The 2nd International Workshop on Blockchain and Financial Intelligence (BFI 2026)

1. Motivation

Blockchain technology, combined with advances in artificial intelligence (AI) and large language models (LLMs), is dramatically reshaping the financial landscape. This convergence is powering new decentralized financial ecosystems (DeFi), enhancing transaction transparency, optimizing financial risk management, and enabling novel regulatory approaches. The 2nd International Workshop on Blockchain and Financial Intelligence (BFI 2026) aims to investigate the dynamic relationship between blockchain, AI-driven financial analytics, decentralized finance, and large-scale generative models, emphasizing their potential to revolutionize traditional finance and emerging fintech solutions within the Web 3.0 paradigm.

The financial industry is increasingly leveraging blockchain to achieve decentralization, transparency, and immutable transaction records. Concurrently, AI and sophisticated large-scale models (such as ChatGPT and BloombergGPT) are enhancing decision-making, fraud detection, credit scoring, and predictive analytics. Web 3.0 frameworks amplify these advances by prioritizing interoperability, decentralized governance, and enhanced user empowerment, presenting new opportunities and challenges for financial technologies.

Building on the success of the first edition (BFI 2025), this second edition seeks to address critical questions: How can blockchain and AI models synergize to foster transparency, security, and fairness in financial systems? How can large generative models augment DeFi protocols, risk management, and automated financial advisory services? What strategies and frameworks can effectively mitigate security vulnerabilities, privacy concerns, and regulatory complexities within blockchain-based financial systems? BFI 2026 will provide a focused forum for academic researchers, industry practitioners, and policy stakeholders to advance research and exchange insights at this intersection.

1.1 Alignment with BCRA 2026

The proposed workshop is closely aligned with the core themes of BCRA 2026, including:

• Blockchain architecture and protocols
• Smart contracts and programmable governance
• Security, trust, and transparency
• Tokenomics and incentive or slashing mechanisms
• Scalability
• Integration of blockchain with AI
• Applications in finance, DeFi, and regulated domains

BFI 2026 complements the main conference by concentrating on a vertical of high practical and societal relevance, namely the integration of blockchain, AI, and large models in finance. It addresses architectural design choices, trust and privacy mechanisms, economic structures, and regulatory considerations that shape blockchain-enabled financial intelligence across DeFi, fintech, banking, and capital markets.

2. Objectives of the Workshop

The workshop aims to examine how blockchain infrastructures and AI systems (including large-scale generative models) can be effectively integrated to support secure, transparent, and intelligent financial services. It seeks to explore how blockchain can provide verifiable data records, identity and reputation, programmable governance, and incentive alignment for AI-driven financial applications, while AI can enhance analytics, risk management, and decision-making over on-chain and hybrid financial data.

Particular attention will be given to decentralized and multi-agent financial environments, in which trust, auditability, and enforceable coordination mechanisms become especially important. The workshop will also consider the technical, economic, ethical, and regulatory challenges that arise when deploying AI systems on or alongside blockchain platforms in finance. Through paper presentations and moderated discussion, BFI 2026 aims to clarify practical trade-offs, highlight successful design patterns, and identify open research questions for scalable and trustworthy blockchain-enabled financial intelligence.

3. Topics of Interest

BFI 2026 invites original research, case studies, and critical reviews at the intersection of blockchain, AI, large models, DeFi, fintech, and Web 3.0. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following six themes.

Submissions may include theoretical work, system designs, empirical studies, simulations, implementation reports, or well-grounded interdisciplinary research.

4. Target Audience

BFI 2026 is aimed at students, academics, doctoral researchers, and industry professionals working at the intersection of blockchain, artificial intelligence, and financial technology. The workshop welcomes participants from computer science, information systems, finance and economics, and regulatory or policy domains who are interested in the technical and practical implications of bringing these technologies together. The first edition of the workshop attracted an international audience, and we expect BFI 2026 to further broaden participation across Europe, Asia, and North America.

5. Organizers

5.1 Organizing Committee

5.2 Technical Program Committee

The Technical Program Committee will be composed of senior and early-career researchers from leading universities and industrial laboratories working on blockchain, AI in finance, DeFi, and large models. The committee will be finalized shortly after the CFP release and will include members from institutions in Asia, Europe, and North America to ensure broad methodological coverage and geographic balance. A core group of TPC members from the first edition (BFI 2025) will be invited to continue, providing continuity across editions.

6. Proposed Format and Schedule

HALF-DAY WORKSHOP

The workshop will combine peer-reviewed paper presentations with a moderated panel discussion, encouraging focused scientific exchange while maintaining a manageable schedule suitable for a half-day format.

Tentative Schedule

• 1Opening remarks (10 minutes)
• 2Paper presentations, Session I (60 minutes)
• 3Coffee break (15 minutes)
• 4Paper presentations, Session II (60 minutes)
• 5Coffee break (15 minutes)
• 6Panel discussion: The Future of Blockchain-Enabled Financial Intelligence
• 7Closing remarks

7. Expected Attendance

• We expect around 15 paper submissions.
• The acceptance number will be around 6-8 papers.
• We anticipate 20-25 participants for the workshop.

8. Call for Papers and Review Plan

BFI 2026 seeks original, previously unpublished work of two types:

• Position papers: well-argued position statements or work in progress.
• Research papers: technical research, experience reports, empirical studies, and case studies.

Evaluation will be based on the significance of the problem, the novelty of the solution, advancement beyond prior work, the sufficiency of supporting evidence, and the clarity of presentation. Each submission will receive at least three independent reviews. All submissions must be in English and in PDF format, following the Springer LNCS proceedings template. Accepted papers will be published by Springer and indexed by EI Compendex. Distinguished papers presented at the workshop may be recommended, after further revision, for publication in the journal Blockchain: Research and Applications (Impact Factor 6.9, CiteScore 11.3).

8.1 Important Dates

All deadlines above are aligned with the BCRA 2026 workshop track timeline to ensure a smooth joint review and publication process.

Please submit your paper via the submission site EasyChair by the deadline.

Submit via EasyChair

9. Publicity Plan

The workshop will be publicized through the following channels to reach a broad and international audience: (i) a dedicated workshop webpage linked from the BCRA 2026 conference site; (ii) CFP distribution through major mailing lists in blockchain, security, AI, and finance (for example, IACR, DBWorld, AISWorld, and relevant ACM and IEEE lists); (iii) announcements on social and academic platforms (LinkedIn, X/Twitter, ResearchGate); (iv) direct invitations to authors and participants of BFI 2025 and related venues; and (v) outreach to industry partners and fintech communities. The organizers will also coordinate with the BCRA 2026 publicity chairs to ensure consistent promotion with the main conference.

10. Relation to Previous Editions

BFI 2026 is the second edition of the International Workshop on Blockchain and Financial Intelligence. The first edition (BFI 2025) was co-located with BCRA 2025 and attracted submissions spanning DeFi analytics, blockchain-based data governance, privacy-preserving financial learning, and regulatory and ethical aspects of blockchain finance. The second edition preserves the scope and quality standards of BFI 2025 while placing stronger emphasis on the integration of large-scale generative models with blockchain-based financial infrastructures and on emerging Web 3.0 applications. Continuity in organization, a shared TPC core, and alignment with the Blockchain: Research and Applications journal ensure that BFI 2026 builds coherently on the foundation of its first edition.

11. Publication

All accepted papers will be published by Springer in the workshop proceedings associated with BCRA 2026 and will be indexed by EI Compendex. High-quality accepted papers will be recommended, after further revision, to the journal Blockchain: Research and Applications (ESCI, Impact Factor 6.9, CiteScore 11.3).