(*Riskbloq’s CEO Nzwisisa Chidemb o participating in a live pitching competition organized by NODO at the CV VC Africa Summit in Cape Town on May 4, 2023. Photo/ Faustine Ngila)*

With the huge number of digital assets already in the Web3 and blockchain ecosystem, there naturally ought to be a better way to evaluate the risks involved in the sector and in turn help prospective investors make better decisions on which ones to invest in.

This is because digital assets present a level of risk exposure that investors in the ecosystem can’t foresee but need to know about before pumping their money into the different digital assets available.

And this is where Riskbloq comes into the picture. It is a Johannesburg-based startup that seeks to address the risk exposure challenge by assessing risks in the blockchain ecosystem and informing the investors, thereby helping them make informed decisions when investing in any digital assets.

It essentially is building a comprehensive digital asset risk assessment and management platform, which would be more like the Moody’s (credit-rating service provider) for crypto.

Blockchain Analytics Platform

*(Chidemb o was born in Harare, Zimbabwe, educated in Washington, US, and came to invest in Johannesburg, South Africa. Here, he speaks to NODO News in Cape Town. Photo/ Faustine Ngila)*

Riskbloq describes itself as a blockchain analytics platform that has created risk profiles for more than 15,000 digital assets within the digital marketplace, assessing their risk profiles and making investors aware of the risks involved therein.

The blockchain startup, which was conceptualized and launched in July 2022, currently works in partnership with such Web3 consortiums as Chainalysis, CoinGecko, CB Insights, Mongo DB, Etherscan, AWS, and Founders Factory Africa, as well as some 100 investors who are using the platform and managing about $30 billion worth of digital assets, according to Nzwisisa Chidemb o, the founder and CEO of Riskbloq.

“There is great interest in risk assessment. We’re also still learning as we grow. We now target to launch our first product. We’re, however, learning that there is also strong interest in real-world assets as well,” Chidembo told NODO News. “We’re, therefore, embarking on assessing both the blockchain assets and also the players behind the real-world assets to come up with pertinent risk scores so that investors can have a better outlook of the risks involved in any digital asset.”

Such market intelligence providers as CB Insights, help in providing Riskbloq with the necessary data to compile the risk scores of digital assets and hence enhance the quality of the scores.

Investors in South Africa, Kenya……

The platform’s users -investors- are mostly based in South Africa, while there are some from Nairobi, Kenya, European countries and even the US.

Riskbloq, according to Chidembo, essentially seeks to discover emerging opportunities and evaluate their portfolio’s risk exposure. And it does this through enriching on-chain data with off-chain data sources to create a unique perspective of market opportunities. And their prospective market has been receptive to the idea.

“We also look at historicals, and likewise run comparisons to get a good picture of risk exposure in some of these digital assets,” he said. The startup’s main target is to roll out its official product, as well as doing its seed fundraising.

People understanding of how blockchain works, Chidembo said, is however one of the biggest challenges that he encounters at Ridkbloq, pointing to the need for more education about the entire Web3 space.

About the risks in the blockchain space, Chidembo said: “There are many risks in digital asset investments. But what matters is the priority that investors ascribe to the different risks in order to form a perspective of prospective market opportunities.”

What Are Critical Risks?

He cited some critical risks that Riskbloq keenly focuses on: market capitalization, volatility, liquidity, team, regulatory frameworks and compliance, smart contract security aspects, technology, and market opportunities. Riskbloq presents all possible solutions in a simple manner to avoid information overload for its users.

“One of the tools that we have on our platform is a risk radar, which allows the investor to visually superimpose the different digital assets upon each other using a form of radar helping them to ascertain the risks involved in whichever digital asset is available and decide whether it is a risk worth taking by investing in that digital asset,” Chidembo said.

The startup currently is working on an API to allow for risk assessment for luxury assets, which are more like digital collectibles.

-Edited by Shigeru Sato