The MiCA Crypto Alliance at EBC12: Stablecoins, Tokenisation and the Institutional Shift in Barcelona

The 12th edition of the European Blockchain Convention (EBC12) brought hundreds of participants to Barcelona on 16 and 17 September for two days focused on what institutions need to move crypto assets from experimentation to adoption. Juan Ignacio Ibañez, Executive Director of the MiCA Crypto Alliance, moderated a panel on stablecoins as financial infrastructure, joined by Simon Seiter (AllUnity), Benoît Courtois (Unicaja), John Hallahan (Fireblocks) and Hugo Horton (Sokin). Aaron Sanchez, Director of Industry Engagement at the Alliance, spoke on a separate panel examining stablecoins and cross-border payments alongside representatives from BBVA, Deutsche Bank, STBL and Qivalis.

Stablecoins as Financial Infrastructure

Juan's panel traced the stablecoin value chain from issuance through to distribution, examining where stablecoins hold a genuine competitive edge over other payment and settlement alternatives, and where the technology has not yet delivered on its early promise. A recurring thread was the distinction between USD-denominated stablecoins, which dominate volume and liquidity, and non-USD stablecoins, which face a different set of adoption, liquidity and regulatory questions. The panel closed by setting concrete goals and success benchmarks for 2029, framing stablecoin adoption as a multi-year build rather than a near-term inflection point.

Cross-Border Payments Under Scrutiny

Aaron's panel asked a more pointed question: do stablecoin rails actually reduce the cost and delay of moving money across currencies, or does the same foreign exchange friction simply move on-chain. With BBVA, Deutsche Bank, STBL and Qivalis represented, the discussion brought together bank, infrastructure and stablecoin-issuer perspectives on what the EU regulatory framework permits and constraints for payments and FX use cases.

Tokenisation Moves From Pilot to Proof of Value

Across both days of the conference, the conversation on tokenisation shifted from whether assets can be issued and transferred on-chain to where that generates measurable economic value. Sladjan Seferović of SWIAT pointed to collateral management as one of the clearest cases, where faster mobilisation can compress operational steps and allow transactions such as repos to settle within minutes. Lorenzo Valente of ARK Invest argued that the next wave of growth is likely to come from institutional capital as infrastructure, privacy and compliance tooling mature, while Martha Reyes of Fidelity Digital Assets noted that blockchain-based products are also building internal familiarity with the wider crypto market among investment teams.

Institutional Capital Is Watching, Not Yet Committed at Scale

Panellists were consistent that large allocators are paying closer attention without capital flooding in overnight. Radoslav Poljasevic of LO:TECH described institutional participation as meaningful but still small relative to allocations into equities and AI, while Anna Dinescu of Hilbert Capital pointed to growing hedge fund engagement and an expanding range of tokenised products as signs that larger players are getting closer. On crypto ETFs specifically, Nikhil Sharma of BlackRock argued that Bitcoin's fundamentals remain intact despite flow volatility, Kean Gilbert of Lido stressed that staking returns need to be assessed alongside other sources of investment income, and Dovile Silenskyte of WisdomTree made the case for professionally constructed baskets over indiscriminate token exposure.

Regulation Still Sets the Pace

The US Senate's failure to advance the CLARITY Act this week left the industry without the comprehensive federal framework many had anticipated, a contrast the conference returned to repeatedly. In Europe, the UK's FCA released new guidance on which crypto activities will fall under its forthcoming regime, and the European Commission's targeted MiCA review, open for feedback until 30 September 2026, was itself the subject of a dedicated session. 

Stephen Mögelin of BaFin argued that any changes to the framework need to weigh supervisory consistency against the practical market knowledge that currently sits at member-state level. The broader conclusion across sessions was that full global regulatory harmonisation is unlikely, but greater consistency on outcomes and compliance standards remains achievable.

Custody Remains Unresolved

Custody continued to sit at the centre of the adoption debate. Michal Nydrle of Trezor noted that even large organisations are still working through basic questions of how crypto assets should be held and managed, while Nadine Teychenne of Citi and Darko Hajdukovic of LSEG described concrete institutional moves toward real-time settlement and always-on markets, including live tokenised deposits, a planned digital securities depository and a move toward 24/5 trading.

Outlook

EBC12 marked a shift in tone from proving that blockchain belongs in finance to determining where it creates enough value to justify the operational change. For stablecoins specifically, our panel's 2029 benchmarks reflect that same shift: less a question of whether stablecoins work, and more a question of how quickly non-USD issuance, cross-border use cases and regulatory clarity converge. The Alliance thanks EBC12's organisers, Victoria Gago and Daniel Salmerón, along with our fellow panellists and everyone we connected with in Barcelona.

‍