BeInCrypto at MERGE Madrid: Banks Build Stablecoin Infra

Behind the Scenes at MERGE Madrid

The MERGE Madrid conference took place from October 27 to 29, gathering global leaders at the historic Bolsa de Madrid stock exchange before moving to the iconic Palacio de Cibeles. BeInCrypto was represented on-site by Luís De Magalhães, Head of Latin America, and Martin Coxall, VP of Institutional Partnerships.

A clear theme emerged throughout the three-day program: major traditional banks are moving far beyond simply letting clients trade crypto. Instead, financial giants are actively building the underlying technology rails for stablecoins and tokenized real-world assets.

Stablecoins Are Becoming Global Payment Highway Rails

Jordan Wain, Global Policy Lead at Chainalysis, presented striking data showing that overall cryptocurrency economic activity reached roughly $9.4 trillion between June 2025 and June 2026. While total volume edged down 1.6% year-over-year amid broader market corrections, cross-border stablecoin transfers surged by 80% over the same timeframe.

This data suggests that businesses and individuals are increasingly using digital assets for real-world utility and payments, even when token market prices soften. Stablecoins serve as a practical medium of exchange rather than just speculative trading tools.

Alexandra Soroko of Visa emphasized the growing importance of stablecoin card settlement. This structure enables financial institutions to settle obligations around the clock, seven days a week, without waiting for legacy bank clearing hours. She pointed to corporate treasury management and cross-border commercial transactions as the primary drivers of future expansion.

Marie Winter, Managing Director of OSL EU, shared updates on their regulatory timeline. OSL EU secured its Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) license in Austria in early July. She noted that the company is currently applying for payment institution and Electronic Money Institution (EMI) licenses to focus heavily on third-party payments, token exchanges, and fiat on/off-ramp infrastructure across Europe.

How Traditional Banks Are Rethinking Their Role

Stijn Vander Straeten, CEO of Crypto Finance Group (a subsidiary of Deutsche Börse), explained that while most bank revenue in digital assets currently comes from basic client trading desks, the real investment is happening in backend architecture. Banks are committing significant capital toward staking protocols, tokenized deposit systems, and next-generation settlement networks.

Executives from Commerzbank, N26, and Applied Blockchain described how banks are evolving into neutral infrastructure operators. Rather than holding massive stablecoin reserves directly on their balance sheets, institutions are creating secure digital highways that allow their corporate clients to transact seamlessly.

Mirko Pfiffner, Senior Solutions Manager at Liechtenstein’s Bank Frick—a firm with a decade of crypto integration experience—addressed the misconception that the digital asset industry no longer requires traditional banking partners.

Crypto exchanges and liquidity providers handle enormous fiat volumes, and they still rely on robust banking relationships. Over the next five to ten years, banks will specialize into dedicated payment rail providers, custody specialists, or trading hubs rather than trying to handle every function under one roof.

António Henriques, CEO of Bison Bank (the first licensed bank in Portugal to operate an authorized Crypto Asset Service Provider, or CASP), noted that his institution bridges traditional banking clients with native crypto entities, helping both sectors navigate regulatory compliance.

Shrutisagar Chandrasekaran of Fireblocks highlighted that integrating digital assets is rarely a pure technological hurdle. Instead, it represents an operational challenge centered around workforce training, updated compliance processes, and corporate governance.

Luis Nacarino from Santander CIB stressed the necessity for interoperability, arguing that emerging digital currency networks must connect smoothly instead of forming isolated walled gardens. Supporting this view, Alberto Carlos Alonso Temprado of Iberpay observed that European payment systems are already robust, meaning blockchain solutions should enhance existing networks rather than attempt to start from scratch.

The event concluded with panel discussions featuring financial regulators from Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece, Croatia, Cyprus, and Luxembourg. Jason Jiang, Chief Business Officer at CertiK, highlighted the value of direct dialogue between blockchain security firms and European institutional regulators.

Asset Tokenization and Autonomous AI Payment Agents

Abel Peña, Chief Strategy Officer at Bit2Me, announced that the company received official approval to launch STX, a security token platform designed to tokenize corporate shares and bonds for medium-sized enterprises.

However, industry experts from BBVA and institutional exchange Bullish cautioned that asset tokenization requires sufficient market liquidity to succeed, particularly during periods of heightened market volatility.

In a panel featuring Mastercard, TetherUSDT+0.15%, and the CardanoADA-6.98% Foundation, leaders examined the emerging field of Artificial Intelligence (AI) agents conducting autonomous transactions. They emphasized that robust digital identities and explicit authorization protocols are critical safeguards before AI software can execute financial payments.

Luis Ayala, Managing Director for Latin America at BitGo, detailed the concept of agentic wallets—AI systems using large language models capable of settling transactions on behalf of users.

If autonomous agents begin handling micro-payments at the household level, we will quickly see them applied at the institutional level, executing micro-processes and automated corporate services.

Addressing regulatory oversight, Guillaume Rodenas of TRM Labs pointed out that Know Your Customer (KYC) compliance for AI payment agents must focus on identifying the human or corporate owner exercising ultimate operational control over the algorithm.

BeInCrypto Takes the Stage: High-Impact Panels

BeInCrypto's Head of Latin America moderated two institutional panels at the Bolsa de Madrid stage, exploring how stablecoins solve real-world operational bottlenecks.

Western Union and Anchorage Digital: Revolutionizing Remittances

Malcolm Clarke (Global Head of Digital Assets at Western Union) and Emilio Rivero Coello (Product Manager for Stablecoin Correspondent Banking at Anchorage Digital) discussed USDPT, a dollar-backed token issued by Anchorage on the SolanaSOL-6.87% blockchain in May.

Initially deployed across key remittance markets including Bolivia and the Philippines, USDPT is not marketed as a retail consumer wallet. Instead, Western Union uses the token as a back-end settlement mechanism to settle balances across its local agent networks.

For Anchorage Digital, replacing pre-funded legacy correspondent bank accounts with liquid stablecoin balances reduces international settlement timelines from several business days to just minutes.

The Qivalis Consortium: Building Europe's Regulated Euro Stablecoin

A second major panel featured Vid Hribar (Qivalis), Elma Saric (Raiffeisen Bank International), Niccolò Bardoscia (Intesa Sanpaolo), and Tania Griffith (RippleXRP-7.57%).

The Amsterdam-based Qivalis Consortium has expanded from nine founding institutions to 37 financial organizations spanning 15 countries. Operating within the MiCA regulatory structure under the direct supervision of the Dutch Central Bank, the consortium plans to issue a regulated Euro stablecoin on the public EthereumETH-8.02% network.

This initiative addresses a noticeable market gap: Euro-backed stablecoins currently represent less than $1 billion in total market capitalization, compared to over $300 billion in US dollar-pegged stablecoins globally.

Key Insights from On-Record Interviews

• Malcolm Clarke (Western Union): Highlighted how USDPT unlocks capital previously tied up in correspondent banks, outlined their crypto-to-cash partnership with Rain and Visa, and expressed a measured perspective regarding short-term AI payment hype.
• Guillaume Rodenas (TRM Labs): Discussed liability frameworks for AI transactions and noted that European banks differ more in their risk appetite than in technical preparedness for public blockchain integration.

Disclaimer: Historical transaction volumes and past performance metrics for stablecoins or digital assets do not guarantee future outcomes. Digital asset markets carry risk and price volatility.

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