Alla Zhedik
VP Finance & Investment Group at Next Generation
Alla, you’ve built a career across banking, treasury, and now executive leadership in regulated payments. What brought you from traditional finance into stablecoins and blockchain-based settlement?
You know, after two decades in traditional finance, you start to see the invisible walls we’ve built around money. Money moves fast, but the infrastructure for moving it has been slow, layered with intermediaries, and often exclusive. When I looked at what Next Generation NGPES is building, I saw a fundamental engineering challenge. This idea of "Fusioning the Future of Payments" was really fascinating.
Today, in my role within the company, I oversee the financial architecture. In a classic business, finance counts the fees. In our hybrid model, finance becomes the architect of the transaction pathways. We ask questions like: “Should we route USD → USDC → EURC → SEPA, or take another path?” Each route has different costs, different regulatory nuances, and requires its own innovative approach. It’s a mathematical optimisation puzzle.
For someone who has spent years in strategic finance and risk leadership within a banking environment, the opportunity to apply that same discipline to a new, dynamic environment was simply irresistible.
You are talking about this shift with a real conviction. I’m curious, since you've led in traditional banking and now in fintech and blockchain-based payments, how does women’s leadership differ across these worlds?
That’s a fascinating question, actually, because these two worlds operate on very different logics.
In traditional banking, leadership is highly structured. Hierarchies are clear, credibility is built over time, and career progression often follows a defined path. For women, the challenge here has historically been navigating long-established networks and institutional norms. The major barriers to their leadership stem from visibility and sponsorship issues within systems that were designed decades ago.
In fintech and blockchain, the structure is less rigid. Because the industry is still defining itself, there is more openness to unconventional leadership styles. Your results matter more because they become visible quickly, and intellectual agility is an important trait to possess. In that sense, it can genuinely be easier for women to rise in this space — if they bring strategic clarity and strong delivery with them.
You say that fintech can be more fluid and open-minded. But no industry is without its friction point, is it? In practice, where would you say the toughest barriers still linger today?
You see, in crypto, credibility is often signalled through technical fluency and speed. The environment can be highly performative and jargon-driven. If you don’t immediately speak the language of the ecosystem, you can be underestimated. Even the fact that you bring deep financial or regulatory expertise doesn’t quite help with this.
Where I still see the toughest barrier is at the intersection of finance and technology. Deep financial risk management, liquidity discipline, and regulatory strategy are less visible than code or product demos. Yet you can argue that these things are exactly what determine whether a company survives. Ensuring that this kind of leadership is valued equally remains a challenge.
Ultimately, though, I do believe that a real shift is happening. In both worlds, performance and resilience are increasingly what matter — and we all know those qualities are not gendered.
Here’s hoping it will move faster. Since you’ve touched on credibility, what is the most common “credibility test” women leaders face in this space?
In my experience, the most common one is what I call the “explanation test.” Often, when a man presents a financial model, it’s accepted instantly. But when a woman presents the same model, it is often the case that she gets asked for a more detailed justification — as if her fundamental understanding is being tested.
Early in my career, I used to get frustrated by this and often responded by over-explaining things. But in hindsight, I believe it actually undermined my authority.
That’s a real shame to hear. How do you respond to that now? How do you shut it down without becoming defensive?
Since then, I’ve learned that it’s more important to shift the conversation to a more strategic level. By showing that you are a thinker, and not just a calculator, you can reclaim and strengthen your expert voice and position.
For example, someone might question a liquidity assumption I’ve made regarding our stablecoin reserves. Instead of defending the math line by line, I pivot and elevate the conversation to look at the bigger picture.
I say something like: "Let’s look at the risk framework. This assumption is based on MiCA compliance and a reserve requirement we are implementing. The question is whether we are comfortable with this level of audit transparency." By reframing the discussion, you show that you are thinking strategically, not defensively.
An impressive move. But seeing as you’ve brought up real cases, I would like to ask about your story more directly. Could you share something specific from your career? Maybe there was a moment that challenged you or changed your trajectory? What do you think would be genuinely useful to hear for women who want to start their path in fintech/blockchain today?
Actually, yes — there was a defining moment during my transition from traditional banking into fintech and blockchain.
We were in a high-level meeting with institutional investors on one side and a very technical blockchain team on the other. The investors were asking about things like liquidity coverage, sustainable margins, and regulatory exposure. Meanwhile, the developers were speaking about token velocity, protocol incentives, and smart contract efficiency. Despite the fact that everyone there was extremely intelligent, they were speaking completely different languages.
And I could feel the alignment risk in the room. After all, when people don’t understand each other, capital doesn’t move. At that moment, I understood what my role really meant. That I am the one supposed to create coherence in such settings. So, I reframed the discussion and mapped the token economics into a structured financial model. I showed how volatility impacts reserves, how incentives translate into predictable cash flow, and what that means for regulatory sustainability. Suddenly, the conversation shifted. The investors and the developers started to understand each other, and we moved forward.
That moment changed my trajectory because I realised that in digital finance, true leadership is about integrating both technology and discipline — not choosing one or the other.
For women entering this space, my advice is this: do not underestimate the power of synthesis. You should learn the technical language, understand the regulatory architecture, and master financial fundamentals. But what is more important, you need to know how to translate all that complexity into clarity.
From your description, I can almost picture that room. That’s certainly a powerful moment. But what touched me more was your statement about the movement of capital and alignment. It makes me wonder: if decentralisation is about removing barriers, why does the industry still struggle with inclusion?
It’s a beautiful paradox, isn’t it? The technology promises permissionless access, but the human layer building it can still be exclusive. Decentralisation, to me, should be about real access to opportunity. It should mean that a woman in Paris, a developer in Lagos, and a student in Buenos Aires can all contribute to and benefit from the ecosystem.
But in your opinion, who should drive that change? Should it be the industry itself, or should official regulators intervene?
I believe it has to start with the industry. Regulation can set the floor and prevent discrimination, but it still cannot create genuine inclusion. Inclusion has to be built into the culture. At Next Generation NGPES, we are building a financial ecosystem that merges regulatory rigour with innovation. That ethos has to apply internally, too. We need to be rigorous about seeking diverse talent.
However, I do think there is one specific area where regulation can genuinely help. I’m talking about education. MiCA, for example, is establishing and clearly defining a level of formalisation which creates a demand for professionals who understand both the regulatory framework and digital assets. This opens the door for people from traditional backgrounds, like lawyers, accountants, and treasurers, many of whom are women, to enter the space with already validated skills.
Thank you for such an honest answer. Now, here’s probably the last thing I’m going to ask you today. What advice would you give to a woman entering fintech/blockchain who wants to be an actual leader? What should she prioritise in the first 12 months?
My first piece of advice is to prioritise depth over breadth initially. You need to be intentional from the first day. In your first 12 months, pick one domain and go deep. You can choose stablecoin economics, cross-border payments, or DeFi lending — but whatever it is, you need to really understand the mechanics and the incentives. Ask a lot of “why’s”: why this fee model, why this collateral structure, why this liquidity design. Leadership starts with real mastery of the space you’re operating in.
Second, learn to love the “messy middle” — by which I mean the infrastructure that makes innovation real. Everyone is always drawn to the product story, but very few people invest time in the operating reality underneath it. Yet, as I said earlier, compliance, accounting, controls, and reporting determine whether a company survives its next audit and earns institutional trust. Of course, you shouldn’t forget about practical tools, either. For example, understanding why we use platforms like SoftLedger for real-time accounting and clean reconciliation explains how you build scalable finance.
Third, develop decision-making discipline. In this industry, speed is celebrated, but real leadership is about the ability to make sound decisions under uncertainty. You need to see second-order effects, spot hidden risks, and build structures that can hold even when markets move fast.
And finally, find your community. Find other women, and allies in general, who can help you navigate the culture, decode the unwritten rules, and remind you that your perspective is exactly what this industry needs to mature. Remember that we are building financial infrastructure — and that infrastructure requires leaders.
