‘Excluded’ by banks? Velvet Capital founder says crypto is the answer

Millions worldwide remain unbanked or excluded from traditional finance, and crypto could be the key to leveling the playing field, according to Vasily Nikonov, founder of Velvet Capital.

Speaking on Roundtable , host Rob Nelson raised the issue of financial access, pointing out that some people — whether due to legal status, lack of documentation, or financial history — struggle to enter the mainstream system.

"Clearly you want to make these products and this platform accessible to a lot of people," Nelson said. "There is a group of people out there that I believe they are both in the legal and the illegal space of life... They kind of wanted to go straight with it, pay for their sins. However, they could never enter."

Nikonov agreed that not everyone excluded from finance is a criminal and that many legitimate users face barriers just for interacting with crypto.

"There's first of all, a clear distinction between criminals and actually people using proceedings from money laundering and other criminal activities," Nikonov said. "And we're using transaction monitoring systems to identify. So for example, if someone comes in and connects a wallet associated with a big hack, then they won't be able to use Velvet because the transaction monitoring system would just block it."

However, Nikonov pointed out that banks can block crypto users even if they aren’t doing anything illegal.

"Why are some folks excluded in the U.S.? For example, if you're an active crypto user and the bank sees that you’re constantly on-ramping and off-ramping, some of them can freeze your account," he said. "Obviously these people are not criminals. They're just getting excluded for the wrong reason."

Aly Madhavji, founder of Blockchain Founders Fund, believes crypto provides a way to bypass outdated financial rules that keep people locked out of investment opportunities.

"This is a global industry that really levels the playing field," Madhavji said. "I mean, when you think about traditional rules and systems, I mean to say who's really an accredited investor? I mean, if you have a master's degree and you’re not considered an accredited investor in the U.S. because you don't have a million dollars in assets or a certain net income, to me, that's crazy."

For Madhavji, true financial inclusion means removing unnecessary government restrictions and ensuring people have access to education and investment tools.

"Who wants government stepping into every little thing that they do and then holding them back from opportunities?" he said. "So I think this is really about creating a much more effective movement that’s fair, and ideally a superior system to what exists out there."