Crypto exchange Fastex has followed an approach that combines innovation with compliance, its CEO Vakhtang Abrahamyan told Decrypt’s sister media outlet Rug Radio during a wide-ranging conversation at Singapore’s Token2049 conference.

Speaking to Rug Radio influencer Pukerainbow at Token2049, Abrahamyan explained that Fastex embraces a “customer needs-driven” mentality. “When you have proper people in place with professional knowledge—and we gained a lot of experience during these years—I think it's more about listening to what the customer wants and trying to implement it,” he said, adding that the exchange has embraced “non-standard thinking.”

“The market is quite competitive now, so you need to have some unique features in the field,” Abrahamyan said, touting the exchange’s ongoing investment in “personalization of the services” as one of its key focuses for the coming year.

Fastex operates across a wide variety of different verticals, including its own blockchain, its native coin Fasttoken (FTN), Fastex Wallet, and regulated activities including a virtual asset service provider (VASP) and the ftNFT marketplace.

It’s also made inroads in the metaverse and e-commerce spheres, and has “a number of other tokenization projects and DeFi projects,” Abrahamyan said. In addition, its foundation runs a grant program to “promote development on the blockchain,” he said.

Fastex card

Earlier this year, Fastex launched its own Web3 debit card in partnership with Alchemy Pay, enabling holders to spend their cryptocurrency on everyday transactions. “As more and more people possess digital assets, they would like to link it to traditional finance,” said Abrahamyan, adding that there was “huge demand” for the product from the exchange’s customer base.

“We created this chain that allows our verified users to request the card and spend it on a regular basis, whether it's an ATM or payment or online shopping,” he explained. While users need to manually top up the Fastex card for now, he added that there are “ideas to develop it even more,” enabling users to “be able not to top up the card, but directly link it to your account.”

Proactive compliance

With Europe’s Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) law coming into force next year, Fastex is taking a proactive approach to compliance, Abrahamyan said. Although the exchange is already compliant, he said, “We are preparing heavily.” He added that, “it requires more and more to stay compliant and to improve.”

“If you consider long term strategic development, you need somehow to be compliant,” Abrahamyan explained, adding that cooperation with traditional financial institutions is a core pillar of Fastex’s strategy. “Based on that,” he said, “the more regulated the industry, the better the cooperation.”

Elsewhere, Fastex has secured initial approval from UAE regulator VARA, with a full operational license expected by the end of the year, Abrahamyan said. “New regulation is coming, so we need to prepare structural changes; the governance aspects need to be set up,” he added.

The exchange is also exploring new markets. “LATAM is becoming more and more crypto friendly,” he said, adding that, “We see the demand starting from B2B, finishing with some businesses that are interested in moving into Web3.” With several partners already in place in the region, he said, “we see a huge potential there—a big market.”