Edinburgh Decentralized Finance Summit
Welcome to a celebration of Decentralized Finance, tokenization and digital asset innovation!
Blockchain Scotland is proud to announce Scotland's first Decentralized Finance Summit. Learn more about Blockchain Scotland here: https://www.blockchainscotland.xyz/
We are an industry association and a community of 1500 blockchain innovators around the UK and beyond.
Decentralized Finance (DeFi) represents a revolutionary approach to financial services that curious professionals can't afford to ignore, even if they're still evaluating its relevance. Built on blockchain technology, DeFi eliminates traditional intermediaries through smart contracts—creating transparent, accessible financial systems that are already transforming global finance. Our summit offers a unique opportunity to explore innovative borrowing and lending protocols that operate without banks, groundbreaking payment solutions challenging traditional systems, and the evolving policy landscape shaping this sector. You'll discover how stablecoins provide the price stability that bridges traditional and decentralized systems, and how tokenization is unlocking new possibilities by converting real-world assets into tradable digital tokens. Whether you're a DeFi enthusiast or simply wondering how these innovations might complement Scotland's established financial ecosystem, this groundbreaking event provides the perfect environment to connect with experts, engage in critical policy discussions, and position yourself at the forefront of finance's digital evolution.
The DeFi market is currently >$120bn and expected to grow significantly.
Topics of interest:
* DeFi innovation and innovative on-chain protocols
* DeFi regulation and policy
* Regulated TradFi applications of blockchain, also for banks, lenders and asset mangers
* Borrowing and lending protocols
* Tokenization of property and commodities
* Stablecoins
* The Foundations of DeFi
* The technology and business of decentralized applications
* Decentralized governance of DeFi products
* Privacy-enhancing blockchains and technologies
* Bitcoin DeFi infrastructure
* Connecting DeFi innovators with DeFi investors
* Agentic Finance & Agent platforms
* Decentralization & tokenization of insurance
* Bitcoin DeFi
Confirmed talks/panels:
* "Gnosis Pay: Towards permissionless banking" by Sebastian Burgel
* "The Fintech and Agentic Finance Stablecoin Revolution" by Alejandro, Crossmint
* Panel about bridging TradFi & DeFi featuring Ralf Taner
* "Three Forces Reshaping Value: Money, AI and Decentralization", Maciej Zurawski
* "Beyond Tokenization: Building Intelligent, Autonomous Assets" by Ilia Kraev
* "Decentralized Public Goods", Tom Wilkinson
* Talk about Cryptoeconomics of RWA (real world assets) by Ben Whittle
* Talk about Bitcoin DeFi infrastructure by Henry Murray-Smith
* Talk about tokenization of property development by Max Vernon
* Talk by Tim from BCP Technologies about UK's first regulated GBP stablecoin + tGBP in lending protocols + tokenised asset settlement + and how regulated stablecoins can unlock DeFi for UK businesses
* "The Next Frontier of Finance: Building Trustworthy AI with Zero-Knowledge Machine Learning" by Laurence Kirk
Confirmed speakers and panel contributors include:
* Dr Lisa Cameron, President, The Financial Club
* Matthew Dawson, Enterprise Acceleration @ Ethereum Foundation
* Dr Sebastian Bürgel, VP Technology @ Gnosis, Founder of HOPR
* Ralf Taner, Head of Institutional, Nexus Mutual
* Allan Trimmer, Head of Product (Alternatives), Aberdeen
* Dr Maciej Zurawski, Executive Director, Blockchain Scotland & CEO Redeem Technologies
* Alejandro Acuña Rodríguez, Head of Stablecoins, Crossmint
* Boris Redfern, Head of Capital Markets, Kasu
* Dia Banerji, Innovation Leader, Commercial Strategist, Blockchain Advocate
* Dr Jason Liu, VP of XAM
* Dr Tom Wilkinson, Chief Data Officer, The Scottish Government
* Ben Whittle, Founder & Cryptoeconomics Designer, Token Architecture
* Henry Murray-Smith, Founder, Market Town Software
* Max Vernon, Co-Founder of PiXL
* Dr Sonia Schulenberg, Founder & CEO, Level E Research
* Timothy Stevenson, Chairman of BCP Technologies
* Prof Bill Buchanan, Edinburgh Napier University
* Laurence Kirk, CEO, Extropy.io
* Ilia Kraev, CEO, @volume
Preliminary schedule:
Talks (including coffee and lunch) 9am - 6pm
Drinks & canape reception 6pm - 8pm
Your ticket includes: access to talks + networking reception + lunch + coffee + drinks & canapes
Our air-conditioned venue fits 300 attendees, so invite your friends and colleagues to join!
You can also buy an exhibition booth at this event - contact us to find out more!
Marketing Partners
Fintech Scotland
Sponsors
Gnosis + Nexus Mutual + Redeem Technologies + others