Mubadala makes tokenization push with Kaio

The race to bring real world assets on-chain has reached sovereign wealth funds. Mubadala Capital has tokenized one of its private markets funds, with its tie-up with local blockchain infrastructure provider Kaio has produced a regulated, on-chain version of the fund, Kaio said in an X post. The fund has raised USD 75 mn so far and trades live on Coinbase, Solana, and Sui, with Kaio running the infrastructure that issues and manages the digital asset, according to Fortune.

Coinbase is also putting its own money behind the product, buying the token for its corporate treasury. The partners say this marks the first time a major publicly listed US company has used regulated tokenized assets for native on-chain treasury management.

Why it matters: The development brings a fund that was previously only available to certain institutional investors to a much wider pool, allowing access for retail investors as well, and making a traditionally illiquid asset more tradeable via a secondary market.

ICYMI- Mubadala and Kaio were previously reported to be looking to rollout an onchain fund, with expansion into ETFs, credit, and structured investments also in the plan.

REMEMBER- Tokenization has been picking up pace in the UAE as regulators and financial institutions build blockchain-based alternatives to traditional finance. Much of the momentum so far has focused on the real estate sector, with tokenized deposits recently entering the market to speed up corporate treasury and cross-border payments.