Tether Supports UAE-Based KAIO in $8 Million Funding to Bring Local Assets onto the 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 several other prominent investors in the crypto and institutional spaces. This funding round brings KAIO's total funding to $19 million, with new investors including Systemic Ventures, and repeat investors such as Further Ventures, Laser Digital, and Brevan Howard Digital.

KAIO is dedicated to developing infrastructure that enables asset managers to distribute their funds on the blockchain. The company has successfully created tokens for products offered by renowned firms like BlackRock, Brevan Howard, and Hamilton Lane, making these products accessible through blockchain-based systems.

With this new investment, KAIO plans to expand its offerings to include credit, structured investments, and exchange-traded funds. Furthermore, the firm is set to launch its first 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 lower 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. The involvement of Tether, the issuer of the most popular stablecoin USDT with a supply of $185 billion, is expected to facilitate the flow of stablecoin 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, thus expanding participation in global financial markets.' KAIO's platform is designed with compliance in mind, embedding regulatory frameworks and supporting regulated distribution channels in 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.