Senior Software Engineer - C++/Rust

5 reasons to visit Meridian 2026 in Lisbon. Published on: 24 Sep 2026, 6:20 am Updated on: 24 Sep 2026, 6:20 am The conversation around blockchain is increasingly moving beyond crypto markets and toward the infrastructure connecting digital assets with payments, banking and global finance. This October, many of the people working on that transition will gather in Lisbon. Meridian 2026, Stellar's annual flagship conference, takes place October 28-29 at Convento do Beato. The two-day event brings together developers, founders, financial institutions, policymakers and digital asset companies to explore how blockchain technology is being used in the real world. Here are five reasons to have Meridian on your calendar this fall. 1. Meet the people connecting crypto and traditional finance. One of Meridian's biggest draws is the mix of people attending. Rather than focusing exclusively on crypto-native companies, the conference brings blockchain builders into the same room as banks, financial infrastructure providers, investors and policymakers. The 2026 speaker lineup reflects that mix. Confirmed speakers include Nadine Chakar, Global Head of DTCC Digital Assets; Jamie Walker, Head of Digital Assets and Money Movement at U.S. Bank; Michael Shaulov, CEO and co-founder of Fireblocks; Ginger Baker, VP of Product Management at Meta; and Anthony Scaramucci, founder and managing partner of SkyBridge Capital. Other participants come from organizations including MoneyGram, SG-Forge, WisdomTree Digital Assets, PwC, EY, Curve Finance, WalletConnect, Ondo Finance and Anchorage Digital. That makes Meridian an opportunity to hear from both sides of an increasingly important conversation: the crypto companies building new financial infrastructure and the established institutions figuring out how to use it. 2. See where blockchain is actually being used. Meridian puts a strong emphasis on real-world applications of the Stellar network rather than concentrating solely on broader market narratives. Across two days, the program includes keynotes, fireside chats, technical sessions, workshops and ecosystem showcases. The schedule is designed around real-world uses of Stellar alongside networking and product discovery. That means discussions extend into areas such as payments, financial access, tokenized assets and the infrastructure required to connect digital assets with existing financial systems. For attendees trying to understand where blockchain adoption is moving beyond experimentation, Meridian provides an opportunity to see products, infrastructure and use cases being discussed by the organizations actually building them. 3. Build before the conference at HackMeridian. For developers, the Meridian experience can start several days earlier. HackMeridian takes place October 25-26 in Lisbon, immediately before the main conference. The two-day event brings developers, founders, designers and technical teams together to turn ideas into working products built on Stellar. The connection between the hackathon and the main conference also gives builders a chance to put their work in front of the wider ecosystem. Top HackMeridian projects are set to pitch on Meridian's main stage as part of the Stellar Shark Tank session. For developers, that makes the week more than a traditional conference experience. It is also an opportunity to build, demonstrate products and connect directly with other technical teams. 4. Network without the mega-conference feel. Large crypto conferences can attract tens of thousands of people, which is useful for scale but can make meaningful conversations harder. Meridian is considerably more focused. Its 2025 edition brought together more than 1,000 attendees from 65 countries, with over 115 speakers participating across more than 60 sessions. The 2026 program also builds networking directly into the schedule. Attendees can join a pre-conference Stellar Lounge networking session on October 27, followed by evening gatherings during the conference and a closing celebration on October 29. For founders, investors, developers and financial professionals, the smaller setting can provide more opportunities to connect with people working on similar problems rather than simply navigating another enormous exhibition floor. 5. Spend two days talking crypto in Lisbon. The location does not hurt either. Meridian takes place at Convento do Beato, a historic 16th-century convent in Lisbon's Marvila neighborhood. The venue sits roughly 15 minutes by car from Lisbon Humberto Delgado Airport, making it relatively easy for international attendees to reach. Lisbon has also become a familiar meeting point for Europe's technology and crypto communities, and Meridian arrives just before another busy stretch of technology events across Portugal and the rest of Europe. For anyone planning a fall conference calendar, Meridian offers a combination that is increasingly difficult to find: institutional finance, crypto-native builders, technical content and networking in a relatively focused setting. With digital assets becoming more closely connected to payments and traditional financial infrastructure, Meridian 2026 offers two days to see how that convergence is developing and meet some of the people building it.

BVNK expands multi-chain stablecoin infrastructure with Stellar integration. * Blockchain * 22.09.2026 12:22 pm BVNK today announced the integration of the Stellar blockchain into its stablecoin payments platform, giving businesses access to another high-speed, low-cost payment rail through BVNK's single platform and API. The integration brings together leading stablecoin infrastructure provider BVNK, which processes $39B in annualized volume, and Stellar, the network which processed $55.6B in payment volume in 2025. It gives BVNK's customers an additional route for moving stablecoins globally, while enabling businesses to access multiple blockchain networks through a single API. This abstracts much of the technical complexity of connecting to individual blockchain networks. BVNK's customers can now access Stellar's network for high-volume cross-border payments, merchant payouts, and treasury disbursements. Stellar is one of the world's most established payment-focused blockchain networks, specifically designed for digital asset transfers and global payments. Stellar has an average settlement speed of 5 seconds, 99.99% network uptime and average transaction costs are a fraction of a cent. The integration reflects BVNK's multi-chain, multi-coin approach to stablecoin payments. By bringing this established network on to its platform, BVNK will offer payments teams another high-efficiency settlement route, all through a single integration. BVNK acts as the infrastructure layer connecting the stablecoin ecosystem, abstracting underlying blockchain complexity so businesses can access new rails without the engineering burden of building separate integrations or re-platforming as they scale. This integration, which connects BVNK customers to Stellar today, can also be extended to additional Stellar-native assets over time as BVNK adds support for them - without additional work needed on the customer's side. Kim Mescal Julien, Head of Partnerships at BVNK, said: "The future of global payments is multi-chain and multi-asset, but businesses shouldn't have to manage the underlying engineering burden of connecting to dozens of individual blockchains. "By integrating Stellar's established payment network, we are giving our customers another efficient, low-cost route to move money globally through a single platform and API. Businesses can choose the networks and assets that best fit their needs, without having to build and maintain the infrastructure to connect to each one themselves." Denelle Dixon, CEO & Executive Director of the Stellar Development Foundation said: "Businesses moving money at scale need to know it works every time, in every corridor. Stellar has spent a decade building a payments network that financial institutions and regulated enterprises depend on for cross-border transfers, payouts, and stablecoin settlement. Stellar is a network financial institutions trust and now BVNK's customers will have access to the Stellar network's reliable payment rails." The integration further expands BVNK's role as infrastructure connecting businesses to the stablecoin ecosystem, giving customers access to a growing range of networks and assets through a single platform. The Stellar integration is live today for all BVNK enterprise customers across 130+ supported countries.

Kaiko, a data service provider in the cryptocurrency market, has received leading investment from S&P Global, increasing its total financing to $110 million, DRW Holdings、Susquehanna、 Royal Bank of Canada, NASDAQ, BNP Paribas, BpiFrance, Broadridge, Canton Ventures, Coinbase Ventures, and Stellar will participate, and Kaiko will use the financing to develop new products and services.