Company: ZIGChain
Co-Founder and CFO: Abdul Rafay Gadit
Website: https://zigchain.com/
About ZIGChain
ZIGChain is a purpose-built Layer 1 blockchain designed to make compliant, scalable wealth creation accessible to everyone. Launched in 2024, the platform empowers developers and financial innovators to build decentralised applications that support tokenised investments, real-world assets, and Shariah-compliant financial products.
ZIGChain emerged from a real-world need: traditional and digital finance have largely developed in silos, leaving users with fragmented access to high-quality investment tools. Our team recognised the gap between infrastructure that looks promising on paper and infrastructure that can actually support institutional and retail users at scale. To solve this, we built a chain focused on compliance, flexibility, and accessibility from the start.
One of our core challenges was aligning modern blockchain infrastructure with the regulatory demands of both conventional and Islamic finance. Building trust in tokenised finance requires more than technical features — it means designing systems that local regulators, financial institutions, and end users can rely on. We worked closely with compliance experts and regional partners to develop tools that support real-time monitoring, risk-based identity management, and governance mechanisms that can adapt to various frameworks.
Our impact in the blockchain industry is already being seen across the MENA region and beyond. In early 2025, the launch of ZIGChain Mainnet marked a turning point for infrastructure that supports tokenised real estate, private credit, and compliant DeFi applications. Our ecosystem includes early-stage projects like Oroswap, an AI-powered conversational DEX; Permapod, a lending protocol designed to accept tokenised real-world assets as collateral; and Nawa Finance, a Shariah-compliant DeFi aggregator. These applications demonstrate the range of use cases being built on top of ZIGChain.
In partnership with Disrupt dot com, we also supported the launch of Zamanat — the first Shariah-compliant real-world asset tokenisation platform. This venture represents a breakthrough in Islamic finance, combining blockchain innovation with ethical, asset-backed investing designed for mass accessibility.
ZIGChain is also powered by the technology and liquidity of Zignaly, a licensed social investment platform with over 500,000 users and 150 portfolio managers. This gives our Layer 1 chain a live user base and real capital flows from the outset, accelerating adoption and community growth.
Looking ahead, ZIGChain is focused on building bridges between traditional and decentralised finance, expanding access to tokenised assets, and supporting innovation that unlocks wealth for communities often excluded from financial growth. Our goal is simple: to build infrastructure that brings real investment opportunities to real people, globally.
