KAIO

KAIO (formerly Libre Capital, rebranded July 2025) is a regulated real-world asset (RWA) tokenization protocol that gives eligible investors access to tokenized institutional investment funds. Co-founded by WebN Group — the technology arm of Alan Howard and Brevan Howard — and Nomura's Laser Digital, KAIO operates from Abu Dhabi and provides on-chain wrappers for funds managed by established institutional managers.

What It Does

KAIO tokenizes access to institutional funds that would normally require large minimums, accreditation, and manual onboarding. Each fund is represented as a token; users who pass KAIO's embedded KYC/AML compliance process can purchase and hold these fund tokens directly from a crypto wallet. Yield and returns from the underlying funds flow to token holders on-chain. The minimum investment is $100 for eligible users, dramatically below typical institutional minimums.

Funds

KAIO operates four active tokenized funds:

CASH: A tokenized money market fund using BlackRock ICS (Institutional Cash Series) as the underlying fund manager. TVL: approximately $37 million as of available data.

SCOPE: A tokenized private credit fund managed by Hamilton Lane, one of the world's largest private markets investment managers. TVL: approximately $16 million.

VOLT: A tokenized yield fund managed by Laser Digital (Nomura's digital assets subsidiary). TVL: approximately $19.5 million.

MACRO: A tokenized macro fund managed by Brevan Howard Digital, the crypto-native investment arm of Brevan Howard. TVL: approximately $18 million.

Multi-Chain Deployment

KAIO's fund tokens are deployed across multiple blockchains including Ethereum, Sei, NEAR, Hedera, Aptos, Avalanche, XDC, MANTRA, Polygon, and Solana. Cross-chain reach is extended through LayerZero, which enables fund token movement across 120+ chains. Solana's total TVL in KAIO products is approximately $890,000 as of available reporting.

Solana was KAIO's first cross-chain deployment beyond its primary chain, added in July 2024. This early Solana expansion reflects the project's positioning of Solana as an important chain for institutional digital asset distribution.

Compliance

KAIO embeds KYC (Know Your Customer) and AML (Anti-Money Laundering) compliance directly into the onboarding flow. Investors must complete identity verification before they can purchase fund tokens. This compliance layer is required by the regulated nature of the underlying funds — institutional fund access typically requires investor accreditation verification under most jurisdictions. KAIO operates out of Abu Dhabi, where it holds relevant digital asset permissions from UAE regulatory authorities.

Funding and Investors

KAIO has raised $19 million in total: an $11 million seed round in 2024, and an $8 million strategic investment led by Tether in April 2026. Other investors include Laser Digital, Systemic Ventures, and Brevan Howard Digital. The Tether investment signals alignment with the broader stablecoin issuer's interest in on-chain institutional finance infrastructure.

Founders

KAIO was co-founded by WebN Group, the technology venture associated with Alan Howard (co-founder of Brevan Howard, one of the world's largest hedge funds) and Nomura's Laser Digital. No individual founding team member names have been publicly disclosed in available sources.

Solana Ecosystem Fit

KAIO's Solana presence makes tokenized institutional products available to Solana-native users without requiring a chain switch. For Solana DeFi users who want allocation to traditional finance yield instruments (money market funds, private credit, macro strategies) denominated and settled on-chain, KAIO provides regulated, audited fund wrappers accessible from a Solana wallet. The $100 minimum and on-chain settlement distinguish the product from traditional feeder funds and separate it from un-audited, pseudo-yield products in the DeFi space.