Digital Assets Forum Abu Dhabi: May 13 institutional event

ADGM and FSRA have moved beyond policy statements. Banks are already custodianing digital assets, asset managers are allocating capital, and sovereign funds are deploying under clear regulatory oversight. Digital Assets Forum Abu Dhabi focuses on how this works in practice – and what comes next.

The forum combines main-stage panels with closed-door compliance sessions, one-to-one capital meetings, and private briefing rooms for partnership discussions.

Victoria Gago, Co-Founder of Digital Assets Forum: 

Across our successful London editions, we have seen how regulatory clarity drives institutional engagement. Abu Dhabi is now at the center of a structural shift in global finance, with capital concentration, infrastructure buildout, and global firms relocating headquarters. This forum brings together the decision-makers who are shaping the future of digital finance and turning strategy into action.

Confirmed speakers

Christoph Richter (Head of Digital Assets & AI, ADGM), Sebastian Widmann (Head of Dubai, Komainu), Karl Naim (Group Chief Commercial Officer, XBTO Middle East), Yan Ma (Executive Director, Spartan Group), Catrina Wang (General Partner, Portal Ventures), Elliot Andrews (CEO, Aspen Digital), Rachel Conlan (Global Chief Marketing Officer, Binance).

Who attends: heads of digital asset desks at banks, portfolio managers allocating sovereign capital, ADGM and FSRA officials, custody providers, ETF issuers, and infrastructure operators.

What’s on the agenda:

Regulatory reality check. How ADGM and FSRA compare with Singapore and Switzerland, what each framework actually enables, and how institutions operate across multiple jurisdictions without friction.

Tokenization in production. Banks and sovereign funds are already structuring assets on-chain. Sessions dig into custody for fractional ownership, operational mechanics, and the areas where legal clarity still trails deployed infrastructure.

Stablecoins and settlement rails. Institutional payment flows are bypassing correspondent banking. Gulf central banks are piloting CBDCs. Discussions focus on how these systems intersect with commercial banking and cross-border settlement.

Institutional custody at scale. From safeguarding sovereign capital to insuring digital asset holdings, speakers unpack what qualifies as institutional-grade custody under ADGM rules.

DeFi meets TradFi. Some integrations work cleanly inside ADGM’s sandbox. Others break under compliance pressure. The forum examines where composability survives – and where it doesn’t – once institutions step in.

Market infrastructure. Trading venues, prime brokerage models, and ETF structures that provide regulated exposure without direct custody, separating what’s live today from what’s still under construction.

Risk management. How institutions assess counterparty, custody, and operational risk when digital assets become part of core balance sheets.

Following Digital Assets Forum London (2,000+ attendees), the Abu Dhabi edition expands into the Middle East as capital concentration and headquarters relocations accelerate.

Practical details

• Date: May 13, 2026
• Location: Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
• Discount: Use code COINMIST15 for 15% off tickets
• eblockchainconvention.com/digital-assets-forum-abu-dhabi