QUEENSTOWN - A blockchain conference in Queenstown next week has drawn a government minister, three agencies and one of the country's biggest banks.
CryptoWinter26 runs 25 to 27 August at QT Queenstown, organized by Blockchain Forum New Zealand and Tech New Zealand, with around 40 speakers. The event opens on the evening of the 25th, and the main programme runs on 26th and 27th August.
ACT deputy leader and Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee, who oversees New Zealand's anti-money laundering regime, is scheduled to speak on "the evolving role of crypto in New Zealand's financial system."
The session description says questions remain about whether current settings are fit for purpose in a swiftly evolving global market.
She is the only member of Parliament currently listed on the programme.
The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, Department of Internal Affairs, and the Financial Markets Authority share a panel titled "Beyond 2026: What is New Zealand's Unfair Advantage?"
MBIE is sending a senior policy advisor, the Financial Markets Authority its Head of Legal, and the Department of Internal Affairs its principal advisor on AML/CFT.
MinterEllisonRuddWatts partner Jeremy Muir joins them, with Blockchain Forum NZ executive director Trevor Topfer moderating.
Kiwibank will argue the future of its own industry on stage.
General manager specialist markets Mark Paice is one of five debaters in "The Future of Banking: Where Traditional Finance Meets the Blockchain," alongside Swyftx, Immersve, Pay It Now and Cuscal Paymark.
KPMG's Nicola Reynes-Pene moderates, and three judges score it, including Mastercard's head of digital assets commercialisation.
Topfer told CNZ that banking access remains the sector's central problem.
"The biggest barrier for market participants building on blockchain in New Zealand is still access to banking," Topfer said.
"Without banking services, you can't run a business."
"We are working with government to fix this."
He said the event would bring "government, policymakers and industry together to discuss this along with showcasing the progress we have made in the past year and looking at the coming 12 months."
An announcement, unnamed
The programme lists a "Major Industry Announcement" with no further detail.
The entry reads: "Be there on the day to find out what it is!"
"We will announce a project that promises to deliver concrete infrastructure and support the growth of the entire sector."
What else is on
A fireside chat will examine the collapses of Dasset and Cryptopia, with Lane Neave partner James Cochrane and Grant Thornton director Tom Aspin. Both companies featured in the FMA's recent custody discussion paper.
Other sessions address the Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework and its impacts for New Zealand platforms and investors, stablecoins and the New Zealand dollar, digital assets in regulated financial advice, and agentic AI in payments.
International speakers include Global Blockchain Business Council chief executive Sandra Ro, Blockchain APAC chief executive Steve Vallas, and Digital Economy Council of Australia chief executive Amy-Rose Goodey.
Mastercard, Stripe, Visa and Binance are also on the programme.
The second day of the event features fifteen rotating roundtables, each limited to ten seats, covering stablecoins, tokenized property, custody, open banking, digital asset taxation, quantum computing, cross-Tasman AML regulation, and blockchain provenance for New Zealand exports.
Blockchain Forum NZ published a Digital Assets Framework in July, calling for a new regulatory category covering Bitcoin, Ethereum and other commonly traded assets, which currently sit outside the Financial Markets Conduct Act.
Because they currently sit outside it, the framework argues, investors have no custody protections and licensed advisers cannot advise on them.
It also proposes licensing cryptocurrency exchanges, which now need only basic financial service provider registration and AML compliance to operate here, and notes New Zealand sits behind jurisdictions where custody already requires a licence.
The organization's chair, MinterEllisonRuddWatts partner Jeremy Muir, led the work.
The Blockchain New Zealand Forum also lodged a collective industry submission on MBIE's payment services consultation earlier this year and responded to the FMA's custody discussion paper.
The policy summit media cannot attend
A separate Blockchain Forum NZ Policy Summit runs in Queenstown on 28 August.
It is by invitation only and operates under the Chatham House Rule, meaning participants may report what is said but not who said it.
Blockchain Forum NZ has decided not to have media in attendance.
Topfer described the summit in Blockchain Forum NZ's newsletter as a response to conversations happening in isolation.
"Government agencies are progressing policy, regulators are considering how existing frameworks apply, businesses are building, and legal, academic and political leaders are examining what the sector means for New Zealand's future. Too often, however, these conversations happen in isolation."
The summit is intended to "build shared understanding, strengthen relationships and identify a more coordinated path forward."
A separate Bitcoin-only conference, the Sovereignty Summit, is planned for Queenstown in 2027.
Cryptocurrency NZ will be reporting from Queenstown across both days of the conference.