Money20/20
Money20/20 is a global series of conferences and a content platform focused on the financial technology, payments, and financial services industries. It describes itself as the world’s leading, premium content, sales, and networking platform for the global money ecosystem, serving as a major gathering for industry leaders, innovators, and decision-makers to discuss trends, facilitate business deals, and showcase new technologies shaping the future of money.[1][2]
Overview
Money20/20 positions itself as a world-leading, premium networking and content platform for the global money ecosystem. Its primary objective is to connect professionals from across various sectors, including banking, payments, technology, retail, venture capital, and regulatory bodies. The conferences are designed to provide attendees with insights into emerging trends, opportunities for strategic partnerships, and a platform for sales and business development. The events are known for their large scale and the high seniority of their attendees, with the U.S. edition attracting over 11,000 participants from more than 80 countries. A significant portion of attendees, approximately one in three, hold C-suite titles, underscoring the event's focus on attracting key decision-makers.[1][2]
The conference format combines several core components to facilitate its goals. A main stage and multiple breakout sessions feature a large roster of speakers who deliver keynotes, participate in panel discussions, and lead specialized summits on niche topics. An extensive exhibition floor, or "Show Floor," allows over 350 sponsoring companies to demonstrate their latest products and solutions. Networking is a central element, supported by a proprietary mobile application, "Money20/20 Connect," which enables participants to schedule meetings in advance, as well as numerous social events and dedicated networking sessions. The overall aim is to create an efficient environment for high-impact business interactions. Alexandra Genovese, Vice President of Strategic Partnerships at Citi, noted the event's effectiveness, stating, "What could take a month or two over Zoom - to really connect with people - at Money20/20 you’re able to do it in person, quickly, in a very efficient way. It’s that awesome in person energy that drives our deal flow."[2]
Beyond the physical events, Money20/20 operates as a year-round content producer. It maintains several media platforms, including "The MoneyPot Podcast," which explores ideas reshaping finance, and "Taking Stock," a daily market-closing broadcast from the New York Stock Exchange. The organization also publishes industry analysis through its blog and in-depth whitepapers. Additionally, it runs special initiatives such as RiseUp and Amplify, which are designed to empower future leaders and promote underrepresented voices within the fintech community.[3]
Money20/20 currently holds four regional editions: USA, Europe, Asia, and Middle East. An Australia edition is planned for Melbourne in 2028.[1][6]
History
The Money20/20 brand was established around 2012, with its official X (formerly Twitter) account being created in January of that year.[4] By 2018, the conference series had expanded into a global franchise with established annual events in the United States (Las Vegas), Europe, and Asia. These events became prominent platforms for major discussions in the rapidly evolving fintech landscape, particularly around the emergence of cryptocurrency and digital assets. During this period, the conference featured influential figures from leading crypto companies like Ripple and Coinbase, as well as venture capital firms such as Andreessen Horowitz, who debated the future of digital finance and its potential for mainstream adoption.[4]
Informa completed its acquisition of Ascential on October 9, 2024, thereby acquiring Money20/20, which was owned by Ascential. From January 1, 2025, Money20/20 became part of Informa Festivals, Informa's division for experience-led events.[7][8]
A significant development in the event's offerings occurred in 2025 with the launch of the first global "Money Awards." This awards program was created to formally recognize and celebrate innovation and achievement across the financial industry. The program features a dedicated jury and multiple categories to honor individuals and companies that are "creating the future of money." Its 2026 program was the second year of the awards. This addition marked a strategic expansion of the Money20/20 brand from a conference organizer to an institution that also formally acknowledges industry excellence.[3] As part of this evolution, Money20/20 runs four established regional editions—USA, Europe, Asia, and Middle East—and has announced an Australia edition for 2028.[1][5][6]
Previous Editions
Money20/20 Middle East 2025
The inaugural edition took place September 15–17, 2025, in Riyadh. Official event information reported 38,500+ attendees, 450+ speakers, 451 exhibiting brands, 1,050+ investors, and 150+ startups.[5]
Post-event coverage emphasized AI moving from pilots toward deployment and highlighted governance, data integrity, and regulatory coordination as important considerations.[17][18] Representative announcements included Google Pay going live in Saudi Arabia, Alipay+ acceptance planned for a future rollout, Tamara announcing a financing facility of up to $2.4 billion with Goldman Sachs, Citi, and Apollo, and the announcement of a $100 million Limitless Payments fund.[17]
Money20/20 USA 2025
The Las Vegas event took place October 26–29, 2025. The organizer reported 11,000+ attendees from 85 countries, 630+ speakers, and 300+ sessions. AI, infrastructure, open finance, stablecoins, and real-time payments were key discussion areas.[11] Jennifer Bailey and Max Levchin were featured speakers.[12] Michael Saylor discussed the digital-asset treasury trend at the event.[13]
The event also featured the inaugural Money Awards, whose Diamond Grand Prix went to Project Nemo.[11] Western Union announced plans to launch its USDPT stablecoin in the first half of 2026 using Solana and Anchorage Digital Bank. PayPal and Google Cloud announced an agentic-shopping offering, and Checkout.com and Uber announced a payments partnership.[11]
Money20/20 Asia 2026
The event took place April 21–23, 2026, in Bangkok. The organizer listed 4,500+ attendees, 1,300+ companies, and representation from 85+ countries.[15]
Its recap highlighted agentic commerce, continuous identity and trust, AI-enabled fraud, stablecoins, programmable money, and cross-border payments.[19][20] Announcements included dLocal's stablecoin service for merchants in 44 emerging markets; Thunes adding direct real-time Pay-to-Bank services into New Zealand; and DeeMoney's cross-border QR product and exploration of stablecoin transfers with the Bank of Thailand.[20]
Money20/20 Europe 2026
The event took place June 2–4, 2026, at RAI Amsterdam. Organizer-published metrics listed 7,400+ attendees, 2,300+ companies, representation from 100+ countries, and 450+ speakers.[14]
Prominent discussions included agentic AI, stablecoins, cross-border payments, and European payments autonomy and sovereignty. Announcements included MoneyGram's plan for MGUSD on Stellar; Checkout.com and Coinbase enabling merchant stablecoin acceptance; and Worldline, ING, and Mastercard announcing an end-to-end agentic payment.[21] The invite-only Policy20 forum convened more than 40 public
- and private-sector leaders to discuss regulatory coordination and interoperability.[22]
Money20/20 Middle East 2026
The second edition took place September 14–16, 2026, in Riyadh. Event coverage reported approximately 400 speakers and 350+ exhibiting brands.[16]
SAMA announced Alipay+ payment acceptance in Saudi Arabia and plans to enable Apple Tap to Pay on iPhone. Lendo and Quantic announced an institutional capital programme of up to SAR 750 million, and Speedinvest announced a SAR 15 million investment in Abwab.ai. In the MoneySurge competition, Tanami won Best in Show, Planto was named Fintech to Watch, and Nearpays was named Fintech for Good.[23]
Money20/20 USA 2026
The Las Vegas conference ran October 18–21, 2026. The organizer listed 11,000+ senior attendees, 3,400+ companies, representation from 85+ countries, and 630+ speakers. Agenda topics included agentic AI, fraud, FaaS, payments, and regulation.[2]
Upcoming Editions
Money20/20 Asia 2027
Scheduled for April 27–29, 2027, in Bangkok, Thailand.[1][15] The event will be held at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Center. Its announced theme, “Rewriting Money for the Next Era,” frames Asia as a region shaping financial architectures rather than simply adopting them.[26]
The announced program themes include autonomous AI and agentic commerce with human accountability; identity, cybersecurity, and trust in a synthetic world; tokenisation, stablecoins, and real-world payment utility; interoperable cross-border systems and regulatory architecture; and financial health and prosperity.[27] The organizer describes curated Hosted Buyer/Sm∆rtMeet meetings, market-specific sessions, Policy20, and an expanded Intersection focused on traditional finance (TradFi) and decentralized finance (DeFi). The event’s published site lists 1,900+ companies from 95+ countries.[26]
Money20/20 Europe 2027
Scheduled for June 8–10, 2027, in Amsterdam, Netherlands.[1] The venue is the RAI.[28] The announced theme, “Control is Changing Hands,” examines how AI affects decision-making and human oversight, and how questions of European sovereignty apply to payments infrastructure, data, cloud, digital money, and financial services.[28]
The five announced content pillars are The Tokenised Economy; Building Future Foundations; Banking, Reimagined; New Rails, New Rules; and The Changing Trust Equation. Together, they connect tokenised assets and programmable money with infrastructure, banking, payments, and trust.[29]
Money20/20 Middle East 2027
Scheduled for September 14–16, 2027, at the Riyadh Exhibition & Convention Center in Malham, Saudi Arabia.[24] The organizer lists projected scale of 350+ brands, 350+ speakers, 600+ investors, and 150 startups.[24]
The announced event focuses on fintech, payments, banking, and technology, bringing together banks, fintech firms, regulators, startups, and investors. The organizer’s event overview describes closed-door roundtables on AI governance, open finance, and digital banking, alongside investor and startup programming.[24]
Money20/20 USA 2027
Scheduled for October 19–21, 2027, in Las Vegas. The edition will move to the Las Vegas Convention Center and Resorts World.[25] The organizer describes the venues as connected through the LVCC Loop, an underground transport route with an approximately three-minute ride. The move establishes a two-venue setup for the event.[25]
Key Themes and Discussions
The content at Money20/20 conferences consistently reflects the most pressing topics and technological shifts within the financial industry. Analysis of sessions from 2018 and 2019, for example, highlighted several dominant themes that continue to be relevant.
Cryptocurrency and Digital Assets
A central focus of the conferences has been the role and potential of cryptocurrencies and digital assets. Discussions have ranged from high-level strategy to practical implementation. At the October 2018 U.S. event, a key panel featuring executives from Coinbase and Andreessen Horowitz explored the search for a mainstream adoption catalyst for crypto, referred to as the "iPhone moment." In another session, Chris Larsen, co-founder of Ripple, discussed the potential for digital assets to solve global liquidity problems and strengthen financial infrastructure. He remarked, “10 years out on the financial crisis we still don’t have the infrastructure perhaps to prevent the next one... an efficient digital asset can really solve some of the key problems in global liquidity.” At the 2019 Europe event, Wei Zhou, then CFO of Binance, spoke on the rise of the token economy as a new method for capital formation.[4]
Financial Infrastructure and Techfins
The conferences have served as a forum for comparing the capabilities of legacy financial systems with those of new technology-driven financial companies, or "techfins." A notable comparison was made by author Chris Skinner at the 2018 U.S. event, where he highlighted the vast difference in processing capacity between established networks and new players. Skinner stated, “Alibaba, as techfins, is building a technology stake that handles a million transactions per second for 2 billion people, compared to Visa that handles about 2,000 transactions per second.” This highlighted the technological disruption challenging traditional financial infrastructure.[4]
Financial Inclusion
Another recurring theme is the potential for new financial technologies to expand access to banking and financial services globally. Jesse Lund, then IBM's Head of Blockchain & Digital Currencies, discussed at Money20/20 Asia in 2019 how cryptocurrency could be a tool for greater financial inclusion. Similarly, the musician and entrepreneur Akon presented his project, Akoin, at the 2018 U.S. event, explaining its vision to use digital currency to build financial infrastructure for youth in Africa. These discussions underscore the event's focus on the social and economic impact of fintech innovation.[4]
Special Programs and Initiatives
In addition to its main conference agenda, Money20/20 runs several specialized programs and content initiatives.
The Money Awards
The Money Awards, launched in 2025, is a global program designed to celebrate significant achievements and innovations within the financial industry. The awards aim to recognize the individuals and organizations that are driving the future of money through their work.[9] Its second awards ceremony took place on October 18, 2026, at Money20/20 USA. The 2026 Grand Prix winners included bolttech (Diamond), Charm Security (Early Stage Startup), Trace Finance (Growth Stage Startup), Omnisient (Banking), Privy (Payments), and Sooho.io with the Bank of Korea (Partnerships & Strategic Alliance).[9][10]
Community Initiatives
- RiseUp: This program is dedicated to empowering the next generation of female leaders in fintech. It provides participants with mentorship, networking opportunities, and enhanced visibility at Money20/20 events, with a focus on promoting diversity and inclusion within the industry.
- Amplify: Similar to RiseUp, Amplify is an initiative focused on leadership empowerment for underrepresented groups within the financial services community.
These programs are integrated into the main conferences, providing dedicated content and networking for their participants.[2]
Content Platforms
- Taking Stock: A daily closing bell series broadcast live from the New York Stock Exchange. Airing from 3:58 pm to 4:30 pm ET, the show covers top market-moving stories and is produced in collaboration with the NYSE, FINTECH.TV, and Cheddar.
- The MoneyPot Podcast: A podcast series that features in-depth conversations with industry leaders and thinkers about the ideas and innovations shaping the future of finance.
- Blog and Whitepapers: The Money20/20 research team regularly publishes analysis and reports on industry trends through its official blog and detailed whitepapers, providing resources for professionals to stay informed.[3]
