Christoph Richter on Redefining Institutional Finance in the Middle East
Shereen Shabnam
With an impressive career spanning the global powerhouses of traditional finance – JP Morgan, MUFG, Barclays and BNP Paribas, Christoph Richter has always been at the forefront of financial innovation. Dubai-based and leading Figment’s expansion across the Middle East and Turkey, he is helping shape the region’s next digital frontier through staking infrastructure for institutional investors.
As the Head of Business Development for MENA at Figment, the leading independent provider of institutional staking infrastructure, Christoph works closely not only with crypto-native companies, but also banks, family offices, funds and sovereign entities, guiding them on how to generate a return on their digital assets via staking. From his traditional finance structuring knowledge to his passion for digital currencies, to his international experience and multilingual fluency, Christoph brings a rare and insightful perspective to the convergence of digital assets and institutional capital in the GCC.
In this interview with GTM, he shares why staking is fast becoming the cornerstone of institutional crypto portfolios, what traditional finance can learn from Web3, and how the Middle East is positioning itself as a global leader in digital finance.
You have had a front-row seat in both traditional banking and the digital asset space. What inspired your move into crypto, and why staking, in particular?
My background is in derivatives, structuring and investment banking, having worked on the private side for the last 10 years of my traditional finance career, focusing on M&A, private equity, aviation and infrastructure deals. The key skill was to help clients manage risks, finding simple solutions to complex problems.
What drew me to crypto? The unprecedented amount of quantitative easing and my interest in classical currency systems. The striking parallels between the Roman Solidus and Bitcoin got me started investing in digital assets in early 2017, yet the transformative potential of building the future financial infrastructure on Ethereum is what truly captivated me. I started researching staking after attending Vitalik Buterin’s speech at the TechCrunch Zug event in July 2018 and it was the elegance of Proof-of-Stake as both a security mechanism and a reward structure that triggered my interest. Staking is not just about earning rewards, it’s about taking an active role in network governance and validation. Protocol staking is the engineering process that plays a crucial role in decentralizing, securing, and maintaining the health of the blockchain network while generating rewards and maintaining custody over one’s digital assets.
When I look at staking through the lens of a traditional asset allocator, it has all the hallmarks of a compelling infrastructure play; predictable, protocol-based rewards, onchain transparency, retention of custody, avoiding counterparty credit risk, hence creating a strong alignment with long-term investment strategies.
Figment stood out because it approaches staking like a traditional finance institution would, by which I mean focusing on safety over liveness, slashing protection, compliance, and a strictly non-custodial architecture. That’s the kind of infrastructure institutional investors can trust. This was hugely appealing to me as I feel we’re at an inflection point where digital assets are on an exciting adoption trajectory. Another key reason for joining Figment is the strong talent across functions, the leadership in staking infrastructure and the thought leadership in key categories ranging from new network implementation to regulatory matters.
With Figment now expanding across the GCC, what makes the Middle East, especially the UAE, so well-positioned to lead in institutional crypto adoption?
The UAE isn’t experimenting, it’s implementing. We’re seeing real infrastructure, real capital, and real regulatory clarity. That combination is rare.
The region blends forward-thinking leadership with institutional discipline. You have family offices, sovereign entities, and large banks actively exploring digital currencies as long-term investments and blockchain integrations, not just as innovation showcases, but as key components of their portfolios and corporate strategies.
Our partnership with Tungsten, recently acquired by Zodia Custody, creating the largest regulated GCC-based digital asset custodian, is a great example. It’s global-grade infrastructure, delivered through local, licensed pathways. That combination combines vision with compliance and is why the Middle East, and the UAE in particular, is becoming a global leader in digital assets.
For those unfamiliar with staking, how do you explain its relevance as a reward-generating tool for banks, family offices, and long-term institutional portfolios?
For token holders, staking offers a way to generate native currency rewards, while maintaining custody over their assets. It’s secure, transparent, and non-custodial, so investors avoid counterparty credit risk.
We’re already seeing staking integrated into ETPs, managed funds, and family office long-term investment strategies, particularly as institutions realise it’s not just about upside, it’s about minimising mark-to-market volatility and building long-term digital asset investment strategies.
You have highlighted monetary history, specifically Roman emperors Constantine the Great Solidus. How does that historical lens shape your view of today’s digital currencies?
Monetary history is a powerful teacher. Constantine the Great Solidus’ was introduced 312 AD and became the Eastern Roman and then Byzantine Empire’s currency for over 1,000 years, due to its 98% gold purity. Every currency regime reflects a balance of trust, technology, and governance. Blockchain is simply the next iteration of that progression, embedding monetary rules into code instead of regulating gold content, requiring a currency’s gold backing or putting trust into central banks and institutions.
What’s fascinating is that with digital assets, we’re returning to transparent, rule-based systems. Proof-of-Stake mechanisms like Ethereum’s actually echo classical life principles of reward for contribution, transparent issuance, public infrastructure and independently verifiable inflation.
So for me, staking isn’t just a technical innovation, it’s part of a broader shift where finance becomes more decentralised, resilient, and aligned with network participants.
What do you believe are the biggest barriers between traditional finance and Web3 and who is best positioned to bridge that divide?
The biggest barrier is trust built through familiarity. Traditional finance is used to long-established custodians, clearing houses, banks and other trusted intermediaries. Web3 and digital currencies are rewriting this.
We’ve built infrastructure that meets institutional risk standards for our 1,000-plus institutional clients, with over $15bn assets under staking, via audited, insured and 24/7 monitored systems.
Having led derivative teams at global investment banks and having been a digital asset investor for over 8 years, I don’t see TradFi and digital assets as opposites, in fact I see them as converging paths. And right now, the Middle East is where they’re meeting.
