Kamino Finance Appoints Yieldstreet Co-Founder Michael Weisz as CEO in Institutional Push

Kamino Finance KMNO$0.036-3.3% Kamino Finance has appointed Michael Weisz as chief executive officer, the company announced on September 15. Weisz co-founded Yieldstreet, now rebranded as Willow Wealth, where he deployed more than $6 billion alongside Goldman Sachs, Carlyle, KKR, and Ares over more than two decades in private markets finance.

Kamino described the appointment as bringing Weisz in to lead "its next chapter of institutional growth" and expand the protocol into the US market.

Weisz's Background: $6B Deployed in Private Markets at Yieldstreet

Before joining Kamino, Weisz built Yieldstreet into a platform that channeled individual and institutional capital into alternative assets, with deal flow structured alongside the largest alternative asset managers in the United States. The firm has since rebranded to Willow Wealth.

"Being in New York puts Kamino at the intersection of the asset managers, distribution platforms and institutional capital that will define the next phase of on-chain finance," Weisz wrote on X after the announcement.

Kamino PRIME Market: $600M in 107 Days Before CEO Hire

At the time of the announcement, Kamino held $1.4B in total value locked and had processed more than $650 billion in cumulative volume since launch, per CoinDesk.

The PRIME market collected $600 million in deposits within its first 107 days of launch, per CoinDesk, demonstrating institutional demand before Weisz's appointment. The protocol also crossed $100 million in deposits from Binance Wallet users on September 13.

New York Office, Home Equity RWA Lending, and Tokenized Asset Infrastructure

Kamino is opening a New York headquarters of approximately 20,000 square feet and is recruiting a chief financial officer and head of legal, according to CoinDesk. The physical presence is designed to place the protocol within direct reach of the asset management community.

The RWA lending strategy includes extending credit against blockchain-based home equity loans, developed through partnerships with Figure Technologies and Hastra. On the institutional side, Forward Industries Forward Industries uses Kamino's infrastructure for tokenized equity positions, and Galaxy Digital Galaxy Digital uses it for tokenized US Treasury positions. Earlier this week, Kamino powered Kraken's yield vaults for xStocks tokens as tokenized equity trading volume on Solana crossed $500 million.

The protocol's governance token, KMNO KMNO, carried a market cap of approximately $252 million at the time of writing.