Panel: TradFi Meets Crypto: Convergence or Coexistence?

Navigating the Future Digital Finance Landscape 2026

Our panel exploring the evolving relationship between traditional finance and crypto rounded off a great day at our recent Navigating the Future Digital Finance Landscape event jointly hosted with the Global Blockchain Business Council (GBBC).

Speakers:

Doro Unger-Lee, Global University Engagement Lead, Ava Labs
James Pollock, EMEA Sales Director, Digital Asset
Jorge Lesmes, Global Head of Partnerships, Chainlink Labs
Kim Hochfeld, Global Head of Digital and Cash, State Street
Sarah George Kotak, Director & Assistant General Counsel, Bank of America.

Our key takeaways

The debate has shifted from “if” to “how”: Industry is well beyond questioning whether digital assets will matter, with the focus now on the practicalities of integrating decentralised technology into established market structures. Many institutions are out of the "proof of concept" phase, with production use cases ranging from weekend repo trading with tokenised treasuries to live digital‑asset settlement flows.
Convergence is already happening in core functions, but co-existence remains a necessary reality: Tokenisation, payments, custody and lifecycle automation are bringing traditional and decentralised finance closer together through shared infrastructure and data models. In reality, in the short to medium term, multiple rails, asset types and regulatory models will continue operating in parallel which can lead to a (hopefully temporary!) increase in costs. No single chain or architecture will dominate, although it is likely that most enterprise‑grade activity will consolidate around a small number of interoperable networks.
Privacy and control are non‑negotiable for TradFi: Banks require predictable transaction handling, confidentiality and clear governance, features that public chains do not natively provide, driving the rise of permissioned networks.
Tokenisation must deliver more than digitisation: True value comes from programmable assets with embedded data (“unified golden records”), automated compliance, real‑time settlement and reduced reconciliation, not simply putting traditional assets on-chain. However, integration with legacy systems remains a major hurdle. Some traditional players must align decades‑old infrastructure with new settlement models, governance structures and wallet‑based environments.
Regulation must catch up with use cases: Panellists stressed the need for clearer frameworks on decentralisation, risk management and accountability, particularly for mixed public‑private architectures. Regulation should support interoperability and industry must avoid building isolated “DeFi islands.” Standards, messaging layers and shared protocols will be key to enabling value movement across different chains and institutional systems.

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James Pollock, EMEA Sales Director, Digital Asset, Doro Unger-Lee, Global University Engagement Lead, Ava Labs, Jorge Lesmes, Global Head of Partnerships, Chainlink Labs, Kim Hochfeld, Global Head of Digital and Cash, State Street, and Sarah George Kotak, Director & Assistant General Counsel, Bank of America in conversation.