Explore our two-day conference programme filled with inspiring keynote presentations, engaging panel discussions, and plenty of networking opportunities in the company of digital asset and blockchain leaders from Aotearoa and around the world.
The agenda is currently being finalised. Please check back regularly for updates to speakers and session topics.
7:40 – Welcome Breakfast
Kick off the conference over breakfast with the key voices shaping the digital asset industry in New Zealand.
8:45 – Mihi Whakatau
Darren Rewi | Founder, Mana Tāhuna Charitable Trust
9:00 – MC Welcome: From Opportunity to Action
Trevor Topfer | Executive Director, Blockchain Forum New Zealand
Sets the tone for the year, moving from identifying opportunities (the 2025 theme) to taking them (the 2026 focus). This session looks at the progress made since last year’s conference, across policy, regulation, and industry momentum. Framed around “New Zealand takes the lead”, Trevor will provide an update on the policy work underway and how New Zealand is positioning itself ahead of global peers.
9:05 – Opening Keynote
Details to be confirmed
9:20 – Keynote + Q&A
Details to be confirmed
9:45 – Panel Discussion and Q&A: Beyond 2026: What is New Zealand’s Unfair Advantage?
A year on from CryptoWinter25, where does New Zealand’s digital asset policy landscape stand today, and what should market participants be thinking about next? This panel brings together policymakers and regulators for a snapshot of what matters in the local digital asset economy right now, from recent progress and unresolved questions to the global developments beginning to shape New Zealand’s direction. As other jurisdictions move quickly, the conversation turns to where Aotearoa has an opportunity to act with intent.
Alan Crofts | Fintech and Innovation Specialist, Financial Markets Authority (FMA)
and more panellists to be announced
10:30 – Morning tea
11:00 – Keynote
Details to be confirmed
11:20 – Panel Discussion and Q&A: Beyond Crypto: Exploring the Wider Use Cases of Blockchain Technology
This session moves the conversation beyond digital assets as the primary blockchain use case, exploring where blockchain is delivering real value outside of crypto markets. It examines emerging and overlooked applications, revisits so-called “ghost” use cases, and asks whether areas like NFTs are genuinely finished or simply evolving into more practical forms.
Panel members: Nathalie Whittaker | Toha
and more to be announced
12:00 – Keynote
Details to be announced
12:15 – Debate: Where Traditional Finance Meets the Blockchain
Blockchain rails, neo banks, stablecoins, AI-driven finance – the infrastructure that once made traditional banking indispensable is being rebuilt from the ground up. Global banking players are already moving into this space. This debate explores the convergence between traditional finance and blockchain – where the two meet, how banks are adapting, and what the future of this space looks like as these worlds come together.
Debators to be announced
13:00 – Lunch Break
14:00 – Keynote
Details to be announced
14:15 – Panel Discussion and Q&A: When Crypto Meets the Tax System, CARF: A New Era of Crypto-Asset Reporting
This session unpacks the Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework (CARF) and its implications for the New Zealand market. It focuses on the regulatory and operational impact for platforms, founders, investors and consumers, and what organisations need to be preparing for as reporting and compliance requirements come into force.
Panellists to be announced
14:55 – Fireside Chat: The US Impact on the Global Reset: The global fallout from the US crypto moment – and what it means for the industry’s next chapter
Eighteen months ago, the US shifted its stance on the Digital Asset Economy, and the rest of the world felt it. This fireside chat traces the ripple effect of that momentum, looking at how jurisdictions globally have responded, what’s changed in the market, and what it all signals about the maturity of the industry. The highs aren’t as high and the lows aren’t as low, and that’s actually the point. So where does a maturing industry go from here, and what does that mean for everyone in this room?
Speakers to be announced
15:15 – Afternoon Tea Break
16:00 – Fireside Chat: What Dasset and Cryptopia Taught Us – and What Changed as a Result
This session reflects on one of the most challenging periods for New Zealand’s digital asset industry, examining the factors that led to major collapses and loss of trust. It focuses on the key lessons learned across governance, risk management, and oversight, and how these lessons continue to shape the industry today.
Speakers to be announced
16:30 – Keynote
Speaker details to be announced.
16:45 – Panel Discussion and Q&A: Agentic AI meets blockchain – the future of commerce
AI agents are beginning to move from passive tools to active participants in the financial system, capable of initiating payments, executing trades, managing workflows and interacting with digital assets on behalf of users and businesses.
As this shift accelerates, blockchain infrastructure is becoming a natural foundation for agentic finance. But as autonomous systems begin making real financial decisions, trust becomes the central question. How do we build systems that act with intention, stay within boundaries, and don’t go rogue?
This session moves the conversation from theory into practice, exploring what agentic finance and autonomous trading on blockchain infrastructure actually look like today, what is being built now, and what needs to be true for these systems to operate safely and at scale.
Blake Holmes | Mayson
and other panellists to be announced
17:30 – Closing of Day 1
Trevor Topfer | Executive Director, Blockchain Forum New Zealand
4:50 PM – 5:05 PM – Transport to Networking Event at Creative HQ
7:40 – Breakfast Opening
Trevor Topfer | Executive Director, Blockchain Forum New Zealand
7:45 – Breakfast Keynote – We’re Not Even in the Game: Stablecoin adoption in APAC and what it means for New Zealand
The next stablecoin panel to open with a quick keynote from Rachael Jones, AUDD, framing the session around stablecoin adoption across APAC vs globally, making the point that the market is massive and New Zealand is barely participating.
Rachael Jones | AUDD
7:55 – Breakfast Panel Discussion and Q&A – Can We Keep the NZ Dollar Alive? The rise of stablecoins
This session explores the implications of a New Zealand dollar-backed stablecoin and what it could mean for everyday Kiwis. It examines how stablecoins fit into the evolving global financial system, potential use cases for payments and settlement, and the policy, regulatory, and trust considerations that would shape adoption in New Zealand.
Panellists to be announced
8:40 – Breakfast Ends
9:00 – Opening of Day 2
Trevor Topfer | Executive Director, Blockchain Forum New Zealand
9:05 – Keynote
Details to be announced
9:15 – Panel Discussion and Q&A: Digital Assets for All Kiwis: “This Is Financial Advice”
This session is designed for financial advisers and financial services providers, exploring the role of digital assets within regulated advice frameworks in New Zealand. It examines what it means to responsibly present digital assets to clients, including suitability, risk disclosure, compliance obligations, and how advisers can engage with digital assets as part of broader portfolio conversations.
Alan Crofts | Financial Markets Authority (FMA)
and more panellists to be announced
9:55 – Keynote
Details to be announced
10:10 – Morning Tea Break
10:55 – Panel Discussion and Q&A: Building from New Zealand: The Brutally Honest Conversation
This session offers an open and honest look at why it remains challenging to build and scale companies in New Zealand, spanning regulation, access to capital, and talent constraints. Drawing on real-world stories and experiences from VCs and founders.
Chas Garunaratnee | Kotuku Consulting
and more panellists to be announced
11:40 – Keynote
Details to be announced
12:05 – Lunch Break
13:05- Roundtable Discussions
15:10 – Afternoon Tea Break
15:55 – Roundtable Discussions Resume
16:35 – Panel Discussion and Q&A
Details to be announced
17:20 – Closing remarks
Trevor Topfer | Executive Director, Blockchain Forum New Zealand