Pakistani pioneer launches first Islamic blockchain to tap real-world asset boom
KARACHI: Pakistan's pioneering blockchain entrepreneur, Abdul Rafay Gadit, has launched what his team says is the world's first Shariah-compliant Layer 1 blockchain, aiming to capitalize on a record surge in tokenized real-world assets (RWAs) and meet rising demand for Islamic-compliant digital finance tools.
ZIGChain, which launched its mainnet beta on Tuesday, is built as a base-level blockchain called a 'Layer 1' that lets developers create apps to trade and manage real-world assets like property, commodities or traditional securities on a blockchain.
Putting RWAs on blockchains, known as tokenization, has become one of the fastest-growing areas in crypto and traditional finance. The market is estimated to have surged 260 percent to $50 billion this year as more institutions use blockchain to make trading these assets easier and more transparent. Analysts say the trend reflects how financial institutions are moving real-world assets onto blockchains to improve liquidity and transparency.
ZIGChain says it stands out as the first chain purpose-built to meet Islamic finance principles, a set of rules that, among other things, prohibit interest (riba) and excessive uncertainty (gharar), by offering native compliance tools and audit mechanisms for developers and institutions.
'Accessing reliable and transparent investment infrastructure has historically been difficult, not just for retail users, but even for experienced managers,' Gadit, ZIGChain's co-founder, said in a statement marking the mainnet beta launch.
'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.'
The launch comes at a pivotal moment for Pakistan's crypto industry. Islamabad in March set up an official Crypto Council to regulate the sector for the first time and named Binance co-founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ) as its strategic adviser. Pakistan is estimated to have around 40 million crypto users.
Unlike general-purpose blockchains, ZIGChain inherits a ready base of more than 600,000 users and 150 professional fund managers through its link to Zignaly, a licensed social investing platform. This solves what experts often call the 'cold-start problem' for new chains that struggle to attract developers and liquidity in early stages.
ZIGChain's ecosystem includes Zamanat, described by its backers as the world's first Shariah-compliant RWA platform, as well as a $100 million fund supported by DWF Labs and other partners to spur development.
The project launches with native applications already lined up, including an AI-powered decentralized exchange, a staking service, a lending protocol accepting RWAs as collateral, and a Shariah-compliant DeFi aggregator.
'This mainnet beta launch represents a shift from vision to foundation,' said Bart Bordallo, co-founder and CEO of ZIGChain. 'We've built a high-performance, interoperable architecture that can handle the complex requirements of DeFi, RWA tokenization, and automated investment protocols at scale.'
By positioning itself at the intersection of real-world assets, Islamic finance and blockchain technology, ZIGChain aims to serve the massive $4 trillion global Islamic finance market, where a young, digitally savvy Muslim demographic is driving demand for new products.
With its launch now underway, ZIGChain will gradually roll out key features like its validator network, token bridges and staking tools, which its founders say will keep the system stable and compliant as more users join.
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