SINGAPORE, September 21, 2026 : TOKEN2049 will return to Marina Bay Sands on October 7–8 with what organisers are positioning as its largest Singapore edition yet, bringing together 25,000 attendees from more than 7,000 companies across 160 countries as institutional participation in digital assets continues to broaden.
The event is expected to feature around 500 exhibitors, 300 speakers and more than 1,000 side events across TOKEN2049 Week, making Singapore one of the busiest global meeting points for the crypto and digital asset industry this year. The organisers say all five floors of Marina Bay Sands will be used for the conference, combining content, networking, wellness, hospitality and live experiences.
Among the first 100 speakers announced are Shayne Coplan, Founder and CEO of Polymarket; Jeff Yan, CEO of Hyperliquid Labs; Adena Friedman, Chair and CEO of Nasdaq; Jenny Johnson, CEO of Franklin Templeton; Eric Trump, Executive Vice President of The Trump Organization; Raoul Pal, Co-Founder and CEO of Real Vision; and Tom Lee, Managing Partner and Head of Research at Fundstrat.
A defining feature of the 2026 edition is likely to be the stronger institutional presence.
Senior executives from BlackRock, J.P. Morgan, Morgan Stanley, Nasdaq, NYSE, CME and Franklin Templeton are expected to participate across the event, underscoring how far digital assets have moved from the edges of finance into conversations involving major financial institutions, market infrastructure providers and asset managers.
The shift also reflects the changing character of large crypto conferences. While TOKEN2049 has long attracted founders, investors, traders and developers, this year’s Singapore edition appears to be placing greater emphasis on the overlap between crypto-native businesses and mainstream financial institutions.
Alex Fiskum, Co-Founder of TOKEN2049, said the organisers have placed their full focus on Singapore this year, with the Dubai edition moving to 2027.
“We’re seeing strong interest, with more than 70% of the exhibition floor already secured,” Fiskum said. He added that new tracks and formats would be unveiled as the institutional side of the programme is expanded.
Singapore Becomes the Centre of a Wider Industry Week
TOKEN2049 itself forms only part of the activity expected across Singapore that week.
More than 1,000 events, ranging from conferences and hackathons to investor gatherings, meetups and networking receptions, are scheduled across the city during TOKEN2049 Week.
Other major events taking place in Singapore over the same period include Digital Asset Summit Asia, Sui Basecamp, the Network State Conference, the Milken Institute Asia Summit and the Forbes Global CEO Conference, with the Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix adding another layer of international activity around the city.
The concentration of finance, technology and investor events reinforces Singapore’s role as one of Asia’s most significant convening points for digital assets, institutional capital and emerging technologies.
For the crypto industry, that density matters. Digital asset companies are increasingly operating across overlapping ecosystems that include capital markets, fintech, payments, artificial intelligence, market infrastructure, venture capital and tokenisation. Having senior decision-makers from those sectors in one city creates an opportunity for partnerships that go beyond traditional crypto networking.
Startups Remain Central to the Programme
Despite the increased institutional focus, early-stage companies and developers remain a major part of TOKEN2049’s agenda.
The 2026 programme will include the second edition of TOKEN2049 Origins, a 36-hour hackathon, as well as the return of the NEXUS Startup Competition.
According to organisers, registrations and applications for both programmes are already running well ahead of last year and number in the thousands.
Finalists in the startup competition are expected to be judged by venture capital firms Dragonfly, Multicoin and Maelstrom.
The inclusion of hackathons and startup competitions alongside institutional programming reflects the dual nature of the sector.
Some of the largest companies in crypto today emerged from developer communities and early-stage ecosystems only a few years ago. At the same time, the sector is increasingly becoming interconnected with global capital markets and regulated financial institutions.
TOKEN2049 is therefore trying to serve both ends of that spectrum: the builders creating new protocols and applications, and the financial institutions evaluating how digital assets fit into larger investment and market structures.
AFTER 2049 Returns to Marina Bay Sands
The week will close with AFTER 2049, the official closing event of TOKEN2049 Singapore, taking place on October 9 at the Marina Bay Sands SkyPark Observation Deck.
The 57th-floor venue will once again be closed to the public for the event, with the Singapore Grand Prix taking place below.
This year’s line-up will be headlined by Claptone, the German house producer known for his masked stage persona and global Masquerade parties, alongside Madrid-based house and tech-house producer Crusy.
The programme will also feature returning acts ANONM and Leon (FR), along with Milam and Mo-Shi. A notable feature will be the return of Polygon Live, which will deploy its hemispherical 360-degree spatial audio system.
Rather than relying on conventional stereo, the system places individual components of the music around and above the audience, creating what organisers describe as an immersive “inside the mix” experience.
The Singapore event will be the only Polygon Live production in Southeast Asia in 2026. Raphael Strauch, Founder of AFTER 2049, said the combination of the Marina Bay Sands rooftop, Grand Prix weekend and the Polygon system creates a distinctive closing experience for the industry.
A Broader Industry Shift
The scale of TOKEN2049 Singapore this year reflects the wider evolution of the digital asset sector. Crypto conferences were once largely dominated by blockchain developers, exchanges, token projects and retail-focused businesses. Increasingly, the agenda also includes institutional asset management, market infrastructure, derivatives, regulated products and corporate participation.
The expected presence of firms such as BlackRock, J.P. Morgan, Morgan Stanley, Nasdaq, NYSE, CME and Franklin Templeton illustrates that shift.
At the same time, the continued emphasis on startups, developer programmes and emerging protocols shows that the sector remains highly experimental.
That combination may define the next phase of digital assets: institutionalisation without completely losing the innovation culture that created the industry in the first place.
Singapore provides a natural setting for that intersection. The city has long positioned itself as a major financial centre while also building an ecosystem around fintech, digital assets and emerging technology. TOKEN2049 Week now extends that position beyond a single conference, creating a wider cluster of meetings involving investors, founders, institutions and technology companies.
From Conference to Industry Platform
For TOKEN2049, the growth in attendance and programming suggests it is increasingly becoming an industry platform rather than simply a two-day event.
The organisers describe the conference as a meeting place for founders, executives, institutions, investors, builders and policymakers from around the world.
The scale of the 2026 edition supports that positioning. With 25,000 attendees expected, thousands of companies represented, and more than 1,000 events taking place around Singapore, much of the value may come from what happens outside the formal conference programme.
Investor meetings, startup pitches, corporate partnerships and conversations between crypto-native companies and traditional financial institutions are likely to form a significant part of the week.
The test for the sector will be whether that activity translates into sustainable business models and deeper integration with the broader financial system.
But as TOKEN2049 prepares to take over Marina Bay Sands once again, one thing is clear: Singapore remains one of the most important global gathering points for the digital asset industry.