TradFi, DeFi are like ‘two worlds converging: Zignaly CFO

Abdul Rafay Gadit made a move that is still rarely made in the banking world: He jumped from traditional finance, or TradFi, to decentralized finance, or DeFi.

TradFi is highly regulated and committed to consumer protection. But it can be slow, costly, and limited to money carriers who have access to banking services. With DeFi, anyone with internet access can participate. Although generally faster and more accessible, it carries risks such as smart contract bugs, hacking, and little or no regulation.

“I believe we are at a pivotal moment where the two worlds are starting to merge,” Gadit told crypto.news.

Gadit founded Zignaly (ZIG) in 2018 after spending six years in corporate banking at Standard Chartered. Since then, the platform has amassed more than 500,000 users and more than 150 portfolio managers. Work is also ongoing on a decentralized blockchain called ZIGChain.

Read on for Gadit’s thoughts on the latest trends in social trading and how it could bridge the gap between TradFi and DeFi.

How have your experiences at TradFi influenced your approach to ZIGChain?

Gadit: My move from corporate banking to blockchain stemmed from a desire to innovate and challenge the traditional financial systems that I have been a part of for six years. Working at Standard Chartered has given me a deep insight into the inefficiencies and limitations in traditional finance, particularly in terms of accessibility, transparency and wealth creation opportunities.

Blockchain has introduced a completely new paradigm that empowers individuals to control their assets, make decentralized decisions, and participate in open financial ecosystems. Co-founder of Zignaly enabled me to put my banking background to work; He focused on creating a platform where everyone, regardless of their background, can invest together with experienced investors and benefit from the opportunities on web3.

My experiences in traditional finance have significantly influenced our approach. We aimed to take best practices from the banking world, such as risk management, compliance and user protection, and combine them with the innovation and openness of blockchain. Our goal was to create an infrastructure that allows wealth generation in a more democratic, transparent and accessible way for all users.

What is your long-term vision for ZIGChain?

Our long-term vision is to build a robust, scalable Layer 1 blockchain that powers a truly decentralized wealth creation ecosystem; On this platform, builders, fund managers, and users can collaborate to build and deploy the next generation of DeFi tools, dApps, and infrastructure. Promoting financial inclusion and wealth creation.

Our goal is not only to drive adoption but also to establish ZIGChain as the cornerstone of the web3 financial environment where builders, fund managers and users can thrive in a transparent, secure and high-performance environment. With the support of industry leaders and a clear focus on sustainability and innovation, we are well positioned to make this vision a reality.

ZIGChain launched a $100 million ecosystem development fund in August. Where will this capital go?

The $100 Million Ecosystem Fund, supported by DWF Labs, UDHC Finance, and Disrupt, is critical to realizing our vision. We plan to use these funds to attract top developers and projects and offer them the resources and support needed to build innovative tools natively on ZIGChain. This funding will help accelerate the growth of our ecosystem by fostering innovation, expanding our infrastructure, and creating incentives for key participants.

What are the key challenges of managing such a large social investment platform?

One of the key challenges we face at Zignaly is limited access to asset classes. Currently, fund managers on our platform can only invest in tokens listed on centralized exchanges, which limits the investment opportunities available to our users. But with ZIGChain, we are opening the doors to a much broader range of assets, including DeFi, real-world assets, NFTs, perpetual contracts, and tokens across multiple chains. This flexibility not only gives fund managers more options, but also creates more diverse and profitable investment strategies for our users, ultimately increasing return potential.

We also encountered limitations in centralized finance or CeFi, such as mandatory KYC processes and limited access based on users’ nationality. These requirements may limit the participation of global users and create scalability concerns. ZIGChain, a decentralized blockchain, overcomes many of these obstacles. It provides a more inclusive and scalable system that allows users to participate without the strict restrictions often imposed by centralized platforms. This allows ZIGChain to reach a wider audience, allowing us to scale the platform to meet growing demand.

Another limitation we face at Zignaly is trust in CeFi investors. We are currently limited to fund managers and traders on centralized exchanges, but with ZIGChain we are unlocking a whole new space of DeFi traders. This provides access to innovative DeFi strategies and products not previously available on Zignaly. By leveraging the DeFi space, we can significantly increase the return potential for our users, increase overall profitability and diversify the business’ revenue streams. This not only improves the user experience, but also positions ZIGChain as a more dynamic and adaptable platform in the ever-evolving web3 environment.

Given your background in corporate banking, how do you see the intersection of TradFi and DeFi evolving?

My background in corporate banking has given me a unique perspective on the potential synergies between traditional finance and decentralized finance. I believe we are at a pivotal moment where two worlds are beginning to converge, and this intersection offers tremendous opportunities for innovation and financial inclusion.

TradFi has long been the backbone of the global economy, with established frameworks for risk management, compliance and trust. However, it also brings limitations: limited access to wealth-creating opportunities, high barriers to entry, and slow innovation. DeFi, on the other hand, offers openness, inclusivity, and decentralization, giving users direct control over their assets and access to a wider range of financial products such as staking, lending, and tokenized real-world assets.

As this synergy develops, I see traditional institutions increasingly integrating DeFi solutions to increase efficiency and offer new services to their customers. This can include everything from tokenized assets and decentralized loans to programmable smart contracts to automate complex financial processes.

By creating an ecosystem that combines the security and regulatory rigor of TradFi with the innovation and transparency of DeFi, we can create a more accessible and flexible financial system. I envision a future where users seamlessly switch between traditional and decentralized financial products, unlocking new opportunities for wealth creation and financial empowerment on a global scale.

Does Zignaly compete with other social investment platforms?

At Zignaly, we do not see ourselves in direct competition with other social investment platforms. Instead, we focus on competing with our vision of continuous improvement and expanding access to fund management for everyone. Our goal is to democratize wealth creation by ensuring that everyone, regardless of their financial background, can connect with professional fund managers and access a wide range of asset classes.

While other platforms may limit themselves to centralized systems or traditional investment assets, we are pushing the boundaries by integrating DeFi, RWAs, NFTs and more through ZIGChain. Our mission is to break down the barriers that have long prevented people from managing their wealth and unlock a world of opportunity where access to financial growth is no longer a privilege, but a right for everyone.

So, in essence, our biggest competition is our passion to redefine what is possible in the world of decentralized finance and fund management.

What trends do you foresee in social investing?

Over the years, we have seen a strong demand for transparency, performance-focused strategies and diversified asset classes. The key trend we are observing in social investing is a shift towards decentralized platforms and more innovative investment opportunities, especially as users become increasingly aware of the benefits of DeFi and tokenized assets.

In the coming years, I foresee increasing demand for personalized investment strategies, where users can not only follow a portfolio manager based on their past performance, but also have access to real-time, dynamic strategies tailored to their individual risk profiles, preferences and assessments. targets. We also expect greater integration with decentralized asset classes that offer users an unprecedented level of diversification.

How to stay ahead of the Web3 curve?

We are constantly innovating to stay ahead in the Web3 space. With ZIGChain, we are creating a platform that not only offers access to a much broader range of assets beyond centralized exchanges, but also offers features such as automated, reliable, smart contract-based fund management that significantly increase security and transparency. We are also building our infrastructure to accommodate more DeFi portfolio managers and enable them to provide strategies and tools to our users. This will not only increase the profitability of our users, but also attract a new generation of investors to the platform.

Our goal is to lead the evolution of social investing by remaining decentralized, offering access to new and diverse asset classes, and continuing to prioritize security, transparency, and user experience.