How ZIGChain is building token economics for real-world assets

Most RWA projects tokenize the asset and forget the token. ZIGChain is building the full stack: regulated onchain infrastructure for institutional-grade real-world assets, with $ZIG's value tied directly to platform revenue through a discretionary buyback program — not a separate speculative layer bolted on top. REVENUE-BACKED TOKENOMICS built on a purpose-built Layer 1 is what separates ZIGChain from the noise in an increasingly crowded RWA market.

Abdul Rafay Gadit, Co-Founder of ZIGChain, joins Ashton Addison on Blockchain Interviews. ZIGChain is the next evolution of Zignaly — a platform with 600,000 registered users and $10 billion in trading volume — rebuilt as a Cosmos SDK Layer 1 with EVM compatibility, purpose-built for regulated, institutional-grade investment onchain. Rafay breaks down the $5 billion RWA pipeline including partnerships with Apex Group ($3.4T AUM) and Ellington, the Beehive integration tokenizing UAE SME private credit loans, and the ADI Chain partnership unlocking receivables financing and PayFi infrastructure. He explains why the Shariah compliance certification opens a $5+ trillion Islamic finance market that most crypto projects have never touched, how ZIG 2.0's governance-gated buyback program is structurally different from the fixed-revenue buyback models that broke down in 2026, and what it actually takes to move capital across MiCA, FINMA, MAS, and US regulatory frameworks simultaneously.

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Chapters

1. 0:00 Introduction — Abdul Rafay Gadit, ZIGChain
2. 1:37 From Zignaly to ZIGChain — The Origin Story
3. 4:19 Why They Kept the Same Token
4. 7:28 What Tokenization Actually Requires
5. 10:44 The Real Distribution Problem
6. 13:20 How ZIGChain Makes Money On-Chain
7. 16:52 Private Credit — The $17T Opportunity
8. 19:46 Expanding Into Emerging Markets
9. 24:37 Token Buybacks and Community Governance
10. 27:50 The Hyperliquid Comparison