Knowledge Hub
by Daniel Taylor
December 2022
A look back on an eventful and successful 2022 for the Zumo team.
2022 has been quite the year of contrasts in crypto: challenging for the investor portfolio, no doubt, but also backdrop to a rapidly emerging institutional narrative – and a great deal of behind-the-scenes work from those positioning to ensure that the digital asset solutions of tomorrow are sustainable and set up to thrive for the long term.
Here’s our round-up of what’s happened to crypto in 2022 and what’s new in the nascent crypto-as-a-service arena.
Zumo Enterprise is go
To kick-start the Zumo Enterprise year, we were proud to unveil the Zumo Enterprise brand as the UK’s first full-stack B2B ‘crypto-as-a-service’ platform; an embedded solution to help banks and fintechs meet growing demand for crypto products and services whilst fulfilling a duty of care to their customers.
As events of the year have shown, not only is there a growing appetite and willingness from end customers to have their crypto needs served via their existing bank or financial services provider, it has also presented those providers with a timely opportunity both to demonstrate a proactive stance in protecting customers from scams and frauds they might encounter elsewhere, while retaining, growing and activating their existing customer base.
Zumo Enterprise ‘Crypto Invest’, as the inaugural Zumo Enterprise product, offers an accessible, sustainable and proven solution, and we anticipate a great deal of continued movement in this area in the months and years ahead.
The road to crypto acceptance
There remain, of course, a large number of contributing factors that continue to colour the decision-making process. Over 2022, we were fortunate enough to discuss and explore just some of those key themes in crypto adoption in an events and speaking tour encompassing Money 20/20 and SIBOS 2022 in Amsterdam, the FTT DeFi Summit in London; Web Summit in Lisbon; and the Fintech Talents Festival and CryptoAM Summit in London.
Conversations we had and connections we made all point to the relentless forwards momentum in this space, and the necessary discussions and action being taken around issues including the thinking around regulation and environmental issues; the use cases for crypto, near and longer term; the business drivers behind crypto acceptance; the key remaining hurdles to crypto adoption; and the role partners play in supporting a crypto roadmap.
Decarbonising crypto: towards practical solutions
In 2022, one of the topics foremost on the agenda was of course sustainability, and how crypto adoption reconciles with – and even complements – net zero commitments.
As a values-driven business, this is an area in which we have done a significant amount of work, and over the course of the year, we were delighted to build on that foundational work with both a first practically-focused pilot project (trialled via our consumer app) and subsequently an award of grant funding from InnovateUK to further explore embedded crypto decarbonisation solutions. This is a field in which we continue to be extremely active, and to collaborate through our membership of working groups including those of Global Digital Finance and the World Economic Forum.
And the winner is…
It was particularly satisfying to see this work and the wider work of the business recognised in a series of award wins throughout 2022, including honours as Crypto Company of the Year (AltFi Awards); the Climate and Environmental Impact Award (Scottish Financial Technology Awards); and Best Application of ESG (CityAM), in addition to finalist shortlistings for Cryptoasset Innovation of the Year (FSTech Awards); Startup of the Year and Best Use of Blockchain Technology (UK Fintech Awards); Climate Champion (ScotlandIS Digital Technology Awards); and Authentic ESG (Fintech Finance). Of course, none of this would be possible without the support of our clients and partners, and on that note we would like to extend a sincere thank you to everyone who has supported us this year.
Investing in people
Last but by no means least, it goes without saying that the work of the year would not have been possible without the commitment and support of a great team. Over 2022, we were particularly pleased to welcome valued new members of the team including Sales Manager Harun Razzak and strategic advisers James Chadwick and Jeff Carvalho. Thank you to them all for their contributions and to every member of the Zumo team.
Needless to say, we have lots more planned for 2023, and we look forward to seeing what the new year brings! If you’d like to talk more with us about embedding crypto in your own operation, please don’t hesitate to get in touch, and we wish you all a happy and festive holiday season.
We look forward to continuing to be your trusted and sustainable partner to enjoy the benefits of digital assets.
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