Tether Invests in KAIO's $8 Million Funding Round to Tokenize Emirati Assets

KAIO, a firm specializing in tokenization and regulated by the Abu Dhabi authorities, has announced the successful completion of an $8 million funding round, with Tether and other prominent investors participating. This strategic investment brings KAIO's total funding to $19 million, with new investors such as Systemic Ventures joining alongside existing ones like Further Ventures, Laser Digital, and Brevan Howard Digital. KAIO's primary objective is to create infrastructure that enables asset managers to distribute their funds on the blockchain, thereby increasing accessibility. The company has already tokenized products from renowned firms like BlackRock, Brevan Howard, and Hamilton Lane, making them available through blockchain-based systems. With this new investment, KAIO plans to expand its offerings to include credit, structured investments, and exchange-traded funds, and is set 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 reduce the barriers to entry for investors, with minimum investment thresholds starting at $100 for eligible users, significantly lower than those typically required for institutional funds. Tether's involvement in this investment is expected to leverage the liquidity of stablecoins, such as USDT, to channel funds into regulated investment products. According to Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino, KAIO's innovative approach '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 to embed compliance and support regulated distribution frameworks in several 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.