On 22 September 2026, the Digital Euro Association (DEA) hosted the DEA Summer Forum 2026 in Frankfurt, in collaboration with Mayer Brown LLP.
The evening brought together experts from across the European digital finance ecosystem, including regulators, financial institutions, market infrastructures, technology providers, digital asset companies, legal experts and academia.
This year, the Summer Forum took a new format. The evening was built around two interactive roundtables, creating space for open discussion, different perspectives and active participation from the room.
The first roundtable brought together Carsten Ostermann (ESMA), Christoph Hock (Union Investment), Patrick Kropp (Deutsche Börse Group) and Ivica Aračić (SWIAT), moderated by Marcel Hörauf (Mayer Brown LLP).
The discussion explored a central question for Europe’s tokenized capital markets: how do we move from experimentation to scale?
The conversation examined the experience of the EU DLT Pilot Regime so far, the regulatory structures surrounding tokenized securities, and the challenges created by fragmentation across Europe’s financial-market infrastructure.
One theme emerged particularly clearly: while the technological foundations for tokenized markets are advancing quickly, regulation, market structure and interoperability will play an equally important role in determining whether these solutions can reach institutional scale.
The discussion also highlighted different perspectives on how Europe should get there — including the role of the DLT Pilot Regime, existing frameworks such as CSDR, the balance between competition and consolidation, and the need to think beyond national approaches.
These were not questions with simple answers, which was precisely the point of the roundtable. The different perspectives from regulation, asset management, market infrastructure and technology made for a lively and highly practical discussion.
In the middle left side: Patrick Kropp (Deutsche Börse Group) and Carsten Ostermann (ESMA). In the middle right side: Ivica Aračić (SWIAT), Christoph Hock (Union Investment) and Marcel Hörauf (Mayer Brown LLP)
The second roundtable shifted the focus to stablecoins and MiCA.
Judith Arnal (CEPS), Simon Seiter (AllUnity), Mykolas Majauskas (Bybit) and Stephan Mögelin (BaFin) joined the discussion, moderated by Johannes Schahn (Mayer Brown LLP).
The conversation explored whether Europe’s current regulatory framework provides the right conditions for stablecoins to develop and scale — particularly in a market where global, predominantly dollar-denominated stablecoins already play a significant role.
The discussion touched on the treatment of e-money tokens (EMTs) and asset-referenced tokens (ARTs), regulatory complexity, competitiveness, multi-issuance, and the broader question of how Europe can combine strong regulation with an environment that enables innovation.
A recurring theme was the relationship between regulatory certainty and market scale. MiCA has created a harmonized framework for crypto-assets in Europe, but the discussion made clear that important questions remain around how regulated European stablecoins compete and grow in a global market.
The exchange also opened a broader conversation around the international role of the euro, European competitiveness and the respective roles of public infrastructure and private-sector innovation.
In the middle left side: Simon Seiter (AllUnity), Judith Arnal (CEPS) and Johannes Schahn (Mayer Brown LLP). In the middle right side: Mykolas Majauskas (Bybit) and Stephan Mögelin (BaFin)
The discussions did not stop when the sessions ended.
Participants continued the exchange during a networking reception on the Mayer Brown rooftop, overlooking Frankfurt — an opportunity to reconnect with familiar faces, make new connections and continue many of the conversations that had started around the roundtable.
Summer Forum attendees networking
The format reflected exactly what we wanted to achieve with this year’s Summer Forum: not simply another event with presentations, but a setting where regulators, industry and experts could engage directly with one another on questions that are still evolving.
A special thank you to Mayer Brown for hosting the DEA Summer Forum 2026 and for the excellent collaboration and support in making the evening possible.
And, of course, thank you to all our speakers, moderators and participants for bringing their expertise, questions and different perspectives into the room.
The Summer Forum was a true team effort, and we’re very happy to have brought the community together for such an engaging evening in Frankfurt.
From left to right: Anne-Sophie Kappel, Lena Grale, Anne-Sophie Gógl,
Tamara Schmidt, Hetal Patel-Bitterwolf, Keanu Herold
The discussions at the Summer Forum went significantly deeper than we can cover in a public recap.
Following the event, the DEA prepared a dedicated Member Brief: DEA Summer Forum 2026, capturing the key arguments, areas of disagreement and takeaways from both roundtables — as well as what they could mean for the development of tokenized markets and stablecoins in Europe.
The brief looks more closely at topics including the future of the DLT Pilot Regime, fragmentation in tokenized market infrastructure, MiCA’s treatment of stablecoins, multi-issuance, European competitiveness and the relationship between public infrastructure and private-sector innovation.
💎 The full DEA Summer Forum 2026 Member Brief is available exclusively to DEA members.
Not a member yet? Join the DEA community and gain access to our Member Briefs and other exclusive insights, while connecting with a network of professionals shaping the future of digital money in Europe.
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There’s also more to come from the DEA Summer Forum 2026. Stay tuned for further impressions and highlights from Frankfurt.