WAIB Summit Monaco 2026: Where Regulation, Stablecoins, and AI Cinema Collided on the Côte d’Azur

By Iaros Belkin and Philip Cripe for Irish Tech News

Monaco does not do things quietly. The second edition of the Summit took place just days after the Grand Prix gifted us sophisticated race experience at Hôtel de Paris VVIP reception and had packed the streets of principality with absolutely unique crowds from all over the globe. Wisely, WAIB Monaco organizers decided to harvest that and packed most of the Race visitors into their chambers at One Monte Carlo for two days of AI and Web3 dialogues. The event managed to pack serious industry conversations, a beach party with a European Commissioner, and a 24-hour AI film hackathon into the same building. You came expecting a sun-soaked networking junket but you left having actually learned something very insightful.

WAIB Summit Monaco 2026

The regulatory picture was one of the more striking moments from the main stage. Forget MiCA 2.0. What is now being discussed in European policy circles is MIDA, a signal that regulators are moving beyond the original framework and trying to get ahead of a market that keeps outrunning the rulebook. A dedicated panel on regulation and compliance drew genuine debate from people with actual skin in the game.

The stablecoin conversation was equally blunt. Bank representatives on one panel made the case that crypto is not eliminating intermediaries, it is reshaping who they are and what they do. The argument was straightforward: the industry needs the liquidity that traditional banks carry, and no amount of decentralisation changes that math. It was a refreshingly honest exchange in a space that sometimes struggles to acknowledge its own dependencies.

Investors were equally direct about where their patience ends. Vibe coding and the current ease of spinning up proof-of-concept work has made both banks and VCs more cautious about early-stage projects. The message from the room was consistent: come back when your technology is further along. A demo that works on a laptop in a coworking space is no longer enough to get a serious meeting.

Kucoin, Kraken, and a range of project founders were present across both days, with conversations spanning tokenisation, AI infrastructure, and blockchain applications. The mix of large established players and smaller builders made for useful hallway conversations, which at an event this size often matter more than the panels themselves.

The social side of WAIB Monaco lived up to the setting. A dinner at the yacht club the evening before the summit opened the week on a civilised note. The first evening of the conference itself moved to a beach party where, depending on where you stood, you might find yourself talking to the European Commissioner, a family office investor, or the head of AI for Alibaba Europe. That range of people on one beach is what justifies the trip.

Inside One Monte Carlo, Alibaba Cloud was also the engine behind the AI Film Festival, which ran alongside the main summit in what became one of the more unexpected highlights of the two days. The festival opened with a marathon screening of short films, followed by sessions on craft and technique. Attendees learned how to build compelling short films using AI tools, with Alibaba Cloud’s technology at the centre of the workflow.

The hackathon gave participants 24 hours to produce a short film using AI. The standard was remarkable. One team lit up when their cat video came to life, the animal turning toward the smell of food in a moment of simple, genuine delight. The three winners went further. Each film went straight for human emotion: life and death, a disease slowly erasing identity, the quiet struggle to feel valued. Raw, fast, and effective. Twenty-four hours is not long, but it was enough to make the room feel something.

About the Authors

Iaros Belkin is the founder of Belkin Marketing, a boutique team that helps with Strategic Advisor to Deep Tech, Web3 and AI Founders. Two decades of experience navigating high-stakes global markets and orchestrating everything a good venture team needs: from grants and key partnerships to VVIP events elevated experience.

Philip Cripe is the founder of CripeHub Solutions LLC, a technology and political advisory company providing geopolitical analysis, business and technology advisory, and fractional C-suite services to clients across Europe and North America. Two decades of experience navigating complex international markets, with a documented track record spanning government advisory, blockchain business development, and high-stakes geopolitical forecasting.

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