The Merge event, held in Madrid from October 7-9, featured an intense program covering a wide range of topics – from the status of the digital euro to MiCA standards – with a clear focus on the future of conservation. The program opened with an exclusive first day for speakers and corporate ticket holders at the Palacio de Santoña, followed by two main conference days at the Palacio de Cibeles.
The first day featured speakers from Binance, Ripple, Banco de España and many other big names from the crypto-native and traditional financial sectors. “It was so refreshing to hear banks not wondering if they would move into blockchain, but when,” said Nolvia Serrano, director of innovation and strategy at TR Capital.
And it wasn’t an isolated feeling. “I would like to see more banks using stablecoins for cross-border payments,” said Cassie Craddock, EU managing director at Ripple, during a panel with Hidden Road, a global credit network.
European only
The second and third days were marked by an intense program, with panels taking place simultaneously on three stages: the Binance Main Stage, the CAM Builders Stage and the Business Stage. While most of the panels and keynotes were held in English to make them accessible to a wider audience, part of the program was held in Spanish and many participating companies were headquartered in the EU or Latin America.
It is worth noting that many companies presented at the event, including Bybit, BitGo and CryptoFinance, have recently undergone regulatory developments. While it is still questionable whether regulatory standards align with the original principles of Web3, it is clear that a growing number of projects are operating within frameworks that enable collaboration with TradFi.
Tokenization took center stage in several panels. The topic was discussed in depth from the perspective of real use cases in Spain, opportunities, threats, lessons learned and how tokenized stocks bridge crypto and TradFi.
As Alessandro Bergamaschi, Solidity developer at Javis Network, later shared:
“In the next phase of the blockchain industry (development), we will see an increase in real-world asset projects, especially for stocks and fund tokenization. And this will be an important step in bringing TradFi users to the Web3 industry.”
The future of care
During the panel focused on the future of care, Eric Piscini, CEO of Hashgraph, answered a question from Lisa Filardi, PR Manager at Formula, about how to maintain the balance between care as a professional service and empowering individuals through self-care. Piscini started by explaining that no one wants to have all their money with them and keep it at all times – it’s just not safe. As the industry evolves, professional childcare becomes not only relevant but essential.
Luis Ayala, managing director of BitGo in Latin America, raised the question of what would happen to a person’s crypto funds if something happened to them – and how to ensure that their children, for example, would receive these assets. As Aliya, senior vice president of business development at Sygnum Bank, noted, many simple questions related to traditional finance remain much less clear in Web3.
Perception of participants and takeaways from project representatives
Lukas De Bebedetti, COO at Block Travel, shared: “We reached out to a lot of people. It was productive because everyone here at the event is interested in partnering or doing business. It was a really productive experience for us.”
Nolvia Serrano of TR Capital commented: “One of the biggest differences for us is that (previously) El Salvador was not known for the best things – but now it is very inspiring to see how the perception of the country has changed because of the Bitcoin law, and that we are very futuristic in our thinking about digital assets.
“For us, this is a big change: El Salvador, for the first time, is on the map for something good,” Serrano continued: “As Salvadorans, this makes us very proud: we are taking the risk and betting on Bitcoin and blockchain.”
Attracting both new and seasoned crypto enthusiasts, Merge fostered an atmosphere of inspiration.
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