ZenithBlox announced Compliance-Orchestrated Blockchain Infrastructure (COBI) this week, targeting regulated financial institutions struggling with blockchain adoption. The Toronto-based middleware company positions COBI as a solution to enterprise blockchain's 90% pilot failure rate.
Industry estimates indicate approximately 90% of enterprise blockchain pilots never reach production. ZenithBlox CEO Dr. Fodé Touré calls this a governance problem rather than a technology issue.
"Most blockchain platforms are built on the assumption that correct code execution equals an acceptable transaction," Touré said.
COBI represents a fundamental departure from transaction-centric blockchain architectures. Traditional approaches treat compliance as post-execution monitoring, detecting violations after they occur. The new system positions regulatory governance as the primary control plane, preventing non-compliant transactions from executing.
The architecture organizes blockchain execution through four integrated layers. These include a process layer for human-readable business rules, a policy layer for jurisdiction-aware compliance rules, an orchestration layer for legacy system integration, and an execution substrate for blockchain networks.
Universal adapters eliminate custom development that consumes 60-80% of blockchain project budgets. These adapters provide smooth integration with legacy infrastructure including SWIFT, SAP, Temenos, core banking systems, and ERPs. The system supports multiple blockchain environments including Ethereum, Hyperledger, and Polkadot.
ZenithBlox has secured strategic partnerships with Microsoft for Startups, IMDA Singapore's TradeTrust initiative, and Malaysia Blockchain Infrastructure. These collaborations validate the compliance-first approach for digital trade documents and sovereign-scale infrastructure projects.
The company is currently raising an $8 million seed round at a $25 million pre-money valuation. Funds will scale enterprise deployments, secure SOC 2 and ISO 27001 certifications, and expand sales presence across North America, EMEA, and Asia-Pacific.
Practical applications include cross-border settlement automation, central bank digital currency distribution, real-world asset tokenization, and trade finance workflows. The architecture is designed for high-stakes use cases in regulated finance and public infrastructure.
ZenithBlox operates as a compliance-first blockchain integration platform with headquarters in Toronto and an engineering subsidiary in Morocco. The company enables regulated enterprises to adopt blockchain technology through no-code/low-code middleware that connects legacy systems with blockchain networks.
