Blockfesta 2026, hosted by blockchain news outlet BlockMedia, will be held on Oct. 1 at The Forum in Yeouido IFC in Seoul.
This year's theme is "From Entry to Execution: Institutions Go On-Chain." The event will examine how financial firms are moving from exploring blockchain to putting it into actual use.
Arthur Hayes, chief investment officer at Maelstrom, will deliver the keynote in the first session, titled "Reshaping Finance: Beyond Asset Boundaries, Opening New Opportunities." Kim Se-hee, senior researcher at Eugene Investment & Securities, will present "From Korean Perpetual Futures (K-Perp) to Tokenization: A Global Distribution Strategy for the Korean Stock Market." Kim will then join Kim Jong-wan, head of the digital asset team at Mirae Asset Securities, and Kim Kang-ho, chief executive of New Frontier Partners Group, for a panel discussion on the competitiveness of a won-based stablecoin in an era dominated by dollar stablecoins. Hong Je-seok, senior researcher at Shinhan Securities, will present an assessment of where the tokenization market currently stands.
Sam Seo, chairman of the Kaia DLT Foundation, will speak in the second session, delivering a keynote titled "On-Chain Finance: The Start of Asia's Infrastructure Race." Steve Chung, chief executive of The Block, will address on-chain finance issues that Korea's financial market should watch, while Shim Min-seop, digital asset team leader at Meritz Securities, will discuss the tokenization of government bonds and equities.
Other participants include Leo Li, co-founder of the AEON Protocol, Thomas Chen, head of business at BNB Chain, and Kelvin Koh, co-founder of Spartan Group.
Now in its eighth year, Blockfesta is a digital asset event aimed at institutional participants. Registration and other details are available on the Blockfesta website.
