London Blockchain Summit returns to LBS for its fifth year

The 5th annual London Blockchain Summit returned to London Business School, (Friday, 30 January), bringing together industry leaders, policymakers, founders and investors to examine blockchain’s transition from experimental technology to real-world financial infrastructure.

Hosted by students from the LBS Blockchain Society and powered by LMAX Group, this year’s summit focused on the theme “Blockchain Grows Up: Real-World Integration, Regulation & the Road Ahead,” exploring how decentralised technologies are being embedded into traditional finance, regulated markets and enterprise-grade use cases.

As blockchain matures at pace, the summit examined its emergence as a foundational layer of the global economy. Discussions focused on deeper integration with traditional finance, real-world assets (RWAs) and the evolving regulatory environment highlighted by landmark legislation, such as the Clarity and Genius Acts. The agenda emphasised real-world adoption, AI, Stablecoins to risk management and the partnerships driving blockchain’s next decade.

The Summit attracted a variety of highly regarded representatives, from organisations such as; JP Morgan, Deutsche Bank, S&P Global, Wintermute, Eden Block, gensyn, Coin Shares, Ethereal Ventures, Factory Labs and Stand With Crypto to name a few.

Panel discussions and fireside chats were structured around key topic areas, shaping the blockchain industry:

• Bridging the Gap: Blockchain Meets Trad-Fi - Tokenised securities, institutional DeFi and practical real-world deployment

• Rules of the Game: Regulation & Policy - Regulatory harmonisation and landmark frameworks such as the Genius and Clarity Acts

• Stablecoins as Infrastructure - Cross-border payments, remittances and treasury operations

• The Rise of Real-World Assets - Tokenisation of real estate, private credit and carbon markets

• AI and the intersection of Blockchain – Emerging intersections, governance innovation and scalable applications

Opening the summit was a panel of esteemed guest speakers from OpenPayd, Agant and Ubixy Inc, examining how stablecoins are evolving beyond instant payments, into foundational financial rails. The debate turned to reserve transparency, risk allocation and the conditions required to challenge legacy banking systems.

After lunch, panellists turned to AI’s growing role in improving blockchain scalability, governance and institutional trust. Alongside, legal and technical frameworks needed to scale real-world asset tokenisation, beyond government bonds into diversified on-chain markets. This panel saw representatives from; MoonPay, Velocity and Polygon Labs.

The summit concluded with a keynote from Stani Kulechov, Founder and CEO at Aave Labs, who reflected on DeFi’s evolution from early experimentation to mature financial infrastructure—and questioned whether the traditional “DeFi vs Trad-Fi” divide still holds.

Simon Tchaghlassian, Co-President, LBS Blockchain Society said: “An incredible turnout and an outstanding speaker line-up, including CEOs from major crypto leaders and strong representation from top financial institutions. Even in a volatile market environment, the level of institutional participation and real-world focus shows that blockchain is increasingly becoming part of the financial mainstream.”

The LBS Blockchain Society continues to support blockchain education, innovation and adoption, by connecting academic insight with industry partnerships, applied research and hands-on learning. Follow the London Blockchain Society for updates: LinkedIn and X