At the Future Blockchain Summit in Dubai, one of the world’s leading gatherings for innovators in decentralized technology, a fireside chat titled “What DeFi Infrastructure Will Power the Next Financial Era?” brought together two influential voices redefining the next chapter of finance.
Moderated under the summit’s DeFi & Digital Assets track, the discussion explored the next wave of decentralized finance (DeFi 2.0), from modular chains and intent-based protocols to oracles and bridges, and how these technologies can address the scalability and compliance challenges hindering mainstream adoption.
The panel featured Mario Alberto Casiraghi, CFO of SingularityNET (Switzerland), Saloi Benbaha, Head of Enterprise Alliance & Ventures at XDC Network (UAE), and Andrew Vranjes, Chief Revenue Officer at Blockdaemon (USA). Together, they envisioned a DeFi ecosystem where artificial intelligence, enterprise blockchain frameworks, and institutional-grade infrastructure converge to transform the global financial system.
DeFi and Institutional Finance Converge
DeFi has evolved from a niche corner of crypto into a credible alternative financial system attracting the attention of banks, asset managers, and regulators. As policy frameworks take shape across key jurisdictions, institutional investors are beginning to explore on-chain finance for its efficiency, transparency, and yield potential.
Scaling DeFi for institutions, however, demands reliability, automation, and compliance, the very qualities being developed across the ecosystems of SingularityNET and XDC Network. Together, these projects represent a shift toward intelligent, secure, and interoperable financial infrastructure for the digital age.
From Infrastructure to Intelligence
If infrastructure is the foundation, artificial intelligence represents the next layer of evolution. SingularityNET, headquartered in Switzerland, is pioneering what it calls “DeFAI”, the fusion of decentralized finance and AI. Its open ecosystem enables developers and enterprises to build, share, and monetize AI services through blockchain, creating a decentralized marketplace for machine intelligence.
One of its flagship initiatives, SingularityDAO, applies AI to manage portfolios of crypto assets known as Dynasets. By analyzing vast market data in real time, AI algorithms dynamically adjust exposure, optimize yields, and mitigate risks.
The result is an adaptive, self-learning fund management layer that could redefine how financial strategies are executed in decentralized systems.
This integration of AI into DeFi brings a more responsive and user-friendly experience, with natural-language interfaces, automated decision-making, and real-time analytics, features that were once the exclusive domain of sophisticated hedge funds.
Bringing the Real Economy On-Chain
While intelligence drives the digital transformation of finance, XDC Network is connecting it to the real world. Built as an enterprise-grade, EVM-compatible blockchain, XDC focuses on tokenizing real-world assets (RWAs) and modernizing trade finance, a $19 trillion industry still burdened by paperwork and inefficiency.
As a founding member of the Trade Finance Distribution Initiative (TFDi), XDC collaborates with banks and insurers to inject liquidity and transparency into trade finance through tokenization. Its hybrid public-private architecture allows confidential transactions while maintaining the security of a public blockchain.
With near-zero fees, instant settlements, and ISO 20022 compliance, the XDC Network integrates smoothly with existing banking infrastructure, making it an ideal bridge between traditional finance and the emerging world of decentralized finance.
Saloi Benbaha emphasized that interoperability and compliance are essential for mainstream adoption.
“Institutions won’t move billions into DeFi until the rails are both secure and compliant,” she noted, highlighting XDC’s mission to build precisely that bridge.
Toward an Intelligent, Institutional-Grade DeFi Ecosystem
The conversation in Dubai captured a broader shift across global finance, the convergence of decentralization, automation, and enterprise integration.
Together, SingularityNET and XDC Network are shaping the foundations of DeFi 2.0, where intelligence meets compliance and innovation meets trust.
As showcased at the Future Blockchain Summit, the next phase of finance will be defined not by speculation, but by infrastructure, intelligence, and interoperability, the cornerstones of a new financial era built for institutions and innovators alike.
