The two most influential central bankers on the planet are sharing a stage this week in a sleepy Portuguese resort town. And crypto markets should probably be paying attention.
The ECB Forum on Central Banking 2026, running from June 29 to July 1 in Sintra, Portugal, has drawn Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh and ECB President Christine Lagarde to discuss a theme that reads like a tech conference agenda: “Shaping Europe’s future: innovation, growth and stability.”
Warsh’s debut on the global stage
It marks Warsh’s first major international appearance as Fed Chair. Warsh is set to participate in a policy panel on July 1, the final day of the conference. The Sintra Forum has been compared to the US Jackson Hole symposium, the annual gathering where central bankers have historically dropped some of their most market-moving hints about future policy direction.
Lagarde kicked things off on June 29, opening the forum with remarks that emphasized a pivot back to conventional monetary policy tools. The ECB spent the better part of a decade relying on unconventional measures, including negative interest rates and massive bond-buying programs, following the financial crisis. Her message was clear: that era is winding down.
