KAIO, a tokenization firm regulated by Abu Dhabi, announced on Monday that it had 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 develop infrastructure that enables the transition of traditional assets to blockchain. 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 creating tokens for products from renowned firms like BlackRock, Brevan Howard, and Hamilton Lane, making them accessible through blockchain-based systems. With this new investment, KAIO plans to expand its product offerings to include credit, structured investments, and exchange-traded funds, and intends to launch an on-chain fund in collaboration with Mubadala Capital, an Emirati private equity firm managing $385 billion in assets. By tokenizing institutional funds, KAIO aims to lower the barriers to entry for investors, with minimum investments starting at $100 for eligible users, significantly lower than typical thresholds for institutional funds. Tether's involvement in this funding round highlights the potential for stablecoin integration, with USDT being the most widely used stablecoin, boasting a $185 billion supply, often utilized for cross-border transactions, particularly in emerging markets.

KAIO seeks to channel this liquidity into regulated investment products. According to Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino, "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, helping expand participation in global financial markets." KAIO's platform prioritizes compliance, embedding it into its system, and supports regulated distribution frameworks in Abu Dhabi, the Cayman Islands, and Singapore. The company has successfully tokenized approximately $100 million in assets and processed over $500 million in transactions.