- Abu Dhabi will host Global Trading Show, a cross-asset trading event spanning traditional and digital markets on December 10–11th
- VAP Group’s gathering will feature AI, institutional finance, DeFi, tokenisation, and quantitative strategies
- More than 5,000 market participants are expected in the audience for renowned speakers from finance and digital assets
- Live trading, specialist forums, masterclasses, and dedicated zones will anchor the two-day programme
The Global Trading Show 2026 will take place on December 10–11th in Abu Dhabi, putting multi-asset trading, financial technology, and market infrastructure at the centre of its inaugural edition. Organized by VAP Group, co-located with Global Blockchain Show, and powered by Times Of Trading, the event is designed as a cross-asset forum spanning forex, crypto, equities, gold, AI-driven trading, DeFi, and other emerging market segments.
A Cross-Asset Format for a Changing Trading Landscape
The two-day event is expected to attract more than 5,000 market participants, including investors, brokers, exchanges, regulators, institutional desks, high-volume traders, and financial creators. Its format combines a multi-asset trading floor with conference sessions, practical masterclasses, networking opportunities, and institutional forums.
The trading floor will give brokers, exchanges, and trading platforms a shared showcase for products spanning multiple asset classes. Alongside the exhibition, a live trading tournament will put execution and trading performance on display using regulated infrastructure and a transparent prize pool.
Where AI Meets the Trading Desk
Artificial intelligence will feature prominently throughout the agenda, with sessions examining autonomous trading agents, algorithmic strategies, machine learning and AI-powered execution. Speakers will explore how large language models and increasingly autonomous systems could reshape order-book analysis, risk management, and decision-making.
Quantitative trading will receive dedicated attention as well, with discussions covering systematic strategies, machine-learning models, high-frequency trading and the technologies supporting faster execution. The programme will also examine the infrastructure required to connect brokers, data providers, payment systems and execution venues.
From Wall Street to Web3
The Global Trading Show will explore the evolving relationship between traditional financial institutions and decentralized markets through sessions on DeFi, tokenisation, and on-chain settlement. Topics will include real-world asset tokenisation, institutional DeFi, stablecoins, custody, crypto ETFs, and the development of secondary markets for tokenised assets.
Regulation will form another major strand of the programme, with discussions focused on ADGM, VARA, MiCA, and cross-border compliance. Speakers are to examine how regulatory frameworks are shaping digital-asset adoption, market access, and the relationship between centralized and decentralized financial systems.
The New Architecture of Global Capital
The agenda will also examine how capital flows are changing across regions and asset classes. Sessions will address the rise of 24/7 markets, multi-asset platforms, de-dollarisation, emerging-market opportunities and the implications of a more multipolar financial system.
Portfolio strategy will feature discussions covering foreign exchange, crypto, equities and gold, while separate sessions will consider commodities, central-bank policy and macroeconomic volatility. Other topics include sanctions, geopolitical disruption and the changing infrastructure supporting international capital movements.
Institutional Markets Meet Retail Innovation
Institutional trading will be examined through sessions on prime brokerage, margin optimization, liquidity, dark pools, internalisation and high-frequency execution. The programme will also look at how these market structures affect retail traders, and the increasingly sophisticated technologies available to individual participants.
Retail-focused discussions will cover trading psychology, prop trading, mobile-first brokerage, social trading and copy-trading platforms. The Show will additionally examine how financial creators and KOLs influence market education, participation and the way trading information reaches retail audiences.
A Speaker Lineup Spanning Finance and Digital Assets
The speaker lineup features executives and specialists from financial services, digital assets, investment and technology companies. Confirmed participants include:
- Christos Christou of Lulu Financial Holdings
- Marcin Kaźmierczak of RedStone
- Evgeny Gokhberg of Re7 Capital
- Mahmoud Hamouda of Banque Misr
- John Lilic of Hilbert Group
- Richard Muirhead of Fabric Ventures
- Vineet Budki of Sigma Capital
- Charles Edwards of Capriole Investments
- Robin Wingard of Wingbits
- Logan Jastremski of Frictionless Capital
- David Schamis of Hyperliquid Strategies
- Chris Williams of Messiah Network
Their backgrounds span compliance, venture capital, digital assets, investment management, infrastructure and emerging financial technologies.
Dedicated Zones for NextGen Markets
The exhibition will feature dedicated AI & Quant, Web3 & DeFi, Retail Education, and Institutional Liquidity zones. These areas will complement the Show’s agenda with opportunities to explore technologies, services and strategies across different segments of the trading ecosystem.
Expert-led masterclasses and institutional forums will provide additional formats for more focused discussions. Closed-door sessions and open panels will address issues relevant to hedge funds, prime brokers, liquidity providers, sovereign wealth funds and family offices.
Abu Dhabi as the Event’s Financial Base
Abu Dhabi got selected as the event’s setting amid the city’s expanding role in financial services, digital assets, and institutional investment. The organizer points to the emirate’s regulatory infrastructure, sovereign investment ecosystem, and financial-services development as key factors behind the location.
The Global Trading Show is scheduled during a period when Abu Dhabi’s financial calendar is drawing international investors and institutions to the emirate. The event positions itself within this wider development of the city’s capital-markets and fintech ecosystem.
The Show is organized by VAP Group, whose portfolio includes the Global AI Show, Global Games Show, and Global Blockchain Show. The company describes its activities as spanning consulting, media, events, strategic communications, and ecosystem development across technology-led markets.
Looking Beyond Traditional Market Boundaries
The agenda extends beyond conventional trading themes into prediction markets, ESG and carbon markets, women in trading, fintech investment, and quantum computing. More sessions will explore the future of brokerage, AI personalization, tokenised securities, and the technologies that could shape trading through the end of the decade.
The programme closes the loop between today’s market infrastructure and longer-term questions about how trading could evolve. AI co-pilots, autonomous systems, quantum technologies and increasingly connected financial platforms will feature among the topics looking beyond the immediate market cycle.
In a Nutshell
- Where: TBA, Abu Dhabi, the UAE
- When: December 10–11th, 2026
- Tickets are available here in different categories
- More information: on the Show’s official website
Kostiantyn is a freelance writer from Crimea but based in Lviv. He loves writing about IT and high tech because those topics are always upbeat and he’s an inherent optimist!
