Welcome to the latest episode of At the Forefront: Fintech Conversations! Launched in 2020, this ongoing audio and video series has been developed to help you stay informed as we highlight key industry developments and delve into the people, companies and thought processes that keep the capital markets and fintech sector humming.
To learn more and listen to our previous episodes, click here.
In this installment, Forefront SVP & Head of Media Relations Michael Kingsley sits down with Sameer Shalaby, Founder, President & CEO of VersiFi, a leading technology provider for the digital asset markets.
In the episode, Michael and Sameer discuss the founding of VersiFi. Sameer describes how his conversations with hedge fund managers over the last 18 months sparked his interest in bringing an innovative new market model to digital asset investing and trading. He decided to apply his decades of industry expertise to help these managers support market requirements moving forward.
Sameer explains that asset managers seeking to adopt a new asset class must focus on three key areas before entering the market segment at scale: regulations, counterparty risks and service providers. Sameer discusses how VersiFi saw an opportunity to address these issues and provide a solution for the unique complexities of digital assets.
Michael and Sameer go on to discuss how VersiFi aims to bring together an ecosystem of partners, each focusing on segregated functions but ultimately working together to minimize counterparty risk and drive asset manager adoption of digital assets. Lastly, Sameer notes how the November 2022 collapse of FTX underscored why VersiFi’s model is the optimal one for the digital asset space . He shares that VersiFi did not seek to invent a new market structure, but rather looked at what has worked historically to implement a similar model for this new asset class.
See below for a breakdown of the discussion. Happy listening!
Timestamps:
0:47 – What compelled you to venture into digital assets?
2:50 – What has occurred in recent history that drove you to start VersiFi right now?
9:20 – Tell us about the kinds of firms and partners you are working with, and the specific challenges you are working to solve.
12:55 – Why has no one else pursued this model previously?
