Why ENTRY is the missing compliance layer for Web3: Interview with CEO Rodney Prescott

The ever-evolving regulatory and compliance measures are a significant hindrance to the global adoption of blockchain technology. The reason is the anonymity and rigid nature of blockchain infrastructure. ENTRY NETWORK is a solution leveraging zero-knowledge proofs and artificial intelligence to bring compliance on-chain without compromising personal or proprietary information.

In this interview, Rodney Prescott, the CEO of ENTRY, talks to us about his experience in financial infrastructure and how ENTRY works in detail. Rodney also highlights the platform’s roadmap and how you can become part of the community.

Rodney’s experience in financial infrastructure

Q: Who is Rodney Prescott? Tell us about your experience in blockchain and finance.

A: My background is in financial infrastructure. I spent years as the blockchain Subject Matter Expert for PwC and EY across Europe and Asia. I’ve built settlement and Real-Time Gross Settlement systems for central banks. I was the Chief Technology Officer of a crypto brokerage, so I’ve seen the operational nightmares of compliance from the inside.

Academically, I hold an MSc in Digital Currencies, and I’m a doctoral candidate examining the financial management of novel assets, including tokenized assets such as cryptocurrencies, stablecoins, and real-world assets (RWAs).

Q: You recently published a book on blockchain and compliance. Please provide a brief overview of the book.

A: The book focuses on how zero-knowledge proofs and blockchain can be leveraged to unlock regulated traditional finance in a compliant manner, with real-world examples, case studies, background information, and practical roadmaps to enable adoption and risk management.

How ENTRY works

Q: What market gap inspired the creation of ENTRY?

A: Compliance and privacy, which is chain- and asset-agnostic, enables web3 projects and traditional finance to transition to Finance 2.0 while remaining compliant. Balancing privacy management with compliance can be a challenging task. Traditional KYC and AML are not effective when considering personal identifiable information and regulations like GDPR. The next challenge is the complex global legislation, silos of knowledge, and the ever-changing regulatory landscape. Ultimately, you need to maintain an auditable record that meets requirements such as the travel rule or residency requirements.

Q: Walk us through how ENTRY works, including how it leverages artificial intelligence and decentralized identities.

A: ENTRY is a Layer-1 blockchain built with identity, compliance, and risk evaluation natively integrated into the protocol, not bolted on as an afterthought. The easiest way to imagine it is as an on-chain equivalent of pre-trade risk checks in traditional finance.

In the same way that a bank won’t let a trade execute until identity, credit limits, and compliance rules are satisfied, ENTRY ensures the same discipline for digital assets.

I’ll outline how ENTRY works in four steps:

1. Decentralised, zero-knowledge identity

Users hold their own identity credentials in a self-sovereign way. ENTRY doesn’t see their private data; instead, the chain verifies zero-knowledge proofs that confirm details such as age, jurisdiction, sanctions status, or eligibility. The ZK-proofs enforce compliance without exposing personal information.

1. Federated AI risk engine

ENTRY uses a federated AI model architecture where multiple independent AI systems collaborate without sharing raw data.

Local containerised large language models (LLMs) run privately at institutions (banks, regulators, law firms, exchanges). They evaluate sensitive data, such as client information, proprietary rules, and internal risk flags, without ever leaving the institution’s environment.

These local evaluations produce a risk verdict or policy signal, rather than raw data. ENTRY then aggregates these signals with publicly trained LLMs that continuously ingest open-source regulatory and sanctions data (OFAC, HMT, EU, MiCA updates, travel rule requirements, etc.). This keeps ENTRY’s compliance layer up to date in real-time.

1. Pre-execution risk check before transaction settlement

ENTRY validates the identity ZK-proofs by evaluating sanctions, jurisdiction, counterparties, and permitted-asset rules through the federated artificial intelligence (AI) mesh. It applies institution-defined policy constraints such as “no stablecoin exposure in US markets.”

1. On-chain audit trails

Every risk decision, identity verification, and compliance check is committed on-chain as an immutable record without revealing private data.

This creates a fully auditable history that satisfies both regulators and institutions.

ENTRY is the first blockchain where identity, compliance, and AI-driven risk checks are part of the base layer, not an add-on. We bring the controls of traditional finance into Web3, but with zero-knowledge privacy and federated AI built in from day one.

Why is compliance essential?

Q: How is ENTRY positioned to accelerate blockchain and digital asset adoption among institutions?

A: ENTRY NETWORK answers the biggest challenge for regulated institutions: identity and tainted assets. For example, a wallet address does not meet the Travel Rule; however, with our ENTRY ID, which is based on ZK-proofs, the required details can be provided, provided the user or entity agrees. For some transactions, the system only needs to confirm that you are over 18 and an EU citizen – without exposing any Personally Identifiable Information. By also verifying asset details and wallet addresses against the relevant regulations, the federated AI will ensure that clean assets and transaction compliance are met. Remove the fear of tainted assets or sanctioned wallets before the transaction proceeds.

Q: Critics will argue that regulation and compliance introduce centralized oversight, which compromises the permissionless, trustless nature of decentralized systems. How true is this?

A: ENTRY is proving this to be untrue by leveraging ZK Identity tools and control in the hands of the user; information never leaves the device without user approval. The Federated AI is not centralized, and it does not share personal identifiable information or proprietary information. Public information is shared, and details, if required, are provided as approved by the user, transaction-dependent. But no details are stored on the ENTRY NETWORK blockchain. The parties transacting do not send details such as driver’s licenses or passport information; instead, they confirm that these details are accurate for the transaction. No source documents are sitting in a database or storage.

Q: ENTRY is an infrastructure layer for compliant systems. What other potential applications do you see for the network?

A: There are numerous potential applications, including Web3 projects that require compliance, such as traditional finance transactions, real-world assets, potentially agentic solutions, government services, gaming, and more.

Q: What early traction or partnerships can you share?

A: Midnight, Crescendo, London Real Ventures, Modern Niagra, and Hedera Hashgraph. 

ENT token and roadmap

Q: What is the ENT token, and how does it contribute to ensuring compliance in the ENTRY ecosystem?

A: Every ID verification, AML scan, sanctions check, and enforcement of the jurisdiction’s rules consumes the ENTRY gas. We have effectively tokenized the act of compliance.

And because this occurs under the execution layer, we achieve regulatory assurance with millisecond settlement. The trade never hangs; it just clears, compliantly, while burning gas.

Q: Looking ahead, what should we expect from ENTRY? 

A: ENTRY is entering a very active execution phase. The first milestone is the launch of our ENTRY Identity Pilot in January 2026, with a major gaming consortium representing millions of users. This pilot brings ENTRY’s compliance-native identity, KYC/AML screening, and behavioural risk tooling directly into high-volume consumer environments — proving the scalability of our infrastructure before MainNet. ENTRY is entering a very focused execution phase. 

Our roadmap is built around one principle: making compliance-ready digital asset infrastructure usable for real institutions, not just in theory.

Here’s what to expect from us next:

1. Institutional pilots and real-world integrations

We’re already working with regulated partners to deploy ENTRY’s identity and pre-trade risk layer within environments such as banks, regulated brokers, and asset platforms.

The next phase is expanding these pilots into full production integrations, bringing ENTRY’s compliance engine directly into existing financial workflows.

1. Expansion of the zero-knowledge identity ecosystem

Our first milestone is making self-sovereign identity simple and reusable.

Over the coming cycles, you’ll see:

• More credential types (age, jurisdiction, accreditation, corporate onboarding)
• Deeper integrations with WalletConnect and enterprise authentication standards
• Improved selective disclosure using ZK proofs
• Each step strengthens ENTRY as the universal identity passport for regulated digital markets.

1. Federated AI risk mesh (Progressive rollout)

We already have the core architecture. The roadmap now focuses on:

• Expanding the network of local containerised LLM nodes (banks, legal firms, regulators)
• Publishing more verified compliance models
• Enhancing explainability and auditability of AI-driven decisions

This enables institutions to assess risk with privacy guarantees and regulatory assurance.

1. ENTRY atomic exchange (cross-chain settlement with pre-trade risk built-in)

We’re progressing toward an atomic settlement layer where transactions across chains can only execute if they satisfy ENTRY’s risk and identity policies.

This unlocks:

• Cross-chain trading with built-in compliance
• Pre-cleared wallet attestations
• Institutional-grade settlement infrastructure

We’ll roll this out gradually, starting with internal testnets and early partners.

1. Developer ecosystem and open standards

Expect SDKs, APIs, and reference implementations that make it easy for third-party platforms to build on ENTRY, whether they require identity, KYC attestation, clean wallet checks, or transaction screening. ENTRY aims to become the compliance fabric for Web3, not just a chain.

1. Progressive decentralisation and governance

We will expand community participation through governance frameworks that incorporate:

Identity-verified voting, delegated risk councils, and transparent on-chain audit trails. Decentralisation will increase as the network matures and regulatory comfort grows.

Q: For individuals interested in joining the ENTRY ecosystem, how do they do so?

A: There are several ways the community can actively join and contribute to ENTRY as we continue building the first compliance-native Layer 1 for institutions:

1. Join our community spaces

The easiest way to get involved is to join our growing ecosystem on social media platforms. You can join us on:

• Discord for technical discussions, community updates, AMAs, and early announcements
• X (Twitter) to follow news, insights, and live project updates.
• Telegram for fast communication and community coordination

Our community is becoming a key voice in shaping the evolution of compliance-native infrastructure.

1. Participate in our questing and loyalty program

We’ve launched our own loyalty platform where users can complete missions, earn points, unlock rewards, and gain early access benefits.
It’s free, open to everyone, and designed to reward early supporters.
https://portal.ENTRY.network/loyalty

1. Early participation in token-related events

As we progress toward the launch of the ENT token, we will announce multiple opportunities for the community to participate in early rounds — including private and public sale phases.
All details will be shared first on our social channels, so staying connected is the best way to stay informed and not miss out.

1. Become a tester of ENTRY products

In the near future, we will invite our community to help test our products — including:

• ENTRY ID (our zk-powered global identity layer)
• ENTRY AI Compliance Engine
• Clean Asset Gateway
• New ecosystem features as they roll out

Community testers will be among the first to experience how our technology works and provide direct feedback, helping shape the final versions.