On 12th July our community came together for the launch of FTT DeFi, the one-day show where we explored the key opportunities and challenges in decentralised finance, digital assets and Web3.
During the day, Amélie Arras, Marketing Director at Zumo Enterprise sat down with Sohail Raja, Head of Electronic Execution Platforms and UK Chief Digital Officer at Societe Generale. The two discussed the digitalisation of existing processes, partnerships with fintechs, and how institutions can bridge the gap between TradFi and DeFi.
From the perspective of large, established institutions, there are numerous advantages to building DeFi and cryptoasset offerings. Some of the benefits that Sohail sees are in relation to the customer, whether this is on the institutional investor side, where investors want to understand what capabilities the bank can offer from a cryptoasset custodianship or trading perspective, or, looking at it from the side of technology and where we see DeFi technology going.
A few years ago, Societe Generale created a platform (SG Forge) which functions as a dedicated unit focused on digital assets, digital tokenisation, CBDC’s and other innovations within this area. In order to embrace innovation and provide relevant products, the bank has updated technology stacks, moved towards cloud and utilised APIs for better integrations.
Sohail speaks very positively about the future of innovation in the DeFi space, as well as how important collaboration will be, and that traditional institutions continue their discussions and exploration of DeFi.
You can listen to the full interview now to hear more about what Sohail enjoyed most about FTT DeFi, how we can now move away from speculative approaches, and instead adopt a stronger mindset and understanding of the business opportunities in DeFi. Listen to the interview below.
If you missed out on the event on 12th July, join us at the Fintech Talents Festival where we will have six stages in total, one of which is dedicated to all things decentralised finance and digital assets.
