The latest articles on Forem by JimmyGunawanSE.M.Fi (@jimmygunawan). https://forem.com/jimmygunawan https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=90,height=90,fit=cover,gravity=auto,format=auto/https:%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Fuser%2Fprofile_image%2F3671733%2Ff30a5b4f-4fc7-41a1-8a7b-df7fe6dbe29e.png https://forem.com/jimmygunawan en JimmyGunawanSE.M.Fi Fri, 26 Dec 2025 07:11:10 +0000 https://forem.com/jimmygunawan/why-i-left-banking-to-bet-on-programmable-money-rwa-2hji https://forem.com/jimmygunawan/why-i-left-banking-to-bet-on-programmable-money-rwa-2hji <p>Hello Devs.</p> <p>I spent 20 years in traditional finance (Morgan Stanley, Temasek). I stared at legacy banking systems (COBOL mainframes, SWIFT messaging) that take 3 days to settle a transaction.</p> <p>It is inefficient. It is broken.</p> <p>That is why, for 2026, my investment thesis is heavily focused on Real World Assets (RWA). This isn't about buying meme coins. It's about the engineering challenge of bringing off-chain assets (Real Estate, Bonds, Invoices) on-chain.</p> <p>The Engineering Challenge:</p> <p>The Oracle Problem: How do we trustlessly verify that the physical gold exists in the vault?</p> <p>Identity: How do we implement KYC/AML at the smart contract level (ERC-3643 standards)?</p> <p>Latency: Can L2s handle the throughput of a national stock exchange?</p> <p>If you are a developer looking for a sector to build in, ignore the hype. Look at DeFi Infrastructure. The banks are desperate to update their backend, and they will pay a premium for the engineers who can bridge Solidity with SQL.</p> <p>I write about the intersection of Institutional Finance and Tech here: <a href="https://www.jimmygunawan.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://www.jimmygunawan.com/</a></p> fintech blockchain web3 systemarchitecture