MERGE Madrid 2026 conference

MERGE Madrid 2026 is a two-day crypto and digital finance conference held on October 28 and 29, 2026, at the Palacio de Cibeles in Madrid, Spain. Bitcoin (BTC) is among the topics on the program, alongside stablecoins, tokenization and custody.

What is happening

The main conference runs from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on both days and combines talks and panels, an exhibition area, networking and a startup track. Organizers say the topics cover stablecoins and payments, tokenization, custody, regulation, capital markets, Bitcoin and artificial intelligence applied to finance. They expect more than 3,000 attendees and 250 speakers. A happy hour follows on October 28, and a closing party takes place on October 29 from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m.

The conference is preceded by an institutional summit on October 27 at the Madrid Stock Exchange, open only to Business ticket holders and speakers. It features speakers from Santander, Openbank, Western Union, Crypto Finance (Deutsche Börse), Unicaja, ABANCA and Cecabank. Western Union is expected to present its dollar stablecoin USDPT, issued by Anchorage Digital Bank on Solana. A side event for the Solana community is also listed for October 26.

The organizer's press release also highlights Qivalis, an alliance of 37 institutions in 15 countries preparing a euro stablecoin, with a commercial launch planned for the second half of 2026, subject to authorization. Several member banks are due to present their role. The detailed schedule for October 28 and 29 had not yet been published when the agenda was last checked on October 6, 2026; only the broad time blocks were shown.

Why it matters

The program places banks, payment companies and fintechs at the center of the stablecoin discussion, with a focus on how these products are being built and integrated rather than whether they will be used. For traders and holders, the event is a source of information on how traditional financial institutions approach custody, tokenization and regulated stablecoins.

Bitcoin is listed as one of the conference themes, but the published material does not announce BTC-specific launches or decisions. Any news will come from the sessions themselves, so the practical value lies in following announcements around euro stablecoins, bank custody and the Qivalis launch timeline.

Key details

• Date: October 28-29, 2026 (conference, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.); institutional summit on October 27
• Location: Palacio de Cibeles, Madrid, Spain
• Project: MERGE
• Coins: BTC
• Category: Conference
• Status: Confirmed
• Source: Cointribune, MERGE Madrid 2026 day-by-day program (https://www.cointribune.com/en/merge-madrid-2026-day-by-day-program-2/)