Leadership within the blockchain industry is changing to focus more on decentralized models that promote teamwork, flexibility, and openness. As organizations start using blockchain solutions, leaders need to adjust their strategies to effectively manage change. They can do this by taking advantage of the technology’s features, like smart contracts, and ensuring data integrity.
Leaders must have a solid understanding of blockchain basics and put strong security measures in place to protect sensitive information. Those who embrace new ideas and encourage a culture of adaptability will be crucial for their organization’s success in this ever-changing environment.
William Lively, the CEO of EXtrance Inc., is transforming investment management by strategically combining artificial intelligence, machine learning, and blockchain technology. Throughout his career, he has consistently sought to challenge norms, enhance standards, and redefine the future of finance.
Contributions to Financial Technology
William Lively started his career at DCI Capital, one of the first investment firms in the U.S. that focused on blockchain technology. He quickly became a Partner there, managing investor relations and leading projects in emerging markets. His achievements at DCI set the stage for a series of innovative ventures that combined finance and technology.
In 2018, William founded SyndEX Labs, a groundbreaking investment platform based on blockchain that aimed to increase access to alternative sources of capital. His leadership helped form important partnerships with major global organizations like IBM and The Americas Group, resulting in the successful raising of over $1.1 billion in committed assets through smart equity financing.
In 2021, William Lively founded EXtrance, which redefined how investments and investor management are approached. Under his guidance, the company established a new standard in the industry for technology-driven solutions. EXtrance quickly gained a reputation as a transformative player, built on a strong team with expertise in technology, private equity, and real estate.
The Story Behind EXtrance
The creation of EXtrance was inspired by William’s long-standing awareness of the problems in financial services and real estate investment processes. He noticed issues like a lack of transparency, too many manual tasks, and long periods where capital was locked up—all of which had become standard in the industry. This need for change led to the founding of EXtrance, with blockchain chosen as a key technology to build a secure and scalable infrastructure.
However, it wasn’t just about blockchain. William Lively also recognized the importance of investing early in artificial intelligence and machine learning. These technologies enabled features like predictive analytics, automation, and better decision-making. Together, they formed the basis of EXtrance’s most groundbreaking innovation: the introduction and implementation of intra-fund liquidity within private equity.
Built on Security and Transparency
From the very beginning, security and transparency have been fundamental to the design of EXtrance’s platform. The Qualified Matching Service was created to be SEC-compliant right from the start, and the blockchain infrastructure offers an unchangeable audit trail.
Additionally, AI-driven compliance checks and automated document validations allow funds to grow without increasing their legal costs. This combined approach helps maintain trust, even during periods of rapid growth.
EXtrance’s Achievements
- 2023 & 2024: Named top AI-powered real estate solution by Acquisitions International.
- Ranked: Among the top ten global real estate solutions by PropTech Outlook.
Combining Liquidity and AI for Better Decisions
EXtrance addresses a gap that traditional private equity platforms struggle with—a need for liquidity, intelligence, and operational clarity. It introduced the first SEC-compliant Qualified Matching Service (QMS), allowing investors to buy, sell, increase, or decrease their positions within private funds just as easily as trading stocks. This liquidity is provided without impacting the fund’s working capital or raising compliance costs, which sets EXtrance apart from its competitors.
Additionally, with significant investments in AI and machine learning, EXtrance equips fund managers and investors with tools to recognize patterns, foresee risks, and make smarter, quicker decisions based on real-time data.
Enhancing Investor Engagement and Returns
Clients have experienced remarkable results after implementing EXtrance’s solutions. They have reported up to an 80% reduction in time spent on administrative tasks and nearly zero reporting errors, along with significantly higher investor engagement.
Funds that use the intra-fund liquidity engine have also seen an increase in capital commitments, particularly from qualified investors who previously avoided private equity because of strict lockup periods. Furthermore, the AI-enhanced dashboards have allowed for proactive fund management, providing insights that have directly improved the internal rate of return (IRR) and increased transparency for investors.
Combining Intra-Fund Liquidity with AI Innovation
EXtrance stands out as the only platform that offers a fully operational, SEC-compliant intra-fund liquidity engine, fundamentally changing how private equity operates. What further distinguishes EXtrance is its deep integration of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML). These technologies enhance the platform’s intelligence and deliver measurable benefits in cost savings, efficiency, and risk reduction.
While other platforms may provide features like tokenization or digital dashboards, EXtrance focuses on delivering actual results, such as increased flexibility for investors and significant operational improvements.
Dynamic Approach to Private Equity
“Blockchain technology is no longer just emerging; it is now maturing,” William Lively says. Businesses are looking for systems that do more than just keep records; they want solutions that provide real value. This evolution is being driven by the combination of blockchain with artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), which allows for real-time auditing, analysis of investor sentiment, and customized performance reporting.
At EXtrance, this has been achieved through the Qualified Matching Service, which has transformed the previously static nature of private equity into a dynamic, data-driven, and investor-friendly experience.
Acquisition by Major Investment Bank
William Lively shares that EXtrance is in the final stages of being acquired by one of the largest investment banks in the world. The acquisition process has been ongoing for over seven months, and the deal is expected to completely close in this fiscal quarter of this year.
This development highlights the significant value of what EXtrance has created through its groundbreaking intra-fund liquidity and by utilizing AI and machine learning to modernize investment decision-making and actively manage investor portfolios.
Expansion and Growth
- 300% Year-over-Year Growth in the last two years
- Supported $550 billion in Assets
- Active in North America and Europe
- Clients reduced operational costs by up to 80%
Over the past two years, EXtrance has achieved remarkable growth, recording over 300% year-over-year growth. The platform has supported more than $550 billion in assets and operates across North America and Europe. This rapid expansion is largely because of the combined effects of the intra-fund liquidity system and AI/ML-based automation, which have helped clients reduce operational costs by up to 80%, improve investor retention, make data-driven investment decisions, and attract capital at unprecedented levels in private markets.
Redefining Operations for a $3 Billion Fund
One notable success story for EXtrance involved a fund managing over $3 billion, which underwent a complete operational transformation after adopting the platform. The time it took for manual reporting, which previously lasted six weeks, was cut down to just 48 hours.
The real fundamental change was the introduction of intra-fund liquidity, allowing capital to move freely without adding new legal or compliance burdens. Additionally, the AI features integrated into the platform provided predictive reporting and identified investment anomalies, which helped save time and lower risks.
As a result of these improvements, the fund saw a significant increase in capital commitments and expanded its investor base to include qualified individuals who had previously been excluded because of strict lockup periods.
A Team Dedicated to Client Success
EXtrance has built an agile team focused on innovation and client success. About half of the company consists of developers and product engineers, many of whom specialize in blockchain and AI/ML technologies. The other half includes client strategists, compliance experts, and specialists in investor experience. This structure ensures that innovation is not isolated; it is continuously tested and validated through real client outcomes.
The Future of AI, IoT, and Blockchain in Investment Management
The future will see a powerful combination of intelligence and trust. EXtrance is already using AI to analyze fund performance, identify irregularities, and improve investor engagement. Data from the Internet of Things (IoT), especially in real estate, directly feeds into the company’s asset performance models. Meanwhile, blockchain technology ensures that this data remains secure and unchangeable.
This convergence enables real-time decision-making, intelligent liquidity management, and a level of accessibility and personalization that has never been available in private markets before.
The Core Philosophy
The guiding philosophy behind EXtrance has always focused on practical innovation—creating technology that truly addresses real problems. EXtrance was not developed as just another blockchain company chasing trends; it was designed to tackle fundamental issues in capital markets. This included making strategic investments in machine learning algorithms that can automatically identify anomalies, predict fund performance, and reduce manual tasks.
The belief has consistently been that when people and platforms work together effectively, they can achieve exponential results.
5 Key Takeaways from William Lively’s Journey in the Blockchain Industry
- EXtrance is using smart tech to fix old problems in investing. William Lively saw that investing in things like real estate funds was often slow, not very transparent, and made it hard for investors to get their money out early. He created EXtrance to solve these issues using blockchain for security and AI to make things smarter and faster.
- They made it easier to buy and sell investments within a fund. This is a big deal because usually, once your money is in a private equity fund, it’s locked up for a long time. EXtrance created a way for investors to trade their stakes more easily, like trading stocks, without disrupting the fund itself. The company even got the SEC’s approval for this, which is important.
- AI is making investing smarter and more efficient. EXtrance isn’t just using blockchain; it is also heavily using artificial intelligence and machine learning. This helps the company predict how investments might do, automate tasks that used to take a lot of time, and catch potential problems early on. This makes things better for both the fund managers and the investors.
- What EXtrance built is really valuable. The fact that a major global investment bank is about to buy EXtrance shows that its ideas and technology are seen as a big step forward in the financial world. It highlights how important it is to make private equity more flexible, transparent, and efficient.
- Combining different technologies can lead to big changes. William Lively’s success with EXtrance shows the power of bringing together different cutting-edge technologies like blockchain and AI. This combination has allowed it to create solutions that weren’t possible before and has the potential to reshape how investments are managed in the future.
