In an era where finance and technology often collide, the Future Blockchain Summit at Gitex Global 2025 hosted an intense debate on the role of blockchain in traditional finance.
Ruya Bank, the UAE’s digital-first Islamic bank, is charting a unique course, blending innovation with integrity. At the helm is CEO Christoph Koster, who is reshaping what ethical finance can mean in a blockchain-powered world. He spoke on a panel, ‘The Duel of Digital Currencies’, focusing on Stablecoins and CBDCs.
Islamic finance meets blockchain
For Christoph, “ethical finance” isn’t a slogan but the very definition of Ruya.
“By definition, our products, our services, and the way we treat our customers follow the principles of Islamic finance, which is ethical finance,” Christoph says. “In the context of digital assets, we ensure that the ones we support are Sharia-compliant as they are tradable, ownable, and have real utility.”
He emphasizes that their supported assets “enhance the value of real-world assets and ownership by ensuring that their customers actually own them before they trade, even in a volatile market built over a base of speculation.”
Blockchain strengthens transparency in banking
When asked about Ruya leveraging blockchain technology to strengthen trust and transparency, Christoph sees potential in how it can bring clarity to a financial system that has long been cloudy.
Ruya views blockchain as a tool to strengthen trust, not diminish it, providing several blockchain-powered offerings, such as buying and selling virtual assets, including cryptocurrencies that are Sharia-compliant.
“One of our services is our own digital assets investment offering, but we’re also providing embedded finance and Banking-as-a-Service to licensed virtual asset service providers that are, by definition, blockchain-based,” Christoph says.
Tokenizing the real world
One of the frontiers for Ruya is the tokenization of real-world assets (RWA).
“Real-world assets like real estate, commodities, or ‘sukuk’ are, by definition, Sharia-compliant,” Christoph says. “Tokenizing them allows us to offer these investments to all our customers, including retail investors, fostering both financial inclusion and financial literacy.”
He points out that tokenization opens the door for small-scale investors to participate in previously inaccessible asset classes. Taking the example of Dubai property investments, this could be for as little as 1,000 AED or even 50 AED.
“Imagine being able to invest in Dubai property for as little as 50 AED,” he says with a smile. “It drives the adoption and financial inclusion across investments into these asset classes among the wider community that we support.”
Innovation vs. regulation
Balancing innovation with regulation is often a tightrope walk. Christoph, however, says both go hand in hand, claiming that innovation is first adopted by users, and regulations evolve to make it safer for them. That’s where he sees opportunity for Islamic finance, where Sharia compliance is predominant.
“I think it’s an illusion for regulators to be going out there and saying we will define innovative use cases,” he says.
The market will develop innovative use cases, and then the regulator will have to make sure that this happens within a safe and compliant environment. But regulation will always have to keep up with innovation. Rarely will it be the other way around.
Ruya explores the tokenization of real-world assets like real estate, commodities, ‘sukuk’, and listed securities that are naturally Sharia-compliant. The goal is to make them available in smaller, more accessible investment amounts, opening up new opportunities for retail investors and promoting wider financial inclusion.
“Compliance is non-negotiable,” he reminds us again. “The market will develop innovative use cases, and then the regulator will have to make sure that this happens within a safe and compliant environment. But regulation will always have to keep up with innovation. Rarely will it be the other way around.”
Stablecoins, CBDCs, and inclusivity
During the panel discussion, experts highlighted stablecoins as a tool to drive cross-border payments and promote financial inclusion, especially in regions with large unbanked populations. In a one-on-one conversation with AltcoinDesk, Christoph shared his perspective on how stablecoins and CBDCs each play complementary but distinct roles in shaping the future of global finance.
“CBDCs and stablecoins have very different objectives and merits,” he explains, finding them both essential for the future of finance.
“A UAE dirham-backed CBDC, for instance, will drive domestic payments and inclusion in line with policy goals. But when it comes to a country with such a large expatriate community using cross-border remittances, as well as for merchant settlements, stablecoins, in my humble opinion, will be the way ahead.”
A regulated model in financial innovation
When asked about BitMEX Group CEO Stephan Lutz’s assertion that “stablecoin projects today aren’t truly about stablecoins,” Christoph stated that Ruya Bank’s focus isn’t on the coin issuer or their protocols, as long as the process occurs in a regulated space.
The bank’s CEO says their focus is on building the infrastructure and interoperability, while also building a bridge that connects these systems. This allows others to innovate on the products themselves, thus allowing the company to “plug-in and plug-out different partners that are issuing stablecoins”.
In a digital world often driven by speed and speculation, the bank’s approach is strongly grounded in using technology to serve ethical principles, not disrupt them. As Christoph looks at inclusion, transparency, and trust with blockchain, Ruya aims to transform finance to become truly ethical.
