Decentralized Asset Management: A Conversation With Multis’ Thibaut Sahaghian

The following is an interview we recently had with Thibaut Sahaghian, CEO of Multis.

What's your background? How did you get involved in crypto/blockchain?

TS: I started my career on the “dark side”- traditional finance in mergers & acquisitions. I had purchased a little bit of Bitcoin in 2014, but I discovered the amazing potential of blockchain technologies when investigating democracy initiatives like #followmyvote. I saw Bitcoin and Colored Coins (read: ERC20 before it got cool) as a great way to combat electoral fraud. I later joined a blockchain enterprise software company backed by the Nasdaq as the first sales rep. I learned all about selling this technology to legacy financial institutions. In 2018, I co-founded Multis because I knew that crypto start-ups are underserved by traditional finance and business software.

What value does Multis bring to users?

TS: Digital assets and blockchain technology are the future but they are not adapted to the needs of businesses. We know this because it's our lived reality as an early stage startup in crypto. Right now, thousands of promising crypto startups struggle with operational tasks like bookkeeping for DeFi, making bulk payments, and moving money between crypto and fiat. We're building our product to make business operations easier. We're all about professionalizing admin and giving our clients their time back to focus on their business.

Where do you see Multis in 5 years?

TS: The new banking standard for B2B.

What are the most common misconceptions about decentralized asset management?

TS: That the people doing it are nerdy software engineers sitting behind their computers. Well, they may be that, but I think that some of the sharpest minds in finance are now involved in the DeFi community. It's exciting to see greater mainstream acceptance.

What's next for decentralized asset management in 2021?

TS: An even greater professionalization in the sector. We're already seeing that with good news from the OCC in the US and major financial institutions exposing themselves to DeFi. I think 2021 is the year that DeFi will go further mainstream, for regulators, investors, and in popular opinion.