Peter Bofinger is a Senior Professor at the University of Würzburg. From 2004 to 2019 he was a member of the German Council of Economic Experts. Previously he had been Vice-President of the University of Würzburg and an economist at the Deutsche Bundesbank.

 Founded in 1402, Universität Würzburg is one of the oldest universities in the world. Today it is a university with an international reputation for excellent research.

The Digital Euro: An anchor of stability or a gigantic flop?

 

Diederik is Head of Innovation and Payments at ESBG. He is also a Board Member of the European Payments Council, a Member of the European Commission’s Payment Systems Market Expert Group and the European Central Bank’s Digital Euro Market Advisory Group, and technical expert to the Euro Retail Payments Board.

ESBG represents the locally focused European banking sector, helping savings and retail banks in 18 European countries strengthen their unique approach that focuses on providing service to local communities and boosting SMEs. The 885 member banks have total assets of €5.7 trillion, and serve 162 million Europeans seeking retail banking services.

Presentation Title will be announced shortly

 

Kelly Galea is a Legal and Policy Officer in the Directorate-General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology (DG CONNECT), where she currently focuses on digital euro and online fraud. Prior to joining the Commission, she gained valuable experience in the banking sector. Kelly completed her legal education in Malta and is a fully licensed lawyer.

European Commission

Presentation Title will be announced shortly

A former computer scientist with 25 years of banking experience. Focus on new payment methods and forms of money, such as trigger solutions and tokenised deposits.Co-author of the German banking industry papers "Europe needs new money" and "Commercial Bank Money Token", a form of tokenised deposits.

DZ BANK is the second-largest bank in Germany. As the central institution of the cooperative banking sector in Germany, we provide solutions for around 700 cooperative banks.As a commercial bank, DZ BANK also serves companies and institutions with our own network of branches and representative offices around the world.

Commercial Bank Money Token (CBMT)

Commercial Bank Money Token (CBMT) is a new form of money. Its economic underpinnings are identical to those of the commercial bank money currently in use. Technically, CBMT exists as a native token on distributed ledger technologies (DLTs), which enables commercial bank money to benefit from the advantages of this technology. This talk explains why CBMT was designed, its key design principles and how it differs from a stablecoin. It also covers how corporates and commercial banks would use CBMT, and the current state of play. Finally, it briefly touches on the possibility of collaborating with CBDCs.

Dr. Syed Hasan serves as Vice Dean, School of Business, and Area Chair (HOD) of Finance at Woxsen University. With over 15 years of distinguished leadership experience across industry and academia, he brings deep strategic insight and thought leadership to the field of finance. A widely respected expert, Dr. Hasan is a trusted voice for leading national and international media, including CNBC, Asharq, Aaj Tak, The Economic Times, Investing.com, Bloomberg, Moneycontrol, Business Standard, among others.

Woxsen University is a dynamic, future-focused institution in Hyderabad, renowned for academic excellence and global partnerships. With cutting-edge infrastructure and industry-driven programs, it nurtures innovation, leadership, and entrepreneurship.

Presentation Title will be announced shortly

Hachem Hassan is a Principal Financial Digitalization Expert at Danmarks Nationalbank. His work focuses on digital money, payments, and financial infrastructure, with particular emphasis on digital assets, tokenisation, and European work on the Digital Euro Regulation, where he has been closely involved in negotiations and policy development.

Dankmarks Nationalbank is the central bank of Danmark.

Presentation Title will be announced shortly

At KfW since 2018, now managing the acquisitions of DLT based bonds for KfW.  He has a background in financial markets and business and treasury consulting.

KfW is one of the world’s leading promotional banks. KfW has been committed to improving economic, social and environmental living conditions across the globe on behalf of the Federal Republic of Germany. To realize its goals KfW is one of the most active, high-volume issuers of bonds and notes in the world.

Presentation Title will be announced shortly

John Kiff was a Senior Financial Sector Expert at the IMF from 2005 to 2021, focusing on financial stability and fintech issues, and OTC derivatives. Before that, he was at the Bank of Canada for 25 years where he managed the funding and investment of the government’s foreign exchange reserves.

Kiffmeister Consulting provides advice to central banks and international financial institutions on digital currencies. It also publishes a daily update on fintech and digital payments developments, and a monthly report on central bank digital currency (CBDC) exclusively for official institutions.

CBDC Academy: Blurring Lines Between Retail and Wholesale Central Bank Digital Currency

Until recently central banks have been running their retail CBDC projects along separate tracks. There is now a trend towards merging the tracks, as more central banks look to wholesale CBDC-backed tokenized deposits, and maybe even stablecoins, to achieve their digital retail payment-focused objectives. This session will start by recapping recent developments in the retail CBDC space. It will then explore how the lines between retail and wholesale CBDC are blurring, and assess potential future central bank-backed digital currency configurations.

José Manuel is the Director of the Financial Innovation and Market Infrastructures Department. He joined the Bank of Spain in 1996 and is chair of the Working Group of Green Finance in the BIS Innovation Network and represents the Bank of Spain in the HLTF on the Digital Euro as alternate and in the CEMLA Foro Fintech.

Bank of Spain is the central bank of Spain.

The digital euro and Banco de España’s experimentation on wholesale CBDC

The presentation will provide an overview of the digital euro project, covering aspects such as the motivations behind its potential issuance, its main design features and the latest developments, as well as future steps. The work on wholesale CBDCs will also be addressed, presenting the experiments that the Banco de España and the Eurosystem are carrying out with the aim of assessing their potential to enhance the functioning of financial market infrastructures.

Panel discussion: Design & Policy decisions

This panel will delve into the critical design choices and policy frameworks necessary for the successful implementation of CBDCs. Topics will include technological infrastructure, regulatory considerations, financial stability, and cross-border interoperability. The discussion aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of how to navigate the complex landscape of CBDC development to enhance the efficiency, security, and inclusivity of the global financial system.

Before joining the Bank of Slovenia Marko Pahor was for over two decades a professor of statistics and economics at the University of Ljubljana. Besides the role in the central bank, he is a member of the high-level task force on digital Euro at the ECB. 

The Bank of Slovenia is the central bank of the Republic of Slovenia. Since 1 May 2004, when Slovenia joined the European Union, the Bank of Slovenia has been a member of the European System of Central Banks (ESCB).

How do CBDCs fit into contemporary payment ecosystems?

One of the most frequently asked questions about Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) is: “Why do we need them?” In other words, in a world where cash payments are increasingly being replaced—not just complemented—by a wide range of electronic payment methods, from payment cards to instant and mobile solutions, what is the rationale for introducing CBDCs? The core argument I want to make is that there is a gap between physical cash and private electronic payment systems—a space that CBDCs are uniquely positioned to fill. Since the nature and size of this gap vary across different monetary jurisdictions, the role and design of CBDCs will inevitably differ as well. They will need to adapt to local conditions in order to effectively bridge these gaps and meet the specific requirements for successful implementation.

 

Governors' Panel on Digital Currencies

In this panel, the deputy governors of several central bank share their views on digital currencies. Gain unique perspectives on digital currency design, policy considerations, and the role of digital currencies in shaping the future financial system. Learn about the challenges, opportunities, and potential implications of CBDCs and stablecoins in the financial sector. Hear from these high-level decision-makers their strategic vision and practical insights that drive the digital currency agenda.

Joachim Samuelsson is CEO and board member at publicly-listed Swedish deep tech company Crunchfish. Joachim is a tech pioneer and a serial entrepreneur with many patents in digital payments and mobile technology. He has a Master of Science degree from 1998 in Industrial Engineering and Management from Linköping University.

Crunchfish is a deep tech company developing a device-agnostic trusted client application platform for offline payments, tokenized card payments as well as other mobile client / server systems. Crunchfish has been listed on Nasdaq in Stockholm since 2016, with headquarters in Malmö and a subsidiary in India.

Offline Payments at Scale as Digital Money

This presentation reframes offline payments as a critical architectural choice rather than a backup feature, emphasizing how design decisions shape liquidity, risk, and governance when systems are disrupted. It introduces the BIG framework—Bankable, Implementable, and Governed—as a way to assess whether offline payment solutions can scale while preserving financial stability and institutional integrity. At its core, digital payments comes not from altering the system under stress, but from preserving it. This speech highlights governed offline architecture as the most effective path forward, enabling continuous payments while maintaining central authority, controlled risk, and alignment with regulatory frameworks

Adolfo Sarmiento is responsible for the monetary policy implementation and the payment system regulation and supervision at the Central Bank of Uruguay. He has been working as external advisor for the IMF on CBDC projects.

The Central Bank of Uruguay is responsible for monetary policy, financial stability and financial services supervision in Uruguay.

Panel discussion : Interoperability & cross border payments

In this panel discussion, experts will discuss the crucial topic of interoperability. They will explore how CBDCs could as seamlessly as possible integrate with existing financial systems and collaborate with external systems beyond central banks. Key points will include the need for technical standards, regulatory alignment, and private sector engagement to enable cross-border transactions and drive innovation. The panel aims to highlight the importance of interoperability in realizing the full potential of CBDCs for enhancing domestic & global payment networks.

Harry is a senior marketing and positioning strategist. He previously worked at Banque Paribas and ABN AMRO and was a director at two leading international strategic consultants.

He is a leading contributor to innovation in both the retail and corporate payments and transaction space. He has also been actively involved in developing a.o. financial planning, international pensions and new steps in 'social innovation'. His strength is in catalyzing institutions into developing vision and strategies and in identifying and implementing client-centric solutions.

He is a columnist and guest speaker, sits on several advisory boards and regularly publishes in leading international media.

Smorenberg Corporate Consultancy is an advisory specialized in payments and financial transactions.

Panel Discussion: The Impact of Digital Currencies on Payment Systems

This panel will discuss how digital currencies will influence the way payments will be made in the future. What are the pros & cons, the risks & opportunities?

This panel delves into how digital currencies are reshaping global payment systems, from reducing transaction costs to enabling real-time cross-border transfers. The panelists will discuss the opportunities and disruptions brought about by stablecoins, tokenization, CBDCs. The conversation will explore the integration of digital currencies into existing payment infrastructures and their potential to enhance financial inclusion. Attendees will gain a deeper understanding of the technological, economic, and policy implications of this transformation.

Mark Rakhmilevich is Vice President of Product Management and Development at Oracle, leading the Fintech, Blockchain, and Transaction Management portfolio within Oracle’s Mission-Critical Systems group. He drives technology and product strategy for key solutions including Oracle Blockchain Platform, Blockchain App Builder, Oracle Database Blockchain Tables, Tuxedo, Transaction Manager for Microservices, and the Fintech Data Platform initiative—delivering innovation both in the cloud and on-premises.

With a focus on the complex needs of financial institutions, central banks, and enterprise clients, Mark guides global organizations in leveraging blockchain, digital assets, and data platforms to drive measurable outcomes—accelerating growth and innovation, deepening customer engagement, streamlining operations, reducing fraud and risk, and bringing to market innovative solutions that solve real-world economic and societal challenges.

He plays a pivotal role in Oracle’s blockchain and digital assets strategy, working with customers and partners across sectors to move from experimentation to production—sharing industry use cases, advising on deployment architectures, and aligning technology with regulatory and business imperatives. Mark has been actively involved in CBDC and digital asset initiatives with central banks and financial services innovators worldwide.

A recognized thought leader, Mark is shaping Oracle’s innovation in Digital Assets, Decentralized Identity, and AI-powered compliance through the Fintech Data Platform initiative. He has spoken at global forums including the OMFIF Digital Money Summit and regularly contributes insights on Oracle Blockchain Blog and on Linked.in.

Oracle is a cloud technology company that provides organizations around the world with computing infrastructure and software to help them innovate, unlock efficiencies and become more effective. We also created the world’s first – and only – autonomous database to help organize and secure our customers’ data.

Oracle Cloud Infrastructure offers higher performance, security, and cost savings. It is designed so businesses can move workloads easily from on-premises systems to the cloud, and between cloud and on-premises and other clouds. Oracle Cloud applications provide business leaders with modern applications that help them innovate, attain sustainable growth, and become more resilient.

The work we do is not only transforming the world of business–it’s helping defend governments, and advance scientific and medical research. From nonprofits to companies of all sizes, millions of people use our tools to streamline supply chains, make HR more human, quickly pivot to a new financial plan, and connect data and people around the world.

At work, we embrace diversity, encourage personal and professional growth, and celebrate a global team of passionate people developing innovative technologies that help people and companies tackle real-world problems head-on.

CB+DC Academy: Tales from the CBDC Trenches

After years of exploration and proof-of-concepts, we’re now entering the “money time” for digital currency initiatives, such as stablecoins and CBDCs to deliver tangible results. Amid growing competition for digital money many central banks face urgent need to move beyond the initial exploration into live, operational systems that can modernize payments and enhance financial inclusion.

Oracle is actively involved in global CBDC initiatives for both wholesale as well as retail digital currencies. The session will showcase a CBDC project implementation using Oracle Blockchain Platform and Oracle’s extended CBDC Sandbox providing a robust, scalable, interoperable, and secure infrastructure to meet central banks’ needs.  We’ll review architectures for advanced use cases ranging from cross-border wholesale payments to scalable domestic retail CBDC deployments. We will also explore best practices for designing, deploying and managing CBDC projects, based on Oracle’s engagement with CBDC pilots, long history in financial services and many large-scale payments projects.

This session is for decision-makers and technical leads in financial institutions and central banks who want to move beyond the experimental phase to build a sustainable future with digital assets and CBDCs.

 

Unifying CBDCs, Deposit Tokens, and Stablecoins into the Future of Money

The digital currency debate has often been framed as a zero-sum contest—CBDCs vs. Stablecoins vs. Deposit tokens. But in practice, the monetary future is shaping up to be “all of the above.” Each form of digital money is advancing rapidly, backed by distinct stakeholder groups, use cases, and regulatory frameworks. This presentation reframes the conversation: from competition to coexistence.

We’ll highlight the distinct benefits each form of money offers, and the unique strengths they bring to the broader financial ecosystem—sovereign trust and monetary authority in CBDCs; regulatory familiarity, fractional reserve backing, and credit creation in deposit tokens; cross-border utility, and portability in reserve-backed stablecoins, and with money market fund–backed stablecoins, the additional benefits of institutional-grade liquidity and capital efficiency.

We’ll also explore how to architect a unified, multi-layered digital money ecosystem, integrating these instruments through a shared settlement layer such as a unified ledger approach supporting independence through cross-ledger interoperability.  We’ll also show how Oracle digital assets solutions can augment Central Bank capabilities leveraging CBDCs programmability for targeted interventions, ensure universal access without dependency on specific financial institution, while aligning with regulators’ priorities: financial stability, monetary policy control, AML compliance, and system resilience. Ultimately, this is not a technology race—it’s a design challenge. One that demands realism and interoperability, while incorporating continuous compliance monitoring and embedded supervision across all layers of the digital currency stack.

 

Panel Discussion: The Impact of Digital Currencies on Payment Systems

This panel will discuss how digital currencies will influence the way payments will be made in the future. What are the pros & cons, the risks & opportunities?

This panel delves into how digital currencies are reshaping global payment systems, from reducing transaction costs to enabling real-time cross-border transfers. The panelists will discuss the opportunities and disruptions brought about by stablecoins, tokenization, CBDCs. The conversation will explore the integration of digital currencies into existing payment infrastructures and their potential to enhance financial inclusion. Attendees will gain a deeper understanding of the technological, economic, and policy implications of this transformation.

Daniel van Delft is the Chief Executive Officer of Currence iDEAL, the owner of the payment brand iDEAL. He also serves as the CEO of EPI Operations, the entity responsible for the operational management of the European Payments Initiative (EPI) and its digital wallet, Wero.

Wero is the first European-born digital wallet, developed by the European Payments Initiative (EPI) and supported by 14 major European banks and two large payment acquirers (Worldline and Nexi). Built on account-to-account payments, Wero allows users to send and receive money instantly using just a phone number, email address, or QR-code, without needing an IBAN.

From National Champions to a European Payment Network: Scaling Account to Account Payments Across Borders

Europe has proven that account to account payments can achieve mass adoption when built around trusted domestic ecosystems. Solutions such as iDEAL in the Netherlands demonstrate how bank-based payments can become the preferred way to pay online. The next step is scaling this success across Europe. This presentation explains how national schemes can transition into a pan European infrastructure while preserving the trust, reach and user experience that drove their adoption. It outlines the operational realities of migrating millions of users, merchants, and banks to a shared framework such as Wero, and why interoperability, governance and ecosystem alignment are critical to delivering a truly European payment alternative.

 

This panel examines how emerging forms of digital money can integrate with existing payment infrastructure. Panelists will discuss the technical and regulatory hurdles of interoperability with legacy rails, and the practical approaches needed to enable seamless, compliant value transfer at scale.