KAIO

KAIO is a protocol built for the compliant issuance and lifecycle management of institutional-grade funds onchain. Founded in 2024 and incubated by Laser Digital (Nomura's digital asset arm) and WebN Group, the project operated under the name Libre Capital before rebranding to KAIO in July 2025. It is headquartered in Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM). Its Singapore-based fund manager, Conduit Asset Management Pte. Ltd., holds a Capital Markets Services License from the Monetary Authority of Singapore.

KAIO's protocol deploys smart contracts on Ethereum mainnet to automate fund subscription, redemption, settlement, and asset servicing. A modular compliance engine checks every transaction against jurisdictional rules and investor-level requirements before execution. Tokenised fund positions become portable through LayerZero's omnichain messaging infrastructure, capable of moving across more than 120 blockchains. The platform also uses Chainlink's Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol (CCIP), Proof of Reserve, and Smart Data products to provide verified on-chain net asset value and reserve data to DeFi protocols, and RISC Zero's zkVM for privacy-preserving investor credentialing.

From Libre Capital to KAIO

In less than two years as Libre Capital, the project tokenised more than US$200 million in assets from BlackRock, Brevan Howard, Hamilton Lane, and Laser Digital. The rebrand to KAIO in July 2025 marked a shift in scope: from tokenising fund positions toward making those positions composable within DeFi — usable as collateral in lending markets and as yield-generating components in broader onchain capital strategies.

By April 2026, KAIO had raised a total of US$19 million, including a US$8 million strategic round backed by Tether alongside Systemic Ventures, Further Ventures, and Laser Digital. Earlier backers include Brevan Howard Digital, Lyrik Ventures, Karatage, and Shorooq Partners. As of July 2026, the platform holds approximately US$150 million in total value locked across more than ten blockchains and has processed more than US$500 million in cumulative fund transactions since launch, per KAIO's own published figures.

Institutional Partners and Fund Milestones

KAIO's fund roster includes products from BlackRock, Brevan Howard, Hamilton Lane, Laser Digital, and Mubadala Capital. All products are gated by KYC/KYB onboarding and jurisdictional eligibility; access is limited to accredited and qualified institutional investors in supported jurisdictions.

The platform's major product launches to date:

• March 2024: Brevan Howard and Hamilton Lane funds went live on Polygon (under the Libre brand).
• July 2024: Hamilton Lane's SCOPE fund launched on Solana via Libre.
• September 2024: Brevan Howard, BlackRock, and Hamilton Lane funds launched on Aptos.
• October 2025: BlackRock, Brevan Howard, and Hamilton Lane tokenised funds launched on Sei Network, followed by a Laser Digital fund the same month.
• July 2026: Mubadala Capital — a subsidiary of Abu Dhabi's sovereign wealth fund managing over US$600 billion in assets — launched tokenised access to one of its evergreen private markets strategies on Base, Solana, and Sui. The product received approximately US$75 million in onchain TVL at launch, per the joint announcement.

KAIO has also joined Aave Labs' Horizon initiative to provide onchain liquidity pathways for real-world assets, and has partnered with First Abu Dhabi Bank for collateralized lending against tokenised fund positions.

Solana Presence

Solana has been part of KAIO's distribution network since July 2024, when Hamilton Lane's SCOPE fund became available to onchain investors through the Libre platform. The July 2026 Mubadala Capital launch extended KAIO's Solana footprint to sovereign wealth fund-backed private markets exposure, placing it alongside Base and Sui as the three chains chosen for that product at launch.

Coinbase announced participation alongside the Mubadala launch, adding exposure to the tokenised offering on its balance sheet — an indication, the company said, of the growing role regulated real-world assets may play in institutional treasury management. The Solana Foundation's Head of Institutional Growth noted that Solana's throughput and settlement efficiency make it suited to the distribution demands that institutional asset managers require.

Products and Access

KAIO's investor-facing application is in development. The platform has opened a waitlist for KASH, a product targeting retail-eligible investors with access to institutional-grade real-world yield; it aims to lower minimum subscription thresholds to approximately US$100 for eligible investors in supported jurisdictions.

For distributors and wealth platforms, the KAIO Gateway provides API-based access to the platform's infrastructure, fund data, and compliance workflows without building an independent blockchain stack. This has enabled integrations across Solana, Ethereum, Avalanche, Polygon, Sui, TON, Hedera, Base, Injective, Sei, and Aptos. The platform also announced a partnership with TruYields to expand institutional RWA yield distribution onchain.

Regulatory Architecture

KAIO's compliance model treats regulatory requirements as a layer of the protocol rather than an external check. Subscription and transfer logic in its smart contracts enforces jurisdictional and investor-eligibility rules automatically. RISC Zero's zkVM allows the platform to generate onchain investor credentials confirming eligibility without publishing underlying personal data on-chain — a design intended to satisfy compliance requirements while retaining DeFi composability.

Structurally, KAIO operates under ADGM's regulatory framework in Abu Dhabi, with fund vehicles typically domiciled under CIMA (Cayman Islands Monetary Authority) frameworks. The MAS license held by Conduit Asset Management governs fund management for accredited investors in Singapore. Collectively, this setup enables KAIO to approach sovereign and institutional managers in the Gulf region and beyond while providing a regulated pathway for international investor participation.