KAIO Secures $8 Million in Funding from Tether to Tokenize Emirati Assets on Blockchain

KAIO, a tokenization firm based in Abu Dhabi, has announced an $8 million strategic funding round led by Tether, along with other prominent crypto and institutional investors. This investment brings the company's total funding to $19 million, with new participants including Systemic Ventures, and repeat investors such as Further Ventures, Laser Digital, and Brevan Howard Digital. KAIO's primary objective is to create infrastructure that enables asset managers to distribute their funds via blockchain. To achieve this, the company has developed tokens for products from notable firms like BlackRock, Brevan Howard, and Hamilton Lane, making them accessible through blockchain-based systems. The freshly acquired funds will be utilized to expand the company's product offerings, including credit, structured investments, and exchange-traded funds. Furthermore, KAIO plans to launch an on-chain fund in collaboration with Mubadala Capital, an Emirati private equity firm 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 this project is expected to facilitate the integration of stablecoin flows, given USDT's status as the most widely used stablecoin with a supply of $185 billion. USDT is frequently used for cross-border transactions, particularly in emerging markets, and KAIO intends to channel this liquidity into regulated investment products. According to Paolo Ardoino, CEO of Tether, 'KAIO's unique position unlocks new pathways for capital formation and investment by bringing institutional-grade assets on-chain and making them more broadly accessible, thereby expanding participation in global financial markets.' KAIO's platform incorporates compliance into its system and supports regulated distribution frameworks in various jurisdictions, including Abu Dhabi, the Cayman Islands, and Singapore. The company has successfully tokenized approximately $100 million in assets and processed over $500 million in transactions.