Figment, an independent provider of institutional staking infrastructure, has strengthened Middle East presence by forging partnership with UAE-based custody provider Tungsten, a trusted name in institutional digital asset services.
This expansion is timely as digital asset adoption accelerates across the Middle East region. As part of this, Figment has also appointed Christoph Richter as its first Head of Business Development in the Middle East.
The partnership leverages Tungsten’s strong industry position and existing licensing within the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), enabling them to provide enhanced, non-custodial staking options to clients via Figment’s infrastructure. This represents a significant milestone in expanding compliant staking access across the UAE and the broader MENA region.
Christoph Richter stated that, “Staking can be understood as earning the risk-free rate on proof-of-stake networks like ETH and SOL. With inflation beating rewards and rising institutional digital asset allocations, staking is becoming a core strategy – and the MENA region is ready.”
“The Middle East is uniquely positioned to benefit from institutional staking. With Christoph’s deep background in traditional finance and digital assets, he’s perfectly placed to lead our growth in this high-potential market,” added Eva Lawrence, Figment’s Head of EMEA & Regional MD.
Christoph will lead business development and strategic partnerships, reporting to Eva Lawrence, the Head of EMEA. Christoph has 20 years of experience in traditional finance (TradFi) derivatives, including senior roles at JP Morgan, Barclays, BNP Paribas, and UBS.
Under recent TradFi role, Christoph led derivative solutions for Southern Europe and DACH at MUFG. Since 2017, Christoph has advised leading firms and co-founded the proprietary BTC and ETH trading venture Vol Capital, building market neutral quantitative investment strategies.
Furthermore, Christoph brings extensive experience of working on major infrastructure Public Private Partnerships transactions across the Middle East, particularly in Saudi, building strong ties with the region’s key players and capital markets.
With new role as the first Head of Business Development in the Middle East and fluency in five languages, Christoph is set to further strengthen Figment’s regional growth.
