Dubai, United Arab Emirates, May 5, 2026 – ZIGChainblockchain built to enable regulated supply chain investment products for everyday users was discussed today at the second annual ZIGChain Summit, a pivotal meeting on the future of onchain finance, held on April 28 at the Meydan Hotel in Dubai.
Organized in cooperation with Disturbed The summit, broadcast live on Cointelegraph, brought together institutions, builders, regulators and capital allocators from across the GCC and global markets under one common belief: that the shift from exploration to execution in onchain finance has already begun.
Nothing connects on its own
The summit’s theme, Nothing Adds Alone, set the tone for an agenda of coordinated progress. Each session was designed not as just another discussion, but as an alignment mechanism: bringing capital, technology and regulation into the same room so that decisions are made earlier and their execution is faster.
The eight-session program traversed the full arc of ecosystem evolution from the UAE’s core infrastructure and regulatory advantage, to startup creation, fintech integration, tokenization and capital markets, and the next frontier of onchain finance. Product launches, strategic partnerships and ecosystem announcements were revealed throughout, reflecting the dynamics of ZIGChain’s growing institutional pipeline.
An event built to be realized
This year’s speaker lineup brings together some of the most notable voices in institutional digital finance. Among the broader group of operators, founders and regulators participating were 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 of ADI, Faisal Al Hammadi of Further Ventures, Abhi and Peter Tavener, CEO and co-founder of Beehive.
What made this room stand out was the intention. Each participant either invested capital in the onchain infrastructure, built the protocols that underpin it, or designed the regulatory environment around it. The UAE’s multi-regulatory framework – encompassing VARA, DFSA and FSRA – provided the backdrop for a substantive compliance-first discussion on what large-scale institutional adoption actually looks like.
“ZIGChain exists because wealth at scale doesn’t happen in isolation,” said Abdul Rafay Gadit, co-founder of ZIGChain. “Partnerships, infrastructure, capital – all of this must work together. Our progress to date has proven this to be the case. In these sessions and in every announcement that day, we showcased a complex ecosystem that grows stronger with each new connection, where every player has a role in shaping the future. This is the next chapter of onchain finance.”
Ecosystem dynamics in full swing
The summit was the natural culmination of a period of significant ecosystem activity for ZIGChain. In the weeks leading up to the event, the network announced a strategic partnership with Beehive – the Middle East’s pioneering DFSA-regulated SME financing platform – to explore the tokenization of private credit in the UAE. Valdora Finance, a non-custodial liquid staking protocol, has also been implemented on ZIGChain, providing seamless, composable access to real-world institutional-grade asset return strategies via its Liquid RWA vaults.
These announcements, coupled with a summit agenda of fresh partnerships and product disclosures, highlighted ZIGChain’s position as the infrastructure layer through which institutional-quality regulated investment products are brought into the supply chain at scale across the GCC and beyond.
ZIGChain’s broader institutional scope continues to evolve, supported by a regulation-ready architecture, cross-chain interoperability, and a growing list of ecosystem partners spanning private lending, asset management, digital deposit, and onchain yield infrastructure.
The United Arab Emirates is the world capital of onchain
A recurring theme throughout the day was the unique position of the United Arab Emirates in terms of capital convergence, regulation and digital asset infrastructure. The country’s progressive multi-regulatory approach – with VARA, DFSA and FSRA providing a layered, complementary framework – has created the conditions in which institutional capital can move safely across the chain. Dubai in particular has become the jurisdiction where this convergence is most evident and most vigorous.
The ZIGChain 2026 Summit made this convergence real, bringing builders, distributors and regulators into one room and showing that the infrastructure is not only ready, but already in employ.
ZIGChain thanks all speakers, partners, participants and the broader ecosystem for participating in ZIGChain Summit 2026. Recordings of the main stage program, streamed live via Cointelegraph, are available to the global community.
About ZIGChain
ZIGChain is a Layer 1 blockchain built specifically for regulated institutional-level investment opportunities on the network. It provides institutions with the infrastructure to launch compliant financial products, allowing retail participants to access them alongside their institutional capital.
Find out more at zigchain.com.
