Ali Erakat – AJ Erakat Founder of Zakat Coin
Ali Erakat – AJ Erakat Founder of Zakat CoinFaith, Technology, and Charity: The Story Behind Ali Erakat’s Vision for Zakat Coin”In an era where trust in global charity systems is rapidly eroding, one founder believes the solution lies at the intersection of faith, transparency, and modern technology. His name is Ali J. Erakat, a San Francisco–born entrepreneur whose journey — from hotel night manager to blockchain innovator — is as unconventional as the mission he now leads.
Erakat grew up in the Bay Area, where sports, community, and a culture of resilience shaped his character. His early years were defined by fierce competitiveness — Little League baseball, high school football, and a love for the Raiders, Giants, and Lakers. “San Francisco taught me to show up every day and give my best effort,” he often says.His academic path took him from San Francisco State University to Heald College, where hands-on training in hardware and systems laid the foundation for his future in technology. Although he didn’t complete his final semester, the technical discipline he gained helped him later decode the complexities of blockchain.
Before entering tech, Erakat built a diverse career spanning hotels, restaurants, government cafés, the NFL, and federal-level dental operations. These roles sharpened his leadership skills and taught him operations, compliance, negotiation, and people management — experience he calls “real-world training you don’t find in books.”Two mentors left an especially deep impact on him. The first appeared early in his hotel career, where a senior manager took him under his wing and taught him professionalism and leadership. The second was his cousin, Dr. Muhammad Erekat, a Harvard-trained oral surgeon living in New Jersey. Through quiet example rather than preaching, Muhammad reintroduced Ali to Islam, inspiring a gradual but profound spiritual transformation.That transformation later became one of the core building blocks of Zakat Coin, the blockchain-based charitable ecosystem Erakat is now preparing to launch.
The idea, he says, came from the convergence of three forces:his wife Lena’s lifelong devotion to charity,his own renewed connection to Islam,and his obsession with blockchain technology.Lena, whom Erakat affectionately calls the “Queen of Charity,” built businesses centered on giving and served as the executive director of a nonprofit. Her heart for philanthropy opened his eyes to how charity could be reimagined on a global scale.Meanwhile, his spiritual return to Islam — guided quietly by his cousin and deepened through years of Ramadan fasting and nightly prayers — gave him a new lens through which to view purpose, fairness, and giving. He began to see zakat, the 1,400-year-old Islamic system of wealth distribution, as an early blueprint for transparency and accountability.Blockchain completed the picture. Since 2019, Erakat had immersed himself in crypto mechanics — liquidity pools, AMMs, stablecoins, and white papers. He realized that modern decentralized systems could replicate and scale the purity and clarity of zakat in a global, real-time environment.
“Faith, family, and technology aligned,” he explains. “That’s where Zakat Coin was born.”
Zakat Coin is built across Polygon L2, Arbitrum, and BNB Mainnet, giving it high speed, low cost, and global reach. The project is anchored by ZUSD, a stable-value token designed to keep charity predictable and secure, along with weekly automated disbursements, proof-based tracking, and verified nonprofit onboarding.The system serves Muslims by enabling accurate, automated zakat calculations, while also offering non-Muslims the most transparent donation rails currently available. “We built Zakat Coin for everyone,” Erakat says. “Faith forms the foundation; technology makes it universal.”
Security and compliance play central roles as well. The ecosystem uses multi-sig protection, a CISO-led framework, audits, and controlled supply mechanisms such as FLIP and FLOP liquidity engines. It integrates with traditional finance through ACH, Plaid, Circle, ZakPay, and FUSE settlement rails.Importantly, the project maintains full Shariah alignment — with scholars, fatwas, quarterly audits, and strict avoidance of speculation or riba.The use cases are wide-ranging: humanitarian aid, NGO payouts, global remittances, merchant giving, automated charity engines, and instant zakat transfers. Everything is recorded on immutable ledgers — “nothing hidden,” as Erakat puts it.Looking ahead, Erakat envisions Zakat Coin becoming the global standard for charitable giving within the next decade — a system trusted by both Muslims and non-Muslims for its clarity, stability, and accountability.His message to future innovators is simple and almost old-fashioned:“Build with sincerity. Build with intention. Build something that genuinely helps people. If your purpose is pure, your impact will last.”For Erakat, that impact is just beginning
