On September 30, FactBlock kicked off the KBW2026 with Upbit main conference at Walkerhill Hotels & Resorts in Gwangjin-gu, Seoul. A total of 330 speakers—including 290 at the main conference and 40 at the Upbit Institutional Summit—are participating in the event, which features 120 sessions running through October 1.
With Upbit participating as presenting partner, the main conference features key agenda items such as institutional market entry into digital assets, on-chain finance, stablecoins, and the convergence of AI and Web3. Across three stages—0G, Stable, and BitGo—the program covers capital market tokenization, institutional digital asset infrastructure, stablecoin payment adoption, and the AI agent economy.
In his opening keynote speech, FactBlock CEO Wi-ik Park highlighted institutional market entry, legislative progress, and artificial intelligence as major turning points for the industry. He explained that as institutional participation grows, the market's focus is expanding beyond asset trading to issuance, custody, settlement, and rights management, requiring collaboration among financial institutions, tech companies, legal and accounting experts, and infrastructure providers.
Dunamu CEO Oh Kyoung-suk emphasized connecting South Korea's digital asset market with global on-chain finance. Citing global capital accessibility, Korean Won connectivity, and the exportability of locally proven technologies and infrastructure as key conditions, he stated, "Based on infrastructure verified in South Korea, our country can also advance as a global digital financial hub."
Arthur Hayes, Chief Investment Officer (CIO) at Maelstrom, unveiled FLOP, a currency and payment network for AI agents. The concept rewards participants who provide GPU computing resources with tokens, which AI agents then use to purchase compute resources and execute cross-service transactions.
Joseph Lubin, co-founder of Ethereum and Chairman & CEO of MetaMask, outlined a vision to expand MetaMask into a new financial operating system (OS). He explained that the goal is to evolve MetaMask beyond a crypto wallet into a platform that encompasses stablecoins and tokenized stocks.
Tom Lee, Chairman of Bitmine, projected financial asset tokenization and institutional capital inflows as key growth drivers for the digital asset market. He emphasized the long-term growth potential of Ethereum, stating, "I believe this crypto cycle will be the largest cycle in history."
The event speaker lineup also includes Jeff Yan, CEO of Hyperliquid Labs; Johann Kerbrat, Senior Vice President and GM of Crypto at Robinhood; Yuval Rooz, co-founder and CEO of Canton; Mike Belshe, co-founder and CEO of BitGo; and Bo Hines, CEO of Tether USA. KBW2026 tickets sold out on September 28 ahead of the event's opening.
KBW2026 runs through October 1, starting with the invitation-only Upbit Institutional Summit held on September 29. FactBlock plans to facilitate discussions among regulatory authorities, financial institutions, and tech companies on the conditions required for real-world business adoption, supporting ongoing working-level consultations and joint verifications thereafter.
