How the Pan-European Blockchain Regulatory Sandbox Helped Bridge the Gap Between Innovation and Regulation, Enhancing Security in Crypto and Digital Assets

Speakers: Kuba Ruiz (Moderator) · Patrick Azzopardi · Valentyna Kondratenko · Marjolein Geus

Kuba Ruiz — Senior Counsel, IT and New Technologies, Bird & Bird

Kuba Ruiz is a Senior Counsel in the Warsaw Commercial team, advising clients since 2004 on IT and new technologies, transactional and commercial law, and dispute resolution, including some of the largest IT system implementations in Poland.

Patrick Azzopardi — CEO and Cofounder of DOWSERS

Patrick Azzopardi is CEO and cofounder of DOWSERS, a French deeptech building a Defensive Formal Verification Platform to protect smart contracts and blockchains from AI-driven attacks.

Valentyna Kondratenko — General Counsel at Hacken

As General Counsel at Hacken, Valentyna leads the legal function, manages cross-border corporate governance, and built the company’s legal operations from scratch while navigating the evolving regulatory landscape.

Marjolein Geus — Project Leader, European Blockchain Sandbox / Partner, Bird & Bird

Marjolein Geus led the European Blockchain Sandbox, a European Commission initiative that ran from 2023 to early 2026. She is a partner at Bird & Bird, Chair of the firm’s Global Tech & Comms Group, specializing in European and international regulatory projects focused on innovation and technology.

Session Video: https://youtu.be/gSJXou5qnxQ