Global industry leaders discuss tokenization, AI-driven finance and regulatory challenges at inaugural forum
The inaugural World Digital Assets Forum 2026, hosted by Herald Media Group, drew some 1,000 participants to The Grand Lotte Seoul on Monday, bringing together global financial leaders to explore the changing financial landscape under the theme "The New Financial Architecture."
The forum featured 22 senior executives and industry leaders from major global financial institutions and digital asset companies, including Standard Chartered, BNY, Circle, Ripple and Tether.
Industry executives, financial professionals and students gathered to discuss the opportunities and challenges arising from the growing integration of digital assets into the global financial system.
Herald Media Group CEO Choi Jin-young opened the forum by highlighting Korea's potential to become a global digital finance hub, citing its "world-class digital infrastructure, highly skilled workforce and dynamic financial and fintech industries." He also emphasized the importance of sound regulatory frameworks and international cooperation.
The event brought together lawmakers from both sides of the political aisle who are involved in shaping Korea's digital asset legislation.
Rep. Min Byoung-dug of the ruling Democratic Party and Rep. Park Soo-young of the opposition People Power Party delivered congratulatory remarks, calling for clearer regulations to support digital asset businesses and greater certainty for investors ahead of the planned taxation of cryptocurrency gains.
Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino highlighted the potential for digital assets to help Korean companies expand their global reach in a video address.
"We believe that Korean businesses have always built products that work for everyone around the world, and digital assets can take those products to every single customer," he said.
Naveen Mallela, global head of payments at Standard Chartered, delivered the keynote address, examining how tokenization is blurring the boundaries between traditional banking and digital finance.
Mallela, who previously served as global co-head of Kinexys, JPMorgan's blockchain business, said the distinction between cash and yield-generating financial products is becoming increasingly blurred, creating opportunities for new financial services that combine payments, custody and trading.
Don Tapscott, co-founder and executive chairman of the Blockchain Research Institute, discussed how artificial intelligence and blockchain could reshape financial markets, including the emergence of AI agents capable of autonomously executing transactions.
"It's an agentic economy with an agentic financial system," he said.
Tapscott also stressed the need for safeguards to ensure human oversight of autonomous financial systems.
"Agents cannot act arbitrarily unless they are accountable to humans," he said.
The forum continued with panel discussions and fireside chats covering real-world asset tokenization, corporate digital asset treasury strategies and digital payments.
Other speakers included representatives from Evernorth, Sygnum, Mirae Asset Securities, Coinbase Institutional, BitGo, Tiger Research and Chainlink Labs.
silverstar@heraldcorp.com
