MERGE Madrid 2026: Institutional Crypto Settles in Madrid

While other conferences line up promises, MERGE Madrid sets up shop where institutional money actually gets decided: inside the historic Madrid Stock Exchange building, then inside one of the Spanish capital’s most iconic buildings. From October 27 to 29, 2026, the event presents itself as the reference point for institutional crypto in Southern Europe and Latin America, a deliberate bridge between traditional finance and digital assets. A discounted rate is reserved for the Cointribune community.

👉 Get -20% off your ticket with code MERGECOINTRIBUNE20 (applied automatically via the partner link).

The event bridging traditional finance and crypto

MERGE doesn’t hide its ambition: bring, into the same room, the people who run finance and the people who run crypto. Where many events in the sector put protocols and tokens front and center, MERGE puts institutions at the core, aiming to show how banks, brokers, asset managers and regulators are actually integrating digital assets. The format is built for it: a closed-door institutional summit, a two-day congress, a 7,000-square-meter exhibition area, one-on-one meetings and a startup contest.

Its dual geographic footprint is what sets it apart. With one edition in Madrid in October and another in Argentina in the spring, MERGE positions itself as the gateway for international projects into two markets still very much in the making, Southern Europe and Latin America, too often treated separately. For a crypto project looking to speak to institutions on both sides of the Atlantic, it’s a logical point of passage.

Two venues that say everything about the positioning

The choice of venues is no accident. On October 27, the institutional summit is held at the Bolsa de Madrid, the neoclassical palace inaugurated in 1893 that houses one of Spain’s oldest financial institutions. Reserved for the 400 most exclusive attendees, Business Pass holders and speakers it packs a full day of conversations on regulation, finance and digital assets, capped by a VIP cocktail dinner.

On October 28 and 29, the main congress takes over the Palacio de Cibeles, one of Madrid’s most recognizable landmarks, right in the heart of the city. That’s where the thousands of attendees, across every ticket type, gather around three stages. Holding a crypto event inside the Stock Exchange palace and then inside Madrid’s city hall says a lot about the message: crypto is no longer knocking at the institutions’ door, it’s walking through it.

Who you’ll meet

The lineup mixes, as promised, two worlds. Speakers already confirmed for this edition, the list grows every week  include Coty de Monteverde (Global Head Crypto & Digital Assets, Banco Santander), Francisco Maroto (Head of Blockchain and Digital Assets, BBVA), Massimo Cervesato (VP Global Blockchain & Digital Assets, Mastercard), Cassie Craddock (VP, Managing Director UK & Europe, Ripple), Robby Yung (CEO of Investments, Animoca Brands) and Stijn Vander Straeten (CEO, Crypto Finance Group | Deutsche Börse). On the sponsor side, Ripple and Crypto Finance lead as Platinum sponsors, alongside the Bolsa de Madrid itself, Tether, BitGo, Bullish, Bit2Me, Cecabank and the BSV Association as Gold sponsors.

In total, the organizer claims more than 200 speakers across three stages, a startup contest with finalists selected ahead of the event, and networking formats built for making connections, including one-on-one meetings with speakers and sponsors. That’s precisely the kind of counterpart — institutional players and infrastructure providers, a founder or executive is looking to meet.

A program built around 2026’s real topics

The content follows the sector’s actual news cycle rather than its trends. Tracks cover digital currency, payments and stablecoins (including CBDCs and cross-border payments), the role of banks and brokers in institutional crypto, real-world asset (RWA) tokenization, DeFi, blockchain infrastructure and regulation. All themes that speak directly to a European reader at a time when MiCA is reshaping how the digital asset market is structured. Bilingual English-Spanish sessions, with live translation, extend the audience well beyond the Spanish-speaking sphere alone.

Tickets and discount code

Several ticket types are available. The Standard ticket grants access to both days of the congress at the Palacio de Cibeles, the exhibition area, the networking app and session recordings. The Business Pass adds access to the institutional summit at the Bolsa de Madrid and its VIP cocktail dinner, subject to availability. Prices rise as the event approaches, and code MERGECOINTRIBUNE20 applies -20% off your ticket, directly through the partner link.

👉 Book your MERGE Madrid ticket with -20% (code MERGECOINTRIBUNE20).

Keep in mind: the ticket covers neither travel to Madrid nor accommodation, and access to the institutional summit is reserved for Business Pass holders.