How developing economies build trust in crypto

In a world increasingly reliant on digital finance, the gap between those who can access cryptocurrency and those who cannot is more pronounced than ever. Fasset, a global digital asset exchange, is determined to change that narrative.

By focusing on emerging markets, Fasset is not just another player in the crypto space; it’s a catalyst for financial inclusion. In an enlightening conversation with The Crypto Radio, Gareth Lewis outlined how Fasset plans to bring the transformative power of blockchain to those who need it most.

The VP of Partnerships and Enterprise at Fasset outlined the company's unique value proposition. "Fasset is, at its core, a virtual asset broker, dealer, and exchange, which means that you can buy and sell and swap virtual assets, such as crypto currencies, stablecoins, and tokenized real-world assets," Lewis explained. "But what we're trying to do is more than that. We're trying to create a financial super app, an investment proposition focused on people right across the emerging market landscape."

What sets Fasset apart, according to Lewis, are three key factors: regulation and compliance, a focus on emerging markets, and the inclusion of real-world assets.

Building trust through regulation

While many crypto exchanges have faced scrutiny over regulatory issues, Fasset has taken a different approach. "For the first four years of our lifetime, we were sort of cruising under the radar, getting all of our regulatory approvals and authorizations in place in order to conduct our business across that emerging market space," Lewis said.

This focus on compliance has given Fasset the largest consolidated portfolio of regulatory approvals and authorizations in the emerging market space, allowing the company to distribute virtual assets to people in these markets who need them most. "It's important because it enables us to distribute virtual assets via blockchain to people in those markets who really, truly need the benefits of these investment asset classes," Lewis explained.

Fasset is also tackling the "perceived lack of trust, legitimacy, and credibility in the space head on," according to Lewis.

One key way the company is building trust is through its stringent token vetting process. "We don't believe it's ethical that we would list a memecoin on our platform so that a person living rurally in a financially disadvantaged region should have the opportunity to buy that token," Lewis said. Instead, Fasset only lists tokens that have undergone a "strict ethical vetting framework" to ensure they have real-world value and utility.

"These tokens that were created to give very few people massive amounts of wealth very quickly, and the vast majority of people are punished. We don't think that it's right for that person to be exposed to that sort of thing."

Empowering emerging markets

The decision to focus on emerging markets stems from the personal experiences of Fasset's co-founders, Mohammad Raafi Hossain and Daniel Ahmed. "Both of them hail from South Asia, where there is certainly a lack of equal opportunity and access to investment classes," Lewis said.

"So the proposition is born out of that. It's about saying, 'Hey, in the western world, blockchain and virtual assets are arguably a luxury. Someone in the UK, or the US, would be able to get a hold of a variety of different investment assets if he or she would want to, but someone in [South Asia] just doesn't have that same opportunity."

Fasset aims to change that by bringing blockchain and virtual assets to these underserved markets, providing access to investment opportunities that were previously out of reach.

Tokenizing real-world assets

In addition to cryptocurrencies and stablecoins, Fasset also has a particular focus on tokenizing real-world assets. "You can come onto the Fasset platform. You can buy Bitcoin, Ether, Solana, USDT, USDC, all the major cryptocurrencies, and stablecoins should you want to, but we have a particular focus on diversifying our asset range available to investors to include various tokenized real world assets."

This focus on real-world assets is driven by Fasset's pan-Islamic markets approach, which aligns with the principles of Islamic economics that emphasize the transfer of real value rather than trading debt.

Fasset is also launching an Ethereum layer-two protocol called IOWN, which Lewis says will effectively bring about "a decentralized way for the world to create, manage, and distribute real-world assets into the hands of anyone". It will be the "world's first regulated L2", or layer two protocol, which Lewis describes as "a dedicated playground for anyone who has an asset that they want to tokenize". 

Essentially, IOWN will be an ecosystem where potential projects, investors, and tech vendors can mingle - and importantly, it will be fully regulated.

By prioritizing regulation, compliance, ethical token selection, and innovative initiatives like the I-Own protocol, Fasset is positioning itself as a trusted and legitimate player in the crypto industry - one that is focused on empowering underserved communities, not exploiting them. This multifaceted approach could be key to Fasset's long-term success and impact.

Listen to the whole interview on The Crypto Radio's live player or in the Bigger Picture podcast.