Tether Supports UAE-Based KAIO in $8 Million Funding Round to Tokenize Emirati Investments

KAIO, a tokenization firm regulated by Abu Dhabi, announced on Monday that it had secured $8 million in a strategic funding round, with backing from Tether and several other prominent crypto and institutional investors. This investment will enable KAIO to build infrastructure that allows traditional funds to be transferred onto blockchain rails. The funding round brings KAIO's total investment to $19 million, with new investors including Systemic Ventures and repeat investors such as Further Ventures, Laser Digital, and Brevan Howard Digital. KAIO specializes in developing infrastructure that allows asset managers to distribute funds via blockchain. The company has created tokens for products from companies such as BlackRock, Brevan Howard, and Hamilton Lane, making these products accessible through blockchain-based systems. With the new investment, KAIO plans to expand its offerings to include credit, structured investments, and exchange-traded funds. The firm is also planning to launch an on-chain fund in collaboration with Mubadala Capital, a private equity firm 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, significantly lower than the typical thresholds for institutional funds. Tether's involvement in the project connects the model to stablecoin flows, with the goal of channeling liquidity into regulated investment products. As the most widely used stablecoin, USDT has a supply of $185 billion and is often used for cross-border transactions, particularly in emerging markets. "KAIO's unique position opens up new avenues for capital formation and investment by bringing institutional-grade assets onto the blockchain and making them more widely accessible, thus expanding participation in global financial markets," stated Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino. KAIO's platform incorporates compliance into its system and supports regulated distribution frameworks in various jurisdictions, including Abu Dhabi, the Cayman Islands, and Singapore. To date, the company has tokenized approximately $100 million in assets and processed over $500 million in transactions.