ADI Chain, a Layer-2 blockchain developed by the ADI Foundation to support governments and institutions, is pleased to announce its integration with ZIGChain, a Layer 1 blockchain built for wealth management and decentralized asset management. This partnership is aimed at advancing stablecoin-native infrastructure for real-world assets and productive on-chain finance.
The memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed with ZIG Markets, the specific access and distribution layer within the ZIGChain ecosystem. This MoU provides a sketch for everyday business finance on-chain. The starting attention covers tokenized assets, supply chain finance, working capital for small and mid-sized firms, and tokenized private credit, along with stablecoins as the settlement layer.
ADI Chain and ZIGChain Strengthen On-Chain Capital Markets for Real-World Assets The integration of ADI Chain and ZIGChain is very beneficial for both partners, as ADI Chain participates to support high-quality Real-World Assets (RWAs) at an institutional scale for compliance, regulation, and policy framework. On the other hand, ZIG Markets covers essential aspects like origination, tokenization, vault infrastructure, and distribution across a built ecosystem of financial use cases.
Both platforms purposefully made this agreement to join ADI Chain’s settlement infrastructure with ZIG Markets’ tokenized capital markets abilities. With this, assets, liquidity, and distribution can shift across both ecosystems. RWA tokenization is greatly valuable from experiments to institutional infrastructure; RWA approached $19.32 billion at the close of Q1 2026, up 256.
Driving Innovation in Ethical Digital Asset Markets The MoU between ADI Chain and ZIGChain allows both firms to calculate a Shariah-compliant structure. Furthermore, ZIG Markets’ ecosystem already includes contributors like Zamanat and Nawa, who bring tokenization experience around ethical finance. This partnership covers many aspects and expands them, such as trade finance, treasury products, tokenized funds, and extra RWA classes.
Ramana Kumar, President of Stablecoin Ecosystem, ADI Foundation, said: “ADI Chain’s sovereign and Institutional-grade blockchain is best placed to bring high-quality RWAs on-chain to distribute across institutional, semi-institutional, family offices, funds, and retail investor base.”
“Through this MOU with the ZIGChain ecosystem, we’re utilizing our infrastructure and capabilities to build RWA tokens across trade and supply chain receivables, working capital, and private credit with better efficiency and speed compared to traditional financial systems and processes.”
ADI Chain and ZIGChain Advance the Future of Tokenized Real-World Assets The heads of both platforms gave a statement about this strategic partnership with golden words. Abdul Rafay Gadit, Co-founder, ZIGChain, said, “Real-world assets need more than tokenization; they need origination, capital formation, and distribution. ADI Chain contributes to the regulated settlement.”
“Receivables financing, working capital, private credit, these all need a partner that can structure the asset, bring it on-chain, and attract the right capital to really put it to work. That’s the gap ZIG Markets fills. Together, this is what on-chain capital markets infrastructure is supposed to look like: productive financial activity that institutions, builders, and users can access at scale.
AUTHOR
Crypto journalist with years of experience providing in-depth analysis and news on blockchain and decentralized finance. With a keen eye for detail, Shahzaib delivers insightful articles that explore the latest trends, market movements, and innovations within the crypto and blockchain ecosystem. His work focuses on educating readers while offering expert commentary on the evolving landscape of digital assets, DeFi protocols, and the broader impact of blockchain technology.
Abdul Rafay Gadit made a move that is still seldom done in the banking world: He jumped from traditional finance, or TradFi, to decentralized finance, or DeFi.
TradFi is highly regulated and emphasizes protecting consumers. Yet, it can be slow, costly, and restricted to money movers with access to banking services. With DeFi, anyone with internet access can participate. And while it’s generally faster and more accessible, it carries risks such as smart contract bugs, hacking, and little to no regulation.
“I believe we’re at a pivotal moment where the two worlds are beginning to converge,” Gadit tells crypto.news.
After spending six years in corporate banking at Standard Chartered, Gadit launched Zignaly (ZIG) in 2018. Since then, the platform amassed over 500,000 users and 150-plus portfolio managers. It also has a decentralized blockchain called ZIGChain in the works.
Read on for Gadit’s thoughts about the latest trends in social trading and how it can bridge the divide between TradFi and DeFi.
How have your experiences in TradFi influenced your approach to ZIGChain? Gadit: My transition from corporate banking to blockchain was driven by a desire to innovate and challenge the traditional financial systems I had been part of for six years. Working at Standard Chartered gave me deep insight into the inefficiencies and limitations within traditional finance, especially regarding accessibility, transparency, and opportunities for wealth generation.
Blockchain presented an entirely new paradigm — one that empowers individuals to control their assets, make decentralized decisions, and participate in open financial ecosystems. Co-founding Zignaly allowed me to bring my banking background into action, focusing on creating a platform where everyone, regardless of their background, could invest alongside experienced traders and benefit from the opportunities in web3.
My experiences in traditional finance significantly influenced our approach. We aimed to take the best practices from the banking world — like risk management, compliance, and user protection — and merge them with the innovation and openness of blockchain. Our goal was to create an infrastructure that enables wealth generation in a more democratized, transparent, and accessible way for all users.
What is your long-term vision for ZIGChain? Our long-term vision is to create a robust, scalable Layer 1 blockchain that powers a truly decentralized wealth generation ecosystem — a platform where builders, fund managers, and users can collaborate to create and utilize next-generation DeFi tools, dApps, and infrastructure that promote financial inclusion and wealth creation.
Our goal is to not only drive adoption but also establish ZIGChain as a cornerstone of the web3 financial landscape — where builders, fund managers, and users alike can thrive in a transparent, secure, and high-performance environment. With the backing of industry leaders and a clear focus on sustainability and innovation, we’re well-positioned to make this vision a reality.
ZIGChain launched a $100-million ecosystem development fund in August. Where will that capital go? The $100 Million Ecosystem Fund — backed by DWF Labs, UDHC Finance, and Disrupt — is critical to realizing our vision. We plan to deploy these funds to attract top-tier developers and projects, offering 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 most significant challenges in managing such a large social investment platform? One of the key challenges we’ve faced with Zignaly is the limited access to asset classes. As of now, fund managers on our platform can only invest in tokens listed on centralized exchanges, which restricts the investment opportunities available to our users. However, with ZIGChain, we’re 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 offers fund managers more options but also creates more diverse and profitable investment strategies for our users, ultimately increasing yield potential.
We’ve also encountered limitations within centralized finance, or CeFi, such as mandatory KYC processes and restricted access based on users’ nationality. These requirements can limit the participation of global users and create scalability concerns. ZIGChain, being a decentralized blockchain, circumvents many of these barriers. It enables a more inclusive and scalable system that allows users to participate without the stringent restrictions often imposed by centralized platforms. This makes ZIGChain accessible to a broader audience, ensuring that we can scale the platform to meet the growing demand.
Another limitation we’ve faced on Zignaly is the reliance on CeFi traders. Currently, we’re limited to fund managers and traders within centralized exchanges, but with ZIGChain, we unlock a whole new realm of DeFi traders. This opens up access to innovative DeFi strategies and products that weren’t previously available on Zignaly. By tapping into the DeFi space, we can significantly improve yield potential for our users, increase overall profitability, and diversify revenue streams for the business. This not only enhances the user experience but positions ZIGChain as a more dynamic and adaptable platform in the ever-evolving web3 landscape.
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 synergy between traditional finance and decentralized finance. I believe we’re at a pivotal moment where the two worlds are beginning to converge, and this intersection presents immense 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 comes with limitations—restricted access to wealth-generating opportunities, high barriers to entry, and slow innovation. DeFi, on the other hand, offers openness, inclusivity, and decentralization, providing users with direct control over their assets and access to a broader array of financial products like staking, lending, and tokenized real-world assets.
As this synergy evolves, I see traditional institutions increasingly integrating DeFi solutions to improve efficiency and offer new services to their clients. This could include everything from tokenized assets and decentralized lending to programmable smart contracts for automating complex financial processes.
By building 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 move 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 investing platforms? At Zignaly, we don’t see ourselves in direct competition with other social investing platforms. Instead, we focus on competing with our vision to continually evolve and expand access to fund management for everyone. Our goal is to democratize wealth generation, ensuring that anyone, regardless of their financial background, can connect with professional fund managers and access a broad range of asset classes.
While other platforms may limit themselves to centralized systems or traditional investment assets, we’re pushing the boundaries by integrating DeFi, RWAs, NFTs, and more through ZIGChain. Our mission is to break down the barriers that have long excluded people from managing their wealth and open up a world of opportunity where access to financial growth is no longer a privilege, but a right for all.
So, in essence, our biggest competition is our own ambition to redefine what’s possible in the world of decentralized finance and fund management
What trends do you foresee in social investing? Over the years, we’ve seen a strong demand for transparency, performance-driven strategies, and diversified asset classes. The key trend we’re observing in social investing is a shift toward 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 a growing demand for personalized investment strategies, where users won’t just follow a portfolio manager based on their past performance but will have access to real-time, dynamic strategies tailored to individual risk profiles, preferences, and goals. We also expect more integration with decentralized asset classes offering users an unprecedented level of diversification.
How does one stay ahead of the web3 curve? To stay ahead in the web3 space, we’re constantly innovating. With ZIGChain, we’re creating a platform that not only offers access to a much wider range of assets beyond centralized exchanges but also introduces features like automated, trustless smart contract-based fund management, which significantly enhances security and transparency. We’re also building our infrastructure to accommodate more DeFi portfolio managers, allowing them to bring strategies and tools to our users. This will not only improve profitability for our users but also attract a new generation of traders to the platform.
Our goal is to lead the way in the evolution of social investing by staying decentralized, offering access to new and diverse asset classes, and continuing to prioritize security, transparency, and user experience.
Zignaly, the premiere platform for connecting users with top digital asset managers, has announced that its founders have made the strategic decision to extend the lock-up on their $ZIG tokens until January 2026, a year later than originally planned.
This decision underscores their unwavering commitment to ZIGChain, the Layer-1 blockchain designed to democratize wealth generation, making investment opportunities accessible to everyone.
“By extending the lock-up on our $ZIG tokens, we emphasize our commitment to the community and the mission of ZIGChain,”
said Bartolome R. Bordallo, Co-Founder and CEO of Zignaly.
“This decision is about fostering equal investment opportunities and ensuring long-term sustainability for all stakeholders. Together, we are building a more inclusive financial future that benefits everyone.”
ZIGChain, Zignaly’s Layer 1 blockchain, represents the next evolution in democratizing wealth-generation opportunities. By offering an infrastructure for developers to build decentralized wealth-generation protocols and fund managers to deploy advanced strategies, ZIGChain is disrupting the way institutions and retail investors can invest. The Blockchain’s $100M Ecosystem Fund, supported by DWFLabs and UDHC Finance, aims to drive further innovation within the WEB3 space.
The choice to maintain the lock-up also aligns with the company’s focus on creating equal financial opportunities for all participants within the ZIGChain ecosystem, ensuring that the project’s core values remain intact. It also significantly changes the company’s tokenomics, leading to lower supply in the market as founder tokens remain locked.
This extension excludes the founders’ donation of 100 million $ZIG tokens to the ZIGChain Foundation. Starting January 2025, these tokens will continue to vest over a 30-month period, following a linear release schedule. The vesting plan aims to empower the ZIGChain ecosy
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Oroswap, founded by a team of Zignaly Community OGs, announced that it has been building in stealth on ZIGChain – the upcoming purpose-driven blockchain for wealth generation. Giving first-hand visibility to the massive developer ecosystem that ZIGChain has.
A full-fledged DEX with Standard AMM & CLMM capabilities together with a robust feature-rich roadmap, Oroswap (“Oro” Spanish for “gold”) is more than the promise of an on-chain marketplace.
It is the first DEX being built with conversational AI experience & execution capabilities. At the moment, no DEX in the blockchain space offers this capability.
AI discussion and uses have been growing over the past few years throughout the Crypto space, but 2025 really brought agentic AI as the future of blockchain & AI confluence – especially within DeFi which remains extremely complex despite advances in improving UI/UX.
“As community OGs of the $ZIG ecosystem, building on ZIGChain was a no-brainer. However, we didn’t want just another DEX. Having past experience in AI & machine learning, we wanted to deliver a product that would supremely improve the user experience for the community and set a standard for all dApps building on ZIGChain – build great products but with superior UI / UX in mind. With Oroswap, we aim to deliver that,” the OROSwap team shared,
The Oroswap DEX will be a major dApp on the ZIGChain blockchain and an innovative decentralized exchange experience for wealth managers.
Abdul Rafay Gadit, Co-Founder of Zignaly and ZIGChain said, “The team behind Oroswap are some of the brightest developers in the Web2 & Web3 space with an amazing journey that spans AI, Machine Learning, Gamification & even the Bitcoin ecosystem! For us to have such seasoned developers choosing ZIGChain to build on as a way for them to give back to the community is a testament to all the work we have been putting in. Extremely excited by the product vision and looking forward to supporting all innovative ideas on ZIGChain especially those with AI in the core flows”
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TRON founder Justin Sun has offered a hypothetical plan for Ethereum and the Ethereum Foundation (EF) under his leadership. His remarks come amid controversy over EF’s leadership transformation.
In a series of posts on X (formerly Twitter), Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin outlined the reforms’ goals and progress. He highlighted improvements in technical expertise, ecosystem engagement, and operational efficiency.
Justin Sun Outlines Blueprint for Ethereum LeadershipThe TRON executive shared ambitious remarks on how he would lead the Ethereum Foundation if given the opportunity. Sun’s vision, shared on X, outlined a four-point plan to radically restructure EF operations, optimize Ethereum’s economic model, and drive the price of ETH to $10,000.
“If EF and Ethereum were under my leadership, ETH would hit $10,000,” Sun claimed.
Sun proposed an immediate halt to ETH sales for three years to stabilize supply and boost market confidence. He suggested covering EF’s operational costs through DeFi protocols like Aave, staking yields, and stablecoin borrowing, aligning with Ethereum’s deflationary goals.
A key component of his plan involves imposing significant taxes on Layer 2 (L2) solutions, aiming to generate $5 billion annually. The collected taxes would go toward exclusively repurchasing and burning ETH, further enhancing its scarcity and value.
Sun also called for a drastic downsizing of EF staff, retaining only top performers and offering them significant salary increases. This merit-based approach, he argued, would streamline operations and improve efficiency.
Finally, Sun emphasized adjusting node rewards and increasing fee burns to reinforce Ethereum’s deflationary narrative. He proposed redirecting all resources toward Ethereum’s core L1 development, focusing on scalability, security, and adoption. Justin Sun’s plan sparked a mixed response, with some applauding the bold vision.
“These are all very practical suggestions. Please pay attention to them and refer to them, Vitalik Buterin,” core developer 0xSea.eth posed.
Meanwhile, others challenged Sun to focus on TRON and explore bringing decentralized finance (DeFi) to its ecosystem.
“Maybe start with how to make DeFi great on TRON – you should ask your exec team (and yourself), “Why is DeFi nonexistent on TRON despite it being the chain with the most stable coins on it?” If you answer this, maybe TRON can beat eth one day,” ZIGChain co-founder Abdul Rafay Gadit remarked.
Vitalik Buterin Defends Leadership Amid CriticismSun’s proposed solution aligns with Vitalik Buterin’s recent post discussing ongoing changes over the past year, some of which have already been implemented. Buterin emphasized goals such as strengthening the EF’s technical leadership and improving collaboration with ecosystem participants. He also addressed concerns, rejecting the notion that the EF might adopt centralized or politically motivated roles.
“…these things aren’t what EF does and this isn’t going to change. People seeking a different vision are welcome to start their orgs,” Buterin articulated.
Aya Miyaguchi, an EF executive, confirmed the ongoing efforts, expressing excitement about forthcoming announcements. She noted that the reforms aim to solidify Ethereum’s position as a global neutral platform while embracing decentralized and privacy-preserving technologies.
The announcement has stirred controversy within the crypto community. Critics argue that the current leadership has failed to manage Ethereum effectively.
“Respectfully, just let new blood take over. You guys can’t even make a simple Twitter account work—how can you be trusted to lead the second biggest blockchain,” Wazz posed.
Another user, Coinmamba, suggested that pressuring Miyaguchi to resign could result in Ethereum reaching new all-time high. Buterin strongly condemned these comments, defending Miyaguchi and calling out the toxicity of such social media rhetoric.
“No. This is not how this game works,” Buterin retorted. “The person deciding the new EF leadership team is me. If you ‘keep the pressure on,’ then you are creating an environment that is actively toxic to top talent. YOU ARE MAKING MY JOB HARDER,” the Ethereum co-founder lamented.
Buterin also refuted specific claims against Miyaguchi, pointing out inaccuracies in translations and misinterpretations of her statements. He reiterated the need for a “proper board” within EF to enhance governance.
ETH Price Performance. Source: BeInCryptoEthereum’s ETH token was trading at $3,305 as of this writing, representing a modest 0.2% surge since Wednesday’s session opened.
ZIGChain and Nomad Fulcrum have inked an MOU to collaborate in integrating blockchain and real-world asset tokenization. This partnership aims to expand access to tokenized assets and bring long-term investment solutions to more people. Nomad Fulcrum is an expert in using artificial intelligence (AI) in the management of tokenized assets. Low risk has been recorded with a 27% return in 2024. By integrating with ZIGChain, the vision is to increase liquidity and provide equal opportunities to RWAs to wealth managers and individual investors.
The proposed ZIGChain will work on the creation of an efficient and secure means of managing tokenized assets. This integration helps ease the process of gaining and trading RWAs, to the advantage of both retail and institutional investors. ZIGChain has witnessed this strategic collaboration through its official social media platform, X account.
Role of Nomad Fulcrum’s Tokenization Platform This collaboration is based on the concept of Nomad Fulcrum, which specializes in the tokenization of traditional assets. This approach enhances liquidity and the market and enables investors to easily manage their risks through diversification.
ZIGChain will also provide an architecture that will make tokenized assets easily available for everyone and with faster processing and better management of assets. Thus, a partnership between the investment company and AI-driven strategies integrated with blockchain will create positive changes in the investment process increasing its sustainability and efficiency.
AI-Powered Strategies and Blockchain Integration The partnership will help wealth managers provide diversified and unique ideas and solutions to clients. ZIGChain will provide a secure and scalable blockchain that provides an efficient asset tokenization and trading platform. The MOU signed between ZIGChain and Nomad Fulcrum is a major achievement in integrating blockchain into finance. Combining this with RWA tokenization on ZIGChain will open up new possibilities for investors looking to obtain sustainable returns.
This collaboration is an example of the increasing integration of blockchain technology with conventional finance to offer new approaches to wealth management. These two companies are looking forward to improving the blockchain environment and giving investors a broader platform for diversified and sustainable investment.
AUTHOR
Crypto journalist with years of experience providing in-depth analysis and news on blockchain and decentralized finance. With a keen eye for detail, Shahzaib delivers insightful articles that explore the latest trends, market movements, and innovations within the crypto and blockchain ecosystem. His work focuses on educating readers while offering expert commentary on the evolving landscape of digital assets, DeFi protocols, and the broader impact of blockchain technology.
ZIGChain, the layer-1 blockchain developed by social investment platform Zignaly, has announced that its testnet is now live.
The testnet will allow developers to explore, build and test decentralized finance and real-world asset tokenization solutions aimed at democratizing wealth generation and access, the L1 noted.
The price of ZIGChain (ZIG) token rose following the announcement. Data from crypto.news showed that ZIG’s price was up more than 11% at the time of writing, hovering near $0.11. The token previously reached highs of $0.17 in December 2024, a rally fueled by the platform’s massive buyback and burn program.
Recently, ZIGChain revealed its 44th burn event had permanently removed 43,771,804 ZIG tokens from circulation.
According to Zignaly, ZIGChain, built with the Cosmos SDK, enables developers to leverage features such as Token Factory and a decentralized exchange
The former offers support for asset creation while the DEX feature allows for liquidity operations, with these optimized for scalability. The testnet also supports interoperability via compatibility with the Inter-Blockchain Communication protocol.
ZIGChain will implement a phased approach for the testnet, introducing new features and capabilities over time. This approach aims to provide developers with expanded functionality and integrations as they experiment with DeFi and RWA solutions.
The testnet goes live days after blockchain security platform SCV Secuity announced they had completed an audit of ZIGChain’s pre-testnet blockchain. SCV said the successful audit meant the Cosmos-SDK build L1’s public testnet wasn’t far off.
ZIGChain celebrated a major milestone today, flipping the switch on its mainnet beta and officially entering what the team calls “Genesis Day.” After weeks of rigorous testing—and plenty of late nights for developers—the blockchain is now live, ready to power everything from decentralized exchanges to real-world asset tokenization. If you’ve ever tried to navigate traditional finance or shoehorn it into a blockchain context, you know how messy it can get.
Abdul Rafay Gadit, ZIGChain’s co-founder, said, “Accessing reliable and transparent investment infrastructure has historically been difficult, not just for retail users, but even for experienced managers. With ZIGChain, we’re taking a meaningful step toward changing that by focusing deeply on real-world assets as the foundation for long-term, scalable wealth generation. We aim to equip developers with the tools they need to start building programmable protocols designed to align with applicable law that bridge traditional assets with blockchain technology.”
From Vision to Reality Behind the scenes, there’s serious firepower: a $100 million ecosystem fund fueled by DWF Labs, UDHC Finance, and Disrupt.com, plus the pedigree of Zignaly—the social investment platform that already connects over 600,000 users with more than 150 fund managers. Those users, Gadit points out, helped shape ZIGChain’s core features, like native staking, cross-chain bridges, and an institutional-grade validator network.
Co-founder and CEO Bart Bordallo sums it up: “This mainnet beta launch represents a shift from vision to foundation. We’ve built a high-performance, interoperable architecture that can handle the complex requirements of DeFi, RWA tokenization, and automated investment protocols at scale. The infrastructure includes our validator network, cross-chain bridge capabilities, and native staking mechanisms – all designed for institutional-grade security and compliance. We’re excited to see developers leverage these technical foundations to build the next generation of financial applications.”
Over the next few weeks, you’ll see ZIGChain roll out its Hub for staking and validation, connect its bridges for seamless $ZIG migration, and fire up its full validator roster. Even before the dust has settled, a handful of eye-catching projects are gearing up to go live:
Oroswap, a DEX you can literally chat with—thanks to its AI-driven conversational interface.
Valdora Finance, offering liquid staking natively on ZIGChain, so you can earn rewards without locking your tokens away forever.
Permapod, a lending protocol that accepts tokenized real-world assets as collateral—think art, property, or even specialty equipment.
Nawa Finance, designed from the ground up to meet Shariah-compliance standards for users seeking ethical DeFi. These projects aren’t just shiny demos; they’re the first wave of builders betting their reputations on ZIGChain’s promise: a legal-ready, high-performance Layer 1 that plays nicely with existing regulations and institutional demands.
Back in April, at the ZIGChain Summit in Dubai, the team also unveiled Zamanat—the world’s first Shariah-compliant real-world asset tokenization platform—and launched a $25 million DeFAI Innovation Fund. That event highlighted the chain’s dual focus on ethical finance and on-chain programmability, setting the tone for an ecosystem that welcomes everyone, regardless of income, tech skills, or location.
Today’s launch isn’t the finish line, but it’s a big first lap. As more applications go live and the network fills with real assets, ZIGChain hopes to prove that decentralized wealth generation can be both powerful and inclusive. If you’re curious to see what comes next, keep an eye on their GitHub—and maybe clear your calendar for a few late-night coding sessions.
AUTHOR
Mushumir Butt is a seasoned crypto journalist with over three years of experience reporting on the world of blockchain and cryptocurrency. At Blockchain Reporter, he delivers insightful news, in‐depth project reviews, and precise price analysis and predictions. With a strong background in SEO and digital marketing, Mushumir excels at breaking down complex trends into clear, accessible content, ensuring readers stay ahead in the fast‐paced crypto space.
ZIGChain price jumped double digits to hit highs of $0.11 amid a major digital asset treasury announcement by Europe-based firm BTCS.
Summary
ZIGChain price rose by more than 22% as price broke to highs of $0.11. The token’s value jumped as BTCS announced a $100 million raise and $30 million allocation to its ZIG digital asset treasury strategy. ZIGChain, the layer 1 blockchain aimed at the democratization of wealth generation through real-world asset tokenization, saw its native token’s price soar by more than 22% to hit highs near $0.11.
The surge to the intraday high, the highest price level for the altcoin in over a month, came amid an announcement by publicly-traded firm BTCS. In an update, BTCS, the largest European digital asset treasury company, said it had raised $100 million in a new funding round.
BTCS plans to use proceeds of this Series G raise for its crypto treasury strategy, with $30 million going into a ZIGChain (ZIG) treasury strategy.
BTCS eyes ZIG yield An expansion to the company’s diversified treasury strategy will also see 60% of the funds deployed towards exposure to Bitcoin (BTC) and 10% to Core (CORE). Deployment into BTCS’s active treasury strategy, unlike the passive “buy and hold” playbook popularized by Strategy.
BTCS’ approach aims to deliver operational revenue and yield – even during episodes of flat markets.
“The inclusion of ZIGChain in BTCS’s treasury strategy highlights a broader shift toward productive digital asset treasuries,” said Abdul Rafay Gadit, co-founder of ZIGChain and member of BTCS’s Supervisory Board.
He added:
“Unlike passive holdings, validators and staking rewards create recurring revenue streams while directly strengthening the networks themselves. We see this model as a sustainable path forward for listed companies seeking transparent and resilient exposure to digital assets.”
ZIGChain price last traded above current levels in late August, while its year-to-date highs of $0.13 came on January 18. The ZIG token traded at the all-time peak of $0.22 in April 2021. Notable ecosystem platforms for the layer 1 chain includes Zignaly, a regulated social investment platform and Zamanat, a Shariah-compliant RWA tokenization platform.
The VIX Fear Index for the US stock market stands at 18.63 today, with fear sentiment intensifying in the crypto market.
According to Cboe data, the U.S. stock market's VIX Fear Index stands at 18.63 as of today, down 0.86 points from the prior reading of 19.49, marking a decline of approximately 4.41%. Separately, per Alternative data, the Crypto Fear & Greed Index is at 12 today (compared to 17 yesterday), indicating intensifying extreme fear sentiment.
11 minutes ago
Bank of Japan Board Member: Should Accelerate Pace of Interest Rate Hikes If Upside Inflation Risks Intensify
Bank of Japan (BOJ) Policy Board member Naoki Tamura stated that if upside risks to price growth intensify further, the BOJ should not hesitate to accelerate the pace of interest rate hikes or raise rates by a larger margin. He projected that the BOJ will implement interest rate hikes every few months until its policy rate reaches the neutral level of around 2%. (Golden Ten)
11 minutes ago
Crypto token M plunged over 80% in a short period, hitting a low near $0.5.
According to HTX market data, the token M saw a sharp short-term price plunge, with its decline once exceeding 80% and hitting a low of around $0.5, and is now trading at $0.54.
11 minutes ago
Blockchain data infrastructure firm Cambrian has closed a $6 million funding round, jointly led by Franklin Templeton and Polychain Capital.
Blockchain data infrastructure project Cambrian has closed a $6 million seed round, co-led by Franklin Templeton and Polychain Capital, with participation from Flow Traders, Selini Capital, and other investors. The project previously raised a $5.9 million pre-seed round led by a16z Crypto Startup Accelerator, bringing its total funding to $11.9 million. Cambrian currently provides institutional investors and AI Agents with real-time and historical data APIs covering on-chain yields, risks, lending markets, and trading activities, and plans to further build a verifiable data oracle network. Official data shows it has indexed over $4.5 billion in lending TVL, tracks more than 320,000 DEX liquidity pools, and currently supports Base and Solana, with plans to expand to additional ecosystems including Ethereum. The funds will be used to expand on-chain data coverage, accelerate oracle network development, and team recruitment.
11 minutes ago
Whale 0xbilly pulled off another "buy high, sell low" move, exiting with a $220,000 loss in a single day.
According to EmberCN’s monitoring, whale address 0xbilly liquidated 2,409 ETH in the early hours of today when ETH fell to around $1,569.5, worth approximately $3.78 million, with a total loss of roughly $220,000. Notably, this batch of ETH was purchased just one day ago for about 4 million USDC, at an average price of approximately $1,660.2. The address also previously bought 7,768.5 ETH at a high of $2,254 in March this year, valued at around $17.51 million, and exited via stop-loss four days later, incurring a loss of roughly $800,000.
11 minutes ago
Two whales opened a short position worth approximately $90 million on the S&P 500.
According to monitoring by Onchain Lens, two whale addresses are building short positions on the S&P 500, with a combined position of approximately $90 million. Details are as follows: Whale address "0x469" has opened 6,500 S&P 500 short positions, using 20x leverage, valued at around $48 million, with a liquidation price of $8,413.66. Whale address "0x4ff" has opened 5,686.66 S&P 500 short positions, using 7x leverage, valued at around $42 million, with a liquidation price of $8,358.13.
PANews reported on December 15th that Bybit has officially launched ZIG asset deposit services on ZIGChain. Users can now easily deposit ZIG assets into the Bybit platform. ZIG withdrawal services will be available after liquidity requirements are met; please refer to the Bybit platform's withdrawal page for details.
ZIGChain is the world's first Layer 1 blockchain designed specifically for wealth creation. Through a secure and transparent infrastructure, it successfully connects institutional finance, DeFi, and real-world assets, enabling everyone to easily build, manage, and grow their own wealth.
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ZIGChain announces an integration with Ondo Finance to bring Ondo’s tokenized stocks and ETFs to users across ZIGChain’s ecosystem
ZIGChain, the blockchain built to bring investment products onchain for institutions and everyday users, today announced an integration with Ondo Finance, which pioneered the tokenization of institutional-grade real-world assets, to bring Ondo tokenized stocks & ETFs to ZIGChain, extending their shared vision of accessible onchain exposure to publicly traded US securities to a new generation of users through ZIGChain.
Ondo Finance has done something genuinely difficult: taking securities and making them available as programmable, onchain products. That breakthrough matters most when it reaches the widest possible audience. ZIGChain provides infrastructure through which that reach expands by bringing Ondo-tokenized products to users across the GCC and beyond on the ZIGChain ecosystem.
For ZIGChain, this integration is a direct expression of its founding mission. Not to build new financial products for those who already have access, but to take the best existing ones — the instruments that generate real, reliable yield — and make them available onchain, to anyone.
“The next phase of onchain finance is not about replicating access that institutions already have. It is about taking those instruments and making them genuinely accessible to a broader universe of participants, through transparent, scalable onchain infrastructure, without the minimums and intermediaries that have always stood in the way,” said Abdul Rafay Gadit, Co-Founder, ZIGChain. “Ondo has done the hard work of bringing these products onchain. ZIGChain is the infrastructure through which that reaches a new generation of users. For us, this is deeply aligned with our mission: to make high-quality financial opportunities more open, more programmable, and more globally accessible.”
“Bringing tokenized US stocks and ETFs to new ecosystems and user bases is core to what the Ondo Global Markets platform enables. ZIGChain’s infrastructure gives investors across the GCC onchain exposure to the world’s most in-demand securities, with the execution quality and transparency that institutional markets demand. This is exactly the kind of distribution that expands the reach of tokenized finance where it matters most” said Oya Celiktemur, EMEA Director, Ondo Finance.
Access to Ondo-tokenized products through ZIGChain will roll out in phases beginning at the end of May, with initial availability across selected ecosystem applications and partners, expanding over time.
The integration does not constitute a token launch or guarantee of yield or returns. Underlying assets are issued by Ondo Global Markets (BVI) Limited. ZIGChain does not custody underlying real-world assets. All investments carry risk.
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Key Facts ZIGChain announced an integration with Ondo Finance to bring Ondo’s tokenized US stocks and ETFs to users across the ZIGChain ecosystem, with a focus on the GCC region. Access rolls out in phases starting from late May 2026, with initial availability across selected ecosystem applications and partners. The integration deepens ZIGChain’s real-world asset stack, alongside Valdora Finance’s Liquid RWA Vaults and Beehive’s tokenized SME private credit pipeline. Underlying assets are issued by Ondo Global Markets (BVI) Limited; ZIGChain does not custody the underlying real-world assets, and the integration is not a token launch or a guarantee of yield. Quoted are Abdul Rafay Gadit, Co-Founder of ZIGChain, and Oya Celiktemur, EMEA Director at Ondo Finance. ZIGChain has integrated Ondo Finance’s tokenized US stocks and ETFs, bringing onchain exposure to publicly traded US securities to users across its ecosystem and, in particular, the GCC region. Announced on 8 June 2026, the integration deepens ZIGChain’s real-world asset stack and positions the network as a regulated onchain layer through which institutional-grade financial products reach everyday users at scale.
What the integration brings The integration connects ZIGChain to Ondo Global Markets, the platform that pioneered the tokenization of institutional-grade US securities. Through it, ZIGChain ecosystem users gain access to Ondo’s catalogue of tokenized stocks and ETFs — programmable, onchain representations of publicly traded US equities — without the account minimums and intermediaries that have traditionally gated access to those markets.
Access rolls out in phases from late May 2026, with initial availability across selected ecosystem applications and partners and broader expansion over time. The structure mirrors how Ondo has distributed its tokenized securities elsewhere: the assets are issued by Ondo Global Markets (BVI) Limited, and the integrating platform — in this case ZIGChain — provides the distribution and access layer rather than custodying the underlying real-world assets.
Deepening the RWA stack For ZIGChain, the Ondo integration slots into a broader real-world asset strategy. It sits alongside Valdora Finance’s Liquid RWA Vaults and Beehive’s tokenized SME private credit pipeline, giving the network three distinct RWA verticals: tokenized public equities through Ondo, liquid yield vaults through Valdora, and private credit through Beehive.
The combination reflects ZIGChain’s positioning as infrastructure for bringing existing, high-quality financial products onchain rather than minting novel crypto-native instruments. As the network frames it, the strategy is not to build new products for those who already have access, but to take the instruments that generate real, reliable yield and make them available onchain to anyone.
Executive comments Abdul Rafay Gadit, Co-Founder of ZIGChain, framed the integration as a direct expression of the network’s founding mission. “The next phase of onchain finance is not about replicating access that institutions already have. It is about taking those instruments and making them genuinely accessible to a broader universe of participants, through transparent, scalable onchain infrastructure, without the minimums and intermediaries that have always stood in the way,” he said. “Ondo has done the hard work of bringing these products onchain. ZIGChain is the infrastructure through which that reaches a new generation of users.”
Oya Celiktemur, EMEA Director at Ondo Finance, positioned the deal as a distribution expansion into a strategically important region. “Bringing tokenized US stocks and ETFs to new ecosystems and user bases is core to what the Ondo Global Markets platform enables,” she said. “ZIGChain’s infrastructure gives investors across the GCC onchain exposure to the world’s most in-demand securities, with the execution quality and transparency that institutional markets demand. This is exactly the kind of distribution that expands the reach of tokenized finance where it matters most.”
Ondo’s widening distribution The ZIGChain deal continues a rapid expansion of Ondo Global Markets’ distribution footprint through 2026. The platform — the largest tokenized equities venue by total value locked since its September 2025 launch — has integrated with a string of major wallets and platforms, including MetaMask, Trust Wallet, and most recently KuCoin Web3 Wallet, which added more than 260 Ondo-tokenized securities in late April.
ZIGChain’s contribution to that network is geographic specificity. Where most prior integrations targeted broad crypto-native user bases, the ZIGChain deal explicitly aims at the GCC and surrounding markets — regions where demand for US equity exposure is strong but traditional brokerage access has historically been constrained by intermediaries, minimums and cross-border friction. The move also lands amid a broader surge in tokenized US equity access, with Binance launching its own equities and bStocks products the same month.
The risk framing ZIGChain was explicit about the limits of the integration. It does not constitute a token launch, nor a guarantee of yield or returns. The underlying assets are issued by Ondo Global Markets (BVI) Limited, ZIGChain does not custody the underlying real-world assets, and all investments carry risk. That framing is consistent with how tokenized equity products are typically structured — the token confers economic exposure to the underlying security rather than direct legal ownership of the share itself.
FAQ What does the ZIGChain and Ondo Finance integration provide?
The integration brings Ondo Finance’s tokenized US stocks and ETFs to users across the ZIGChain ecosystem, with a particular focus on the GCC region. It gives users onchain exposure to publicly traded US securities through Ondo Global Markets, rolling out in phases from late May 2026 across selected ecosystem applications and partners.
Does ZIGChain custody the underlying stocks?
No. The underlying assets are issued by Ondo Global Markets (BVI) Limited, and ZIGChain does not custody the underlying real-world assets. The integration is not a token launch and does not guarantee yield or returns; all investments carry risk.
How does this fit ZIGChain’s broader strategy?
The Ondo integration deepens ZIGChain’s real-world asset stack, joining Valdora Finance’s Liquid RWA Vaults and Beehive’s tokenized SME private credit pipeline. Together they give ZIGChain three RWA verticals — tokenized public equities, liquid yield vaults and private credit — supporting its positioning as a regulated onchain layer for distributing high-quality financial products to everyday users.
The ZIGChain–Ondo integration is another datapoint in one of 2026’s clearest trends: tokenized US equities are no longer confined to a handful of crypto-native venues but are spreading rapidly across wallets, chains and regional ecosystems. By targeting the GCC specifically, ZIGChain is betting that the next wave of tokenized-equity adoption comes not from deepening access where it already exists, but from extending it into regions where demand has long outstripped supply. This article is informational and does not constitute investment advice.
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