ZIGChain Summit 2026 marks a defining moment for onchain finance as ecosystem unites around execution, partnerships

Dubai, UAE, May 5, 2026 – ZIGChain, the blockchain built to bring regulated investment products onchain for everyday users, today reflected on its second annual ZIGChain Summit, a defining gathering for the future of onchain finance, held on 28 April at the The Meydan Hotel, Dubai.

Organised in partnership with Disrupt and streamed live on Cointelegraph, the summit brought together institutions, builders, regulators, and capital allocators from across the GCC and global markets under one shared conviction: that the shift from exploration to execution in onchain finance has already begun.

Nothing compounds alone

The summit’s central theme, Nothing Compounds Alone, set the tone for a programme built around coordinated progress. Each session was designed not as another discussion but as a mechanism for alignment: bringing capital, technology, and regulation into the same room so that decisions happen earlier and execution compounds faster.

The eight-session programme moved through the full arc of the ecosystem’s evolution from foundational infrastructure and the UAE’s regulatory advantage, to startup formation, fintech integration, tokenization and capital markets, and the next frontier for onchain finance. Throughout, product launches, strategic partnerships, and ecosystem announcements were unveiled, reflecting the momentum behind ZIGChain’s growing institutional pipeline.

An event built for execution

This year’s speaker roster brought together some of the most consequential voices in institutional digital finance. Participants included Dr. Saeeda Jaffar of Circle, Jez Mohideen, CEO and Co-Founder of Laser Digital, Dino Ibric, Deputy CEO of Swissquote MEA, Christiane El Habre, Regional Managing Director of Apex Group, Ramana Kumar from ADI, Faisal Al Hammadi from Further Ventures, Abhi, and Peter Tavener, CEO and Co-Founder of Beehive, among a broader cohort of operators, founders, and regulators.

What distinguished the room was intent. Every participant was either deploying capital into onchain infrastructure, building the protocols that underpin it, or designing the regulatory environment around it. The UAE’s multi-regulator framework — spanning VARA, the DFSA, and FSRA — provided the backdrop for substantive, compliance-first discussion about what institutional adoption at scale actually looks like.

“ZIGChain exists because wealth at scale doesn’t happen in isolation,” said Abdul Rafay Gadit, Co-Founder, ZIGChain. “The partnerships, the infrastructure, the capital, all of it has to move together. Our progress so far proved that they are. What we showcased, across these sessions and across every announcement made on the day, is a compounding ecosystem that grows stronger with each new connection, where every player has a role in driving the future. That’s what the next chapter of onchain finance looks like.”

Ecosystem momentum on full display

The summit served as a natural culmination of a period of significant ecosystem activity for ZIGChain. In the weeks leading into the event, the network announced a strategic partnership with Beehive — the Middle East’s pioneering DFSA-regulated SME funding platform — to explore the tokenization of private credit in the UAE. Valdora Finance, a non-custodial liquid staking protocol, had also deployed on ZIGChain, bringing liquid, composable access to institutional-grade real-world asset yield strategies through its Liquid RWA Vaults. 

These announcements, combined with the summit’s programme of new partnership and product reveals, underscored ZIGChain’s position as the infrastructure layer through which regulated, institutional-grade investment products are being brought onchain at scale across the GCC and beyond.

ZIGChain’s broader institutional pipeline continues to grow, supported by a regulation-ready architecture, cross-chain interoperability, and a growing roster of ecosystem partners spanning private credit origination, asset management, digital custody, and onchain yield infrastructure.

The UAE as the world’s onchain capital 

A recurring theme across the day was the UAE’s unique position at the convergence of capital, regulation, and digital asset infrastructure. The country’s progressive multi-regulator approach — with VARA, the DFSA, and FSRA providing layered, complementary frameworks — has created the conditions for institutional capital to move onchain with confidence. Dubai, in particular, has emerged as the jurisdiction where that convergence is most visible and most active.

ZIGChain Summit 2026 made that convergence tangible by bringing the builders, the allocators, and the regulators together in one room and demonstrating that the infrastructure is not only ready, but already in use.

ZIGChain thanks all speakers, partners, attendees, and the broader ecosystem for their participation in ZIGChain Summit 2026. Recordings of the main stage programme, streamed live via Cointelegraph, are available to the global community.

About ZIGChain

ZIGChain is a Layer 1 blockchain purpose-built for regulated, institutional-grade investment opportunities onchain. It provides the infrastructure for institutions to launch compliant financial products, enabling retail participants to access them alongside institutional capital.

Learn more at zigchain.com.

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