Krysten Sinema, former United States Senator and Senior Advisor at Hogan Lovells’ Government Relations and Public Affairs practice, delivered the opening keynote speech on radical change in the US political and regulatory landscape as it pertains to digital assets since the advent of the Trump administration as a significant backdrop for the subsequent panel discussion.

Darko Hajdukovic, Head of Digital Infrastructure at the London Stock Exchange Group, delivered our second keynote. He highlighted that Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) should be seen as more than just a database spread across multiple locations or participants, presenting it instead as a transformative innovation with the capacity to reshape capital markets and address key inefficiencies in today’s market.

The Summit featured discussions on the most pressing topics, with industry experts from across financial institutions and the digital assets industry sharing insights on institutional adoption, digital payments, and the digitalisation of financial market infrastructure. Senior representatives from FCA, Bank of England, Barclays, JPMorgan, BNP Paribas, Santander and ISDA joined to discuss the key developments in legislation and regulatory frameworks. 

Key takeaways include:

• From the implementation of new regulatory regimes, to new market solutions and modernization of the plumbing of financial services, the digital assets landscape is evolving faster than ever before.
• While there is no single international approach to the regulation of digital assets, it is clear that the impact of recent developments in the US – including the passing of federal stablecoin legislation and the ongoing initiatives to legislate for cryptoasset market structure – are rippling across the globe.
• Interoperability remains, and will continue to be, central to the discussion and a key challenge to overcome, whether this is in terms of achieving interoperability between technology platforms, or developing compatible regulatory regimes for digital assets across different jurisdictions in order to facilitate adoption of this borderless phenomenon.

Sharon Lewis, Partner Lead of Future of Finance and Co-Chair of Digital Assets and Blockchain, said: “The theme of this year’s summit, Winds of Change, perfectly captures the transformative momentum sweeping through digital finance. As regulators worldwide recalibrate their approaches to digital assets, we’re seeing geopolitics play a growing role in shaping market dynamics. Staying ahead of these developments is essential, and the Summit is a timely reflection of how collaboration, competition, and innovation are reshaping the future of financial markets.” 

John Salmon, Co-Chair of Digital Assets and Blockchain added: “Blockchain and digital assets are foundational to the future of capital markets. We’re seeing tangible, technical progress in tokenization, interoperability, and infrastructure that’s driving efficiency and reshaping global market dynamics. The challenge now is aligning innovation with regulation, but the momentum is undeniable- digital assets are reshaping how markets operate, globally and at speed.”

For more information about the event, visit Hogan Lovells Digital Asset Summit 2025.