Offchain Labs, Circle, 21Shares, And S&P Global Lead Hack Seasons Cannes 2026 In Charting The Future Of Institutional Digital Finance

Hack Seasons Conference, a leading event dedicated to bridging cryptocurrency and institutional finance, held on April 1st at the Canopy by Hilton in Cannes, wrapped its thirteenth edition after a day of high-impact programming that attracted over 1,800 registered attendees from around the world.

Featuring more than 50 speakers, the 2026 Cannes agenda highlighted the maturation of the digital asset sector, covering everything from institutional adoption and stablecoins to infrastructure, AI, and real-world assets. Attendees gained actionable insights into key themes such as:

• Where Smart Capital Is Moving in Web3: Infrastructure, AI, and RWAs;
• Testnet Lies: Why Everything Changes on Mainnet;
• The Future of Trading Venues: Hybrid Markets, Liquidity Fragmentation, and Institutional Flow;
• Tokenizing the Real World: From Infrastructure to Global Capital Markets;
• Stablecoins as the New Financial Rail: Payments, Settlement, and Global Liquidity Layer;
• Infrastructure Is Ready — Why Web3 Still Struggles to Reach Mass Adoption;
• The Post-Banking Economy: What Happens When Money, Credit, and Assets Move Onchain?

Among the standout sessions was “Institutional Adoption of Digital Assets: From ETFs to Tokenized Markets,”which brought together Ophelia Snyder, Co-Founder of 21Shares; Paul Brody, Author of Ethereum for Business; Marina Markezic, Executive Director & Co-Founder of EUCI; and Maryna Barysheva, CEO of LKI Consulting, to explore how digital assets are moving further into the financial mainstream and what that means for market structure, product design, and investor behavior.

Another notable conversation, “Institutional Risk, Data, and Ratings in the Age of Digital Assets,” featured Andrew O’Neill, Managing Director and Digital Assets Analytical Lead at S&P Global Ratings; Darius Moukhtarzade, Venture & Research at 21Shares; Ashna Vaghela, CCO at Mercuryo; and Melvis Langyintuo, Executive Director at the Canton Foundation, moderated by Francesco Andreoli, Director of DevRel at MetaMask. The panel addressed the frameworks and standards needed to support institutional involvement in digital assets at scale.

The conference maintained strong momentum with a speaker lineup featuring the digital asset industry’s most influential figures. Among the notable speakers were Ed Felten, Chief Scientist & Co-Founder of Offchain Labs; Arthur Breitman, Co-Founder of Tezos; Sébastien Borget, Co-Founder & COO of The Sandbox; and Patrick Hansen, Senior Director of EU Strategy & Policy at Circle.

Represented companies included Bybit, OneAsset, The Spartan Group, CoinEasy, Spectrum, Dfns, BNB Chain, Cysic, Bitmart, Coinbase, Ledger, Zoomex, KuCoin, Kraken, 0g, LKI Consulting, EUCI, GK8 by Galaxy, Ethereum Foundation, ChangeNOW, Chainlink Labs, iExec, 1inch, Circle, Paybis, Schuman Financial, MetaMask, Mercuryo, Canton Foundation, Reactive Network, Addressable, Base, Tenderly, Sonic Labs, Offchain Labs, human.tech, Hecto, Tezos, Monad, OKX. 

Traditional finance leaders included Re7, Franklin Templeton, S&P Global Ratings, Grayscale Investments, Baillie Gifford, Fasanara Capital, SG-Forge, 21Shares, and Centrifuge. 

The Cannes edition was supported by 12 sponsors and 12 media and community partners, who played a key role in shaping the event experience.

Where Deals Get Done: Hack Seasons Cannes Drives Capital Connections Across Global Community

Beyond the stage, Hack Seasons Cannes created valuable opportunities for networking and dealmaking, serving as a platform for attendees to connect with global and regional capital, explore curated high-conviction projects, identify potential partners and market-entry pathways, and strengthen institutional-grade brand credibility.

The Cannes edition marked the 13th Hack Seasons Conference and attracted more than 1,800 registrations. Over the past three years, the conference has brought together more than 75,000 attendees and generated over 10 million social media impressions, establishing itself as one of the leading gatherings for the digital finance and Web3 ecosystem.

Upcoming editions are scheduled for Hong Kong, Singapore, and Miami in 2026.

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