Binance has named the first speakers for Binance Blockchain Week (BBW) Bangkok 2026, its flagship conference, set for November 28 and 29 at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Centre. After stops in Singapore, Istanbul, Paris and Dubai, the event is back in Asia, a region where banks, payment firms and crypto companies are increasingly working on the same ground.
This year’s edition is called “Evolve.” Binance says digital finance is at a turning point. Conventional and crypto markets are starting to share the same underlying infrastructure, artificial intelligence is changing how people research information and handle their money, and governments, large institutions and developers are cooperating more often on rules that are clear enough to trust.
In Binance’s telling, payments, tokenised equities, real-world assets and cryptocurrencies are folding into one connected system, while the cost and complexity of getting started continue to drop for ordinary users worldwide. Two public-sector speakers have been confirmed so far.
Gizzat Baitursynov is Vice Minister at Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Development. Shaun Tan leads crypto and fintech growth at Gelephu Mindfulness City, a project in Bhutan.
Binance sees its presence as a sign that regulators and industry builders are now sitting at the same table when drawing up guardrails. Co-CEO Richard Teng made a similar point in the announcement.
In his view, smaller and newer jurisdictions, not just the old financial capitals, are now setting the direction for digital finance. The rules and financial plumbing that countries put in
place today, he said, will shape where money moves, where companies decide to expand and which markets end up ahead.
He added that Binance was glad to host that discussion in Bangkok.
Among the better-known crypto names is Arthur Hayes, chief investment officer at Maelstrom, who is credited with inventing the perpetual swap, now among the most actively traded instruments in the industry.
He will be joined by Sushant Singh, who handles APAC expansion at Tether, and Matthew Roszak, chairman of Bloq. Changpeng Zhao, known as CZ, the founder of Binance and of Giggle Academy, is also on the list.
A large part of the lineup comes from outside crypto’s core. Dan Maley, who heads digital assets for Asia-Pacific at BlackRock, and Roger Bayston, head of digital assets ecosystem development at
Franklin Templeton, will represent two of the world’s biggest asset managers.
Kelly Sohn, head of digital assets at Mirae Asset Securities (HK), is also on the bill, along with Nischint Sanghavi, Visa’s head of digital currencies for Asia-Pacific, and Yuki Jinguji, who leads financial business development at Japan’s PayPay Corporation.
Several crypto-native firms round out this group: Min Linn, managing director and head of global business development at Ondo Finance; Athena Y, CEO of United Stables; Thomas Chen, chief
business officer at BNB Chain; Yoshi Yokokawa, co-founder and CEO of Alpaca; and Ella Zhang, managing partner and head of YZi Labs.
Analysts and media figures will have their own slots. Nic Puckrin of Coin Bureau, Joshua de Vos of CoinDesk, Alex Svanevik of Nansen, Anastasia Melachrinos of Kaiko and Roosa Kivisto of DeFiLlama are all expected to speak.
Binance Co-CEO and Co-Founder Yi He said the company’s goals haven’t moved even as the industry shifts: wider access, stronger protection for users and smoother experiences. She described the conference as a gathering of the people building this next phase.
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Binance will field a long list of its own executives. Besides Teng and Yi He, the roster includes Chief Marketing Officer Eowyn Chen, APAC head SB Seker, Catherine Chen (VIP and Institutional),
Shunyet Jan (Exchange and Trading), Thomas Gregory (VP of Payments and Fiat), Jeff Li (VP of Product), Deputy Chief Compliance Officer Antonio Alvarez Lorenzo, and Nirun Fuwattananukul, CEO of Binance TH by Gulf Binance.
The company says more speakers will be revealed over the coming weeks. For those who can’t be in Bangkok, or want an early taste, Binance will run a Binance Live session on Binance Square on November 17 at 11:00 UTC. Guests will preview the event’s main themes, and there is a $5,000 red packet giveaway for viewers.
Binance positions Blockchain Week as the top event among the roughly 1,500 gatherings it runs globally, with a program that spans government-level discussions and grassroots community
meetups. Organisers expect thousands of developers, institutional investors, fintech executives and policymakers over the two days.
They describe Bangkok as a natural meeting point for the systems that link traditional finance to crypto.
Celo (CELO) is the title sponsor this year. Kite (KITE) and Plasma (XPL) are listed as platinum sponsors. Early-bird passes cost $29 and can be bought on the Binance Blockchain Week website.