Stablecoins and Privacy - New Frontiers for Scams and Illicit Activity - Merkle Science Meet 2026 Washington DC Hosted by Merkle Science
Merkle Science returns to Washington, DC for Merkle Meet DC 2026, a practitioner-led all-day summit focused on how U.S. policy, enforcement expectations, and real-world operating constraints are shaping digital asset risk, compliance, and investigations. Across panels and workshops, we will move beyond theory to examine the on-chain tactics regulators are prioritizing, what institutions are operationalizing, and how public–private collaboration is evolving to support faster asset recovery and better outcomes for victims. This edition of Merkle Meet DC is organized in partnership with Sumsub.
Merkle Meet DC 2026 Agenda
The day's agenda is built around the issues decision-makers are actively grappling with:
Sanctions evasion and criminal activity in crypto, from nation-state actors to proxy networks
Institutional adoption in 2026, including tokenized treasuries, RWAs, and tokenized deposits moving out of pilots
Stablecoins post-GENIUS Act, with emphasis on execution, supervision, reserves, and distribution scrutiny
Crypto market structure reform and what current SEC and CFTC signaling implies for compliance and trading controls
Asset recovery in action, including what works (and what breaks) in public–private partnerships
A forward-looking crypto policy outlook for 2026, including emerging regulatory perimeters and cross-border friction
In addition to panels, the DC edition includes practical sessions designed to be immediately useful for operating teams, including product workshops and training modules covering sanction risk detection, stablecoin monitoring, and investigative workflows anchored in current fraud typologies.
Featured speakers (partial list)
A few of the crypto policy and regulation leaders joining this DC 2026 edition include:
Mriganka Pattnaik — Merkle Science
Chris Brummer - Bluprynt
Josh Taub — Grant Thornton US
Diego Gutarra — B2C2
Steve Szaroleta — ConsenSys
Justin Friedman — Stablecon
Alexandra Shelton — Sui Fondation
Sean Spaniol — Sui Foundation
Justus Delp — Merkle Science
Ryan Dusseault - former OCC
Eli Cohen — Centrifuge
Katie Dellolio — a16z
Jamie Udison — FINRA
Jim Thompson — Quantstamp
Chris Russell — tZERO
Peter Joukov — CBC
Andrew Lucas — Zerohash
Patrick Wyman — FBI
Olivia Vande Woude — Ava Labs
Chloe Dolsenhe — Former OCC
Caroline Hill — Circle
Jim Holbein
Samantha Pelosi — Navro
Purvi Maniar — Laser Digital
Jon Sabol — Aptos
Jacqueline Cooper
Ron Hammond — Wintermute
Nicolas Jacquemart — Cardano
Michael Oh — FINRA
Jude Ogene — OpenNode
Travis Wiehn — FBI
Leah Delventhal — Inca Digital
Frank Tarentino — DEA
Adam Kulpa — Virginia State Police
We are pleased to offer 8.4 continuing professional education (CPE) credits to those that attend the event. CPE certification at Merkle Meet DC 2026 is being administered by Carahsoft Technology Corp. Carahsoft is registered with the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) as a sponsor of continuing professional education on the National Registry of CPE Sponsors. For more information on the CPE credit we are offering, our CPE sponsor (NASBA), and the submission process, please click here.
Seats are limited. We recommend registering early to secure your spot and ensure access to the sessions most relevant to your team.