Block Festa 2026 to Open Tomorrow in Yeouido: Digital Asset Investment Institutions and Domestic and International Leaders Gather

Min Byung-deok, the senior vice chairman of the Democratic Party's Policy Committee, Park Sang-hyuk, the secretary of the National Assembly's Political Affairs Committee, and Kim Sang-hoon, a member of the People Power Party, will deliver congratulatory speeches.

Global digital asset investors and project leaders, including Arthur Hayes and Seo Sang-min, will share their market outlook.

Held annually since 2018, it serves as a platform for sharing insights on digital assets.

[Block Media Reporter Oh Soo-hwan] The blockchain and digital asset conference "Block Festa 2026" will be held on October 1 at the IFC The Forum in Yeouido, Seoul. Domestic and international financial and digital asset experts will discuss the use of on-chain finance by institutions, including Korean won stablecoins, real-world assets (RWA), and the tokenization of government bonds and stocks.

This year's event will focus on the trend of blockchain utilization by financial institutions moving beyond technical reviews and pilot projects to actual services and investments. Representatives from traditional financial companies, digital asset firms, blockchain foundations, asset management companies, and securities firms will address practical applications in financial markets and institutional challenges.

The event will begin with opening remarks and congratulatory speeches from members of the National Assembly. Min Byung-deok, the senior vice chairman of the Democratic Party's Policy Committee, Park Sang-hyuk, the secretary of the National Assembly's Political Affairs Committee, and Kim Sang-hoon, the chairman of the People Power Party's Special Committee on Stock and Digital Asset Value-Up, are expected to convey messages regarding the institutionalization of the digital asset industry and on-chain finance.

The first session will be held under the theme "Reconfiguring Finance: Beyond Asset Boundaries, Opening New Opportunities." It will cover the combination of digital assets and traditional finance, global distribution strategies for the Korean capital market, and the competitiveness of Korean won stablecoins.

The keynote speech will be delivered by Arthur Hayes, Chief Investment Officer of Maelstrom. He will present his views on the global digital asset market, the movement of institutional funds, and the growth potential of the on-chain financial market.

Kim Se-hee, a senior researcher at YuJin Investment & Securities, will present on "From K-Perp to Tokenization: Global Distribution Strategies for the Korean Stock Market." He will analyze the trading demand for Korean assets emerging in the overseas on-chain market, based on domestic stocks as underlying assets, and explore the utilization of the domestic capital market.

Following this, Kim and Kim Jong-wan, head of the Digital Asset Team at Mirae Asset Securities, along with Kim Kang-ho, CEO of New Frontier Partners Group, will discuss the financial competitiveness of Korean won stablecoins in the context of the spread of dollar stablecoins. They will discuss the conditions necessary to connect actual financial services from issuance and distribution to payment and settlement.

Hong Je-seok, a senior researcher at Shinhan Investment Corp., will present on the current status and growth direction of the tokenization market. Seong Sang-hyun, executive director of ABP Asset Management, will address the potential for financial innovation and the expansion of investment products centered around digital assets.

The second session, "Asian On-Chain Finance: The Beginning of Infrastructure Competition," will highlight the competition among Asian countries for blockchain financial infrastructure and the institutional market.

Seo Sang-min, chairman of the Kaia DLT Foundation, will deliver a keynote speech on the same topic. He will discuss the payment and settlement environment in the Asian region, the potential for expanding blockchain-based financial services, and the competition for related infrastructure.

Steve Jung, CEO of The Block, will explain global on-chain financial issues that domestic financial companies and regulatory agencies should pay attention to. Shim Min-seop, head of the digital asset division at Meritz Securities, will present on the flow of traditional assets being issued and distributed on the blockchain, focusing on the tokenization of government bonds and stocks.

Lee Yun-ho, CEO of Kaia DLT, and Lim Byeong-hwa, a professor at Sungkyunkwan University, will conduct a panel discussion on stablecoins and on-chain finance. They will discuss the roles stablecoins can play beyond payment methods, including in financial product transactions and fund transfers, as well as in settlement infrastructure.

Leo Li, co-founder of the AEON protocol, and Thomas Chen, head of BNB Chain business, will also present, sharing examples of payment and financial services in the global blockchain ecosystem.

John D'Agostino, head of institutional strategy at Coinbase, and Jung Yoon-jae, head of business at Block Media, will engage in a discussion on the current state of the Asian on-chain financial market. They will examine the participation of global institutional investors in the digital asset market and the growth potential of the Asian market.

Rails, Access Protocol, and Ahn Kwang-ho, a researcher at Tiger Research, will discuss "From Opportunity to Capital: The New Economy Created by Tokenization." They will explore how tokenization affects capital formation, investor market participation, and the distribution of digital content and financial assets.

Kelvin Go, co-founder of Spartan Group, and Kim Sung-ho, co-founder of Hashed, will engage in a discussion on "From Traditional Finance to On-Chain: The Transition of Institutional Finance." They will discuss the introduction of on-chain finance by institutions, the tokenization of traditional assets and capital markets, and the infrastructure needed to connect traditional finance with Web3.

Kaia will participate as the title sponsor for this event. Digital asset exchanges such as Dunamu and Bithumb will sponsor, while KB Financial Group, Rails, and AEON will serve as gold sponsors. The Block will join as a media partner.

Block Festa, held annually since 2018, invites key digital asset projects, investment institutions, financial firms, and policymakers from both domestic and international backgrounds as speakers. It serves as a platform for sharing global market trends and domestic institutionalization challenges among stakeholders in finance, policy, and technology.

Registration and detailed schedules can be found on the official Block Festa website.

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