• ZY (Yu Gong, Zheng), Co-Founder & CEO at Fundamental Physicist | AI Mathematician | AI World Model Expert | Multi-Billion-Dollar Asset Manager


• 14.09.2026 07:37 am

1. The payments and financial services landscape is evolving rapidly. What do you see as the biggest changes shaping the industry over the next 2–3 years, and how is EssentaTor positioning itself for this transformation?

Today, USD stablecoin-linked debit and credit cards—often referred to in the market as “U-cards”—are used primarily by crypto users and people making cross-border payments. These two user groups tend to have higher risk profiles, increasing risk-management costs for card networks, payment service providers and commercial banks. As a result, traditional banks are generally reluctant to issue USD stablecoin-linked cards proactively.

Over the next two to three years, I expect innovation in account systems and the AI-enabled use of data to extend payment services from crypto and cross-border use cases into mainstream domestic payments. Local-currency account systems will become integrated with USD stablecoin account systems. This change will drive the convergence and rapid growth of the two user groups.

At EssentaTor, we describe this new category of users as the “Super Individual User.” One of our core businesses is to help commercial banks and payment service providers redefine account and payment-card functionality for these users, supported by an end-to-end suite of solutions. Institutions that empower users to transcend the constraints of the physical world in exercising autonomy over value and in circulating, allocating and creating value will be best positioned to attract and retain Super Individual Users.

2. At Money20/20 Middle East, what opportunities do you see in the region’s payments market, and how is EssentaTor responding?

Based on my observations at Money20/20 Middle East, the region’s payments market shares certain similarities with Southeast Asia: much of the change and development is being driven by market participants and businesses. In practice, however, this development remains fragmented and struggles to produce market structures and outcomes at scale.

Payments require more than technological innovation and adoption. They depend on an integrated financial infrastructure framework that brings together innovation in technology, regulation and market structure. In my view, the Middle East offers broader and more significant opportunities than Southeast Asia for system-level innovation in financial infrastructure.

EssentaTor provides macro-level financial infrastructure that integrates three dimensions: central-bank-level strategy and policy frameworks, technology deployment and institutional requirements. Since 2019, our team has worked with central banks in several countries on strategic research into the digitalization of money. During that period, we also met with the Saudi Central Bank.

Building on that work, we established the EssentaTor Arab Capital Strategic Liquidity Fund (the “EAC Fund”) to collaborate with central banks, commercial banks and sovereign wealth funds across the Middle East. Through these collaborations, we provide central-bank-level strategies and macro-level financial infrastructure solutions. This provides an entry point for innovation in financial infrastructure and regulatory mechanisms in payments and account services.

3. Cross-border payments and international commerce continue to face challenges around speed, cost, compliance and transparency. What are the key barriers businesses still face, and where do you see the greatest opportunities for innovation?

The stablecoin and digital asset ecosystem does not lack technology, users or use cases. What it lacks most is a clear set of compliance standards for these assets.

Under current global accounting standards, companies still face significant difficulties in recognizing digital assets and stablecoins and incorporating them into their financial statements. This helps explain why the use of digital assets and stablecoins in cross-border payments and international trade remains largely confined to the retail market and has yet to achieve scale in corporate settlement.

I believe that whichever country or jurisdiction first establishes national accounting standards for stablecoins and digital assets will become a global financial settlement center for cross-border payments and international trade. Innovation in rules and standards will create market opportunities on a much larger scale.

4. AI and automation are becoming increasingly important across financial services. How is EssentaTor approaching these technologies, and where do you believe they can create the most meaningful value for businesses and their customers?

EssentaTor’s work in AI and automation focuses on providing commercial banks, payment service providers and crypto wallet providers with Super AI Account and Smart Bank Card solutions.

Today, most applications of AI and automation in payments infrastructure are designed to improve financial institutions’ payment and settlement processes. Far less attention has been given to embedding intelligence directly into customer-facing applications or applying it to specific real-world scenarios.

EssentaTor’s solutions extend the role of accounts and cards beyond serving as channels through which financial institutions deliver services to their customers. Designed from the customer’s perspective, they serve as platforms through which users exercise autonomy over value and transfer, allocate and create value.

At the individual level, the relevant use cases include AI-enabled account functions, intelligent credit capabilities and context-aware payments tailored to each customer’s needs. At the broader public-service level, these solutions can support the Web3.0- and AI-enabled transformation of public products and services, including user-directed social-security contributions, health insurance, other insurance arrangements and tax payments.

5. Looking ahead, what is EssentaTor’s vision for the future of payments, and what role do you hope to play in shaping the next generation of global financial infrastructure?

Through the establishment and operation of the EssentaTor Arab Capital Strategic Liquidity Fund (the “EAC Fund”), EssentaTor is shaping the next generation of global financial infrastructure.

This framework comprises the EAC Institutional Capital Custody and Liquidity Financial Infrastructure; the EAC Stablecoin Joint Reserve Issuance Financial Infrastructure; the EAC Super AI Personal Account Infrastructure; and the EAC Finance, Technology, and Industrial Development Synergistic Investment and Growth System.

These infrastructures are designed for use by central banks, commercial banks and other financial institutions. Where conventional financial infrastructure focuses primarily on technology, EssentaTor provides macro-level financial infrastructure that integrates central-bank-level strategy and policy frameworks, technology deployment and institutional requirements.

Our goal is to provide national and regional markets with an end-to-end value chain spanning institutional capital structuring and coordination, stablecoin financial services, end users and use cases, and industrial investment and value realization.