UNCHAIN Festival is the leading finance and technology summit in Central and Eastern Europe. Since 2022, it has connected banks, fintechs, regulators, and industry leaders in Oradea, Romania, fostering cross-industry collaboration and turning emerging trends into actionable strategies for regional growth and resilience.
170 international speakers, representatives of central banks, leading financial institutions, and fintech companies from across the region participated in the largest edition of UNCHAIN Festival to date
Oradea, June 22nd, 2026. The fifth edition of UNCHAIN Festival concluded with record-breaking results, bringing together more than 1.000 leaders from the financial and technology industries across more than 43 countries, 170 international speakers, and representatives of central banks, regulatory authorities, financial institutions, fintech companies, and technology providers shaping the future of European financial services.
Held on June 17–18 at the Oradea Fortress, UNCHAIN Festival 2026 reaffirmed its position as the leading platform for dialogue and collaboration within the financial and technology ecosystem of Central and Eastern Europe. The anniversary edition welcomed participants from both mature and emerging markets, as well as official delegations from Georgia, Armenia, Israel, and Hong Kong, who attended the event for the first time.
Over the two-day event, industry leaders discussed the impact of artificial intelligence on financial services, the future of the Digital Euro, the role of stablecoins and asset tokenization, the development of instant payments, financial fraud prevention, and the opportunities created by the energy transition and new European regulations.
“This year’s edition demonstrated that UNCHAIN Festival has become one of the most relevant dialogue platforms for the financial industry in Central and Eastern Europe. The fact that over a thousand leaders from more than 40 countries chose to attend the event in Oradea confirms the growing need for collaboration between financial institutions, authorities, fintech companies, and technology providers during a period of accelerated industry transformation,” said Alexandra Pollack, Founder & CEO of UNCHAIN Festival.
The 2026 edition also welcomed 250 new organizations from the European financial ecosystem for the first time, including commercial banks, insurance companies, technology providers, and fintech firms contributing to the transformation of financial services across the region.
A special focus was placed on innovation and fast-growing companies. Through the Innovation Showcase, fintech and insurtech startups from across the region presented their solutions to investors, financial institutions, and strategic partners, creating new opportunities for collaboration and growth.
Excellence and innovation in the financial and technology industries were also recognized during the UNCHAIN Awards 2026 gala, which honored the organizations and companies making the most significant contributions to the transformation of financial services across Central and Eastern Europe. In the Industry Awards category, distinctions were presented to mBank (Digital Bank of the Year), Comarch (Innovation Excellence Award), Transfond (Trust & Resilience Award), Magnetiq Bank (Growth & Achievement Award), Payten (Collaboration & Partnership Award), Partners Banka (Future Readiness Award), Paymentology (Payments Impact Award), Hellas Direct (Insurance Impact Award), Tremend Software Consulting (Technology Leadership Award), and Leanpay (Future of Finance Award). In addition, the Innovation Awards program, dedicated to startups and emerging innovative companies, recognized Cryptoswift from Estonia (Market Impact Award), Processlab from Romania (Regulatory Readiness Award), Okazio from Slovakia (Innovation Excellence Award), Clym from Romania (Responsible Finance Award), and HackenProof from Ukraine (Future of Finance Award), highlighting the diversity and dynamism of the regional fintech ecosystem.
As the event’s main sponsor, Visa, one of the world’s leaders in digital payments, supported the dialogue among industry leaders as a key contributor to the development of a more connected, secure, and innovative financial ecosystem. This underscores Visa’s belief that dialogue between traditional industry players and emerging innovators is crucial to help accelerate the digital transformation of financial services across Europe.
“For Visa, collaboration among banks, fintech companies, regulators, and technology providers is essential to help deliver simpler, faster, and more secure payment experiences for consumers and businesses. The digital transformation of the financial industry cannot be achieved by any single stakeholder. It requires a shared vision, common standards, and strong collaboration across the ecosystem. We are pleased to contribute to this conversation and support an event that brings these stakeholders together, helping accelerate innovation across the region,” said Catalin Cretu, General Manager, Bulgaria, Croatia, Romania, and Slovenia at Visa.
Discussions throughout the festival highlighted that artificial intelligence, financial process automation, digitalization of payments, and new forms of financial infrastructure will have a significant impact on how consumers and businesses interact with financial services in the years ahead.
“This year, we witnessed unprecedented interest in topics such as artificial intelligence, the Digital Euro, asset tokenization, and the future of digital payments. Beyond the conferences and debates, UNCHAIN Festival generated connections, partnerships, and projects that will continue to create value for the industry long after the event has ended,” added Alexandra Pollack, Founder & CEO of UNCHAIN Festival.
This year’s edition of UNCHAIN Festival featured dedicated sessions on regional cooperation, banking infrastructure, insurance, emerging markets, green finance, and the role of women in the financial industry, as well as dozens of business and networking meetings that facilitated collaboration among organizations from across Europe.
National institutions played a key role at UNCHAIN Festival 2026, with strong representation from Romania’s National Bank of Romania (BNR) and the Financial Supervisory Authority (ASF). They were joined by high-level representatives from equivalent central banks and financial supervisory authorities from more than 18 countries, including the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Albania, Moldova, Georgia, Kazakhstan, and many others.
Among the keynote speakers at this year’s edition was Marek Belka, former Prime Minister of Poland, former President of the National Bank of Poland, and former Member of the European Parliament, a prominent voice at the intersection of economics and public policy, who emphasized the importance of strengthening the European project in today’s geopolitical and economic environment. In his address, he highlighted the role of European financial integration in strengthening economic resilience and regional stability. “The world has changed dramatically in recent years, and Europe must adapt to a new geopolitical reality. The euro is not only about payments or monetary policy—it is about security. For countries like Poland and Romania, deeper European financial integration strengthens resilience, lowers the cost of development, and provides greater protection against global uncertainty. Central and Eastern Europe has proven its strength, and our future lies in supporting a stronger, more cohesive European Union,” said Marek Belka during UNCHAIN Festival 2026.
This high-level institutional presence underscored the event’s importance as a premier platform for dialogue on regulation, monetary policy, digital transformation, and the future of finance in Central and Eastern Europe.
Through the scale of its international participation and the relevance of the topics addressed, UNCHAIN Festival continues to strengthen its position as the leading finance and technology summit in Central and Eastern Europe, while contributing to the positioning of Romania and Oradea as key reference points for dialogue on the future of European financial services.
Through the scale of its international participation and the relevance of the topics addressed, UNCHAIN Festival continues to strengthen its position as the leading finance and technology summit in Central and Eastern Europe, while contributing to the positioning of Romania and Oradea as key reference points for dialogue on the future of European financial services.
The event was realized with the support of Visa, as Main Sponsor, Raiffeisen Bank Romania, BRD Groupe Société Générale and Banca Transilvania, as Banking Partners, Leanpay, Monri and Payten, as Gold Partners, and Paymentology, Worldline, SurePay, fme Romania, Comarch, Bankart, Profile Software, certSIGN, Creatio, Entrust, DECTA, Tremend Software Consulting, Matricia and Garanti BBVA, as Sponsors, as well as Poland Business Forward and InvestHK, as Country Pavilion Partners, and Visit Oradea and Make IT in Oradea, as Hosting Partners.
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About UNCHAIN Festival
UNCHAIN Festival is the leading finance and technology summit in Central and Eastern Europe. Since 2022, it has connected banks, fintechs, regulators, and industry leaders in Oradea, Romania, fostering cross-industry collaboration and turning emerging trends into actionable strategies for regional growth and resilience.
