcon (mod.) and Ben Zhou (Bybit)
• 12:15 – Keynote: The 2 Quadrillion Dollar Wave, with Sandeep Nailwal (Polygon)
• 12:30 – Fireside chat: Crypto Privacy in the Age of AI and Quantum Computing, with Mert Mumtaz (Helius)
• 12:55 – Keynote: Utility After the Hype, with Sunny Lu (Vechain)
• 13:10 – Keynote: Wallets Become Social: The Next Consumer Distribution Layer for Web3, with Felix Fan (Trust Wallet)
• 13:25 – Panel: AI-Driven Markets: Smarter Execution, Faster Trading, New Attack Surfaces, with Margarita Grazhenskaya (Listing.Help, mod.), Kevin Lee (BingX), Vugar Usi Zade (MEXC), Alicia Kao (KuCoin), Derek Dai (Bybit), and Nenter Chow (BitMart)

December 1 Afternoon: Stablecoins, Tokenization and BTCFi

• 15:00 – Panel: Stablecoin Cards and the Battle for Everyday Spending, with Koray Koska (Ether.fi Cash, mod.), Aishwary Gupta (Polygon Labs), Daniel Ishag (Bakkt), Joseph Collement (Bitcoin.com), and Rajat Sakhuja (Mastercard)
• 15:30 – Interview: Who Owns the Future of Compute? Chips, Inference and Decentralised AI Infrastructure, with Vadim Krutov (Bitfury, mod.), Daniil and David Liberman (Gonka.ai)
• 16:05 – Keynote: The Great Shift: Transitioning Global Financial Infrastructure from Private to Public Blockchains, with Marius Smith (Ethereum Institutional)
• 16:15 – Keynote: The Next $1T RWA Unlock: Onchain Settlement of Digital Assets, with Marcin Kaźmierczak (RedStone)
• 16:25 – Panel: Bitcoin Beyond HODL: The Rise of BTCFi, with Hadir Gaber (ChainMena, mod.), Chris MMCrypto, Crypto Kid, Crypto Jack, and Andres Meneses (Orbyt X)
• 17:10 – Panel: From Remittances to Corporate FX: Stablecoins as the New Cross-Border Rail, with Nic Puckrin (Coin Bureau, mod.), Aishwary Gupta (Polygon Labs), Luke Judges (Ripple), Marcin Matyja (BCG), and Senthil Velu (DDSC)
• 17:45 – Panel: From Onchain Data to InfoFi: The New Intelligence Stack for Crypto, with Alessia Baumgartner (DWF Labs, mod.), Ambre Soubiran (Kaiko), Anton Feingold (Hypertracker), and Arnaud Simeray (Dune)

Day Two Schedule: Arthur Hayes, Mining Panel and Awards in the Blockchain Life 2026 Agenda

December 2 Morning: Arthur Hayes, Gaming and Tokenization

• 10:05 – Fireside chat: To Be Announced, with Arthur Hayes (Maelstrom)
• 10:20 – Keynote: The Agent Economy / AI × Web3, with Yat Siu (Animoca Brands)
• 10:35 – Panel: GameFi After Play-to-Earn: Building Games People Stay For, with Marc Shawn Brown (MSB Intel, mod.), Jamie King (Rockstar Games), and Brendan Ma (Arbitrum Foundation)
• 11:10 – Panel: Bitcoin vs Diversification: How Institutions Are Approaching Digital Asset Allocation, with Andrej Majcen (Bitcoin Suisse), Karl Naïm (XBTO), and Dishang Patel (Rakbank)
• 11:45 – Panel: From Sandbox to Scale: Why the UAE Is Setting the Pace for Digital-Asset Regulation, with Ruben Bombardi (VARA), Dmitry Fedotov (ADGM), and Ahmed Allam (Dubai Ruler’s Court)
• 12:15 – Keynote: Gaming, Ownership and the Next Consumer Internet, with Jamie King (Rockstar Games)
• 12:30 – Panel: Tokenization Becomes Infrastructure: Bringing Treasuries, Credit and Funds On-Chain, with Marcin Matyja (BCG, mod.), Alice Liu (CoinMarketCap), Amar Odedra (Algorand Foundation), Robert Farquhar (Ctrl Alt), Alenka Shmalko, Estelle Roiena (Cardano Foundation), and Gourav Sarkar (Oracle)
• 13:05 – Startup Pitch: selected startups present their project

December 2 Afternoon: Regulation, Mining and Ceremonies

• 15:00 – Fireside chat: From Sandbox to Scale: Building a Licensed Digital-Asset Business in the UAE, with Irina Heaver (NeosLegal, mod.) and Ruben Bombardi (VARA)
• 15:20 – Keynote: TBA, with Nikita Anufriev (Headliners)
• 15:40 – Keynote: TBA, with Leonid Maloletov
• 15:55 – Keynote: TBA, with Emil Panakhov (Alpha One)
• 16:10 – Keynote: TBA, with Magzhan Madiyev (AstanaHub)
• 16:30 – Keynote: Liquidity Wars: The Rise of Fundamentals, with Andrei Grachev (DWF Labs)
• 17:00 – Panel: Mining After the Halving: Reinventing the Economics of Hashpower, with Naeem Aslam (Zaye Capital Markets, mod.), Davis Hui (Canaan), and Li HanQiang (SpiderPool)
• 17:35 – Ceremony: Startup Pitch Award Ceremony
• 17:40 – Ceremony: Blockchain Life Awards 2026 Ceremony

Blockchain Life 2026 Discount Code: 10% Off With the Cointribune Code

First, tickets are currently at the early bird rate: $189 for Standard, $329 for Business, and $999 for VIP. Then, they increase in steps, to $399, $729, and $2,099 at the last chance rate. Moreover, each ticket also grants access to the AI Future Forum.

Additionally, Cointribune readers benefit from a 10% discount using the Blockchain Life 2026 discount code Cointribune, to use with our partner link.

Furthermore, tickets sold out before the forum date in the last two editions, according to organizers. It is therefore better to act quickly. To keep the early bird rate, book your Blockchain Life 2026 ticket here with the Cointribune code.

La Rédaction C.

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