Defi Founders Dubai

DeFi Founders Summit — Dubai 2026

250 NFT passes. The premier DeFi founders gathering. TOKEN2049 Week · Madinat Jumeirah, Dubai · May 9–10, 2026

About

The highest-signal gathering in DeFi. 250 hand-selected founders, protocol architects, liquidity providers, and institutional investors. Two days at one of Dubai's most iconic venues - no filler, no noise.

Past attendees include core contributors from Aave, Uniswap, MakerDAO, and Lido. Dozens of protocols that attended went on to raise $50M+ within months.

Location

Madinat Jumeirah Conference & Events Centre Al Sufouh 1, Dubai, UAE

Day 1 — May 9 · Foundations & Infrastructure

9:00 AM — Registration & Welcome Coffee

10:00 AM — Opening Keynote: The State of DeFi 2026

11:00 AM — Panel: Cross-Chain Liquidity & Bridging Wars

12:30 PM — Lunch & Networking

2:00 PM — Workshop: Tokenomics Design That Survives Bear Markets

3:30 PM — Fireside: MEV, Orderflow & Protocol Revenue

5:00 PM — Investor Pitch: 10 Protocols, 5 Minutes Each

7:00 PM — Cocktail Reception & NFT Holder Mixer

Day 2 — May 10 · Capital, Governance & The Future

9:30 AM — VIP Investor Breakfast

10:30 AM — Keynote: Institutional Capital Entering DeFi

11:30 AM — Panel: On-Chain Governance — What Actually Works

1:00 PM — Lunch & 1-on-1 Matchmaking Sessions

2:30 PM — Workshop: Building for $1B TVL

4:00 PM — Panel: Regulatory Landscape — Dubai, EU, US

5:30 PM — Closing Keynote & NFT Holder Rewards Reveal

7:30 PM — VIP Founders Dinner (invite only)

Access

Entry by NFT pass only. 250 passes total - on-chain verified at the door.

Registration is open for 14 days. After it closes, all registered attendees will receive an email with a link to mint their NFT badge on the official website. Your NFT is your ticket — no QR codes, no PDFs. Mint closes May 8.

Included

Full two-day access · Premium catering · Evening cocktail reception · AI-powered 1-on-1 matchmaking · Exclusive swag kit · Post-event Alpha Insights Report · On-chain proof of attendance · Partner airdrops

Speakers

50+ speakers · 70% founders & C-suite · $50B+ combined TVL in the room

Vitalik Buterin (Co-Founder, Ethereum) · Rachel Conlan (CMO, Binance) · Mike Belshe (CEO, BitGo) · Matthew White (CEO, VARA Dubai) · Dan Held (GP, Asymmetric) · Ben Slavin (Head of ETFs, BNY) · Clara Chappaz (Digital Affairs, French Govt) · Natasha Cazenave (Executive Director, ESMA) · Darko Hajdukovic (Digital Markets, LSEG) · Lukas Enzersdorfer-Konrad (Deputy CEO, Bitpanda) · Kathleen Wrynn (Digital Assets, Invesco) · and 40+ more