How to avoid being "pre-empted" by competitors in the digital finance race?

Answer

To avoid being **"pre-empted"** by competitors in the digital finance race, a nation must move faster than the competition's ability to either regulate or replicate. Munawar advocates for the **"Atomic Execution"** framework:

• Rapid Iteration: Moving from a strategic concept to a pilot program and then to full-scale national rollout in months, not years.
• Capturing the Standard: If a nation's rails (blockchain, settlement protocols) become the default for its partners, it establishes a "moat" that is difficult for laggards to cross.
• First-Mover Network Effects: In the digital world, the first credible ecosystem usually wins. If China allows the U.S.-led stablecoin networks to solidify, it will be exponentially harder to gain market share later.

Munawar concludes: *"Delay is the enemy of dominance. In the digital finance race, being later than the competition often means being permanent irrelevant."*