Louvre Abu Dhabi to Host Inaugural Proof of Talk Summit on Digital Assets and AI

The Louvre Abu Dhabi will open its doors to a new era of finance, hosting the inaugural Gulf edition of the Proof of Talk summit on December 3-4, 2026. This event marks the museum's first dedicated focus on digital assets and artificial intelligence (AI).

Binance founder Changpeng Zhao is slated to deliver the opening address. The summit will bring together leaders from global banks, asset managers, and digital asset companies to discuss the application of tokenisation, stablecoins, and AI within financial markets.

Following successful Paris editions, the Abu Dhabi summit positions the emirate's Saadiyat Cultural District as a key meeting point for global markets and cultural exchange, taking place one week before the scheduled opening of Guggenheim Abu Dhabi.

Key Participants and Agenda

Prominent figures confirmed to attend include Maurice Gravier from Emirates NBD, representatives from Wio Bank and Abu Dhabi Investment Council, Jenny Johnson of Franklin Templeton, Richard Teng of Binance, Brett Tejpaul of Coinbase Institutional, and Kim Hochfeld of State Street Investment Management.

The two-day programme will extensively cover digital assets and AI, with a significant AI block on December 4 dedicated to the infrastructure supporting artificial intelligence in financial services and the requirements for institutional adoption.

StableDay, a segment of the summit, will feature closed-door roundtables with executives from Morgan Stanley, Standard Chartered, and Emirates NBD, focusing on the integration of stablecoins with banking, payments, and settlement. Participation in these discussions is exclusive to C-level executives.

Attendance and Startup Competition

Attendance for the Proof of Talk summit is capped at 2,000 participants and restricted to 120 speakers. Admission is by application only, with no tickets or speaking slots available for purchase. The event will also feature Proof of Pitch, a startup competition that has received over 200 applications. Its jury includes investors from leading venture capital firms, providing a venture investment perspective to the programme.

"In Paris, the Louvre stands for heritage. In Abu Dhabi, it stands for the bridge between cultures. And now it welcomes the future of finance," said Zohair Dehnadi, Co-Founder and CEO of Proof of Talk. "That says a lot about how far digital assets and AI have come, from the fringe to the core. The people who decide what comes next will be here."

The summit aligns with Abu Dhabi's busy December calendar, occurring shortly after the UAE’s 55th Eid Al Etihad and coinciding with the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix (December 3-6) and Abu Dhabi Finance Week (December 7-10). The event is organised by X Ventures, with Luna PR acting as an Ecosystem Partner for regional media engagement.