Tether Supports UAE-Based KAIO in $8 Million Funding Round to Integrate Emirati Assets into Blockchain

KAIO, a tokenization firm regulated by Abu Dhabi, announced on Monday that it has secured $8 million in a strategic funding round led by Tether and other prominent crypto and institutional investors. This investment aims to support KAIO's mission to build infrastructure that enables the integration of traditional funds into blockchain-based systems. The funding round brings KAIO's total investment to $19 million, with new investors such as Systemic Ventures and returning investors like Further Ventures and Laser Digital. Existing backers, including Brevan Howard Digital, also participated in the round. KAIO specializes in developing infrastructure that allows asset managers to distribute funds on the blockchain. The company has created tokens for products offered by firms like BlackRock, Brevan Howard, and Hamilton Lane, making them accessible through blockchain-based platforms. With this new investment, KAIO plans to expand its offerings to include credit, structured investments, and exchange-traded funds. The firm is set to launch an on-chain fund in collaboration with Mubadala Capital, a private equity company based in the UAE with $385 billion in assets under management. By tokenizing institutional funds, KAIO aims to reduce the barriers to entry for investors, with minimum investment requirements starting at $100 for eligible users. This is significantly lower than the typical thresholds for institutional funds. Tether's involvement in the project is expected to leverage the stablecoin's liquidity, with USDT being the most widely used stablecoin and boasting a supply of $185 billion. KAIO intends to channel this liquidity into regulated investment products. According to Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino, 'KAIO's unique position enables new pathways for capital formation and investment by bringing institutional-grade assets on-chain and making them more broadly accessible, which helps expand participation in global financial markets.' KAIO's platform embeds compliance into its system and supports regulated distribution frameworks, including those in Abu Dhabi, the Cayman Islands, and Singapore. The company has tokenized approximately $100 million in assets and has processed over $500 million in transactions.