KAIO: Building the Future of Onchain Capital Markets

A quiet revolution is happening at the intersection of traditional finance (TradFi) and decentralized finance (DeFi).  Libre Capital, a platform that has been quietly tokenizing regulated investment funds, has rebranded as KAIO.  The change isn’t a cosmetic refresh; it signals a fundamental shift toward building the infrastructure needed to make institutional capital programmable and composable on public blockchains. Additionally, KAIO is tokenizing a $100 million Bitcoin yield fund to bridge the gap between TradFi and DeFi. The fund is managed by Laser Digital Middle East (Nomura’s digital asset arm) which is licensed by VARA. Here’s why the announcement matters, how it builds on the growing momentum in real‑world asset (RWA) tokenization, and what it means for capital markets.

From Libre to KAIO - a bold new direction

In less than two years Libre Capital has tokenized more than US $200 million in assets from BlackRock, Brevan Howard, Hamilton Lane and Laser Digital. The platform acts as a backbone for issuing, redeeming and transferring tokenized funds, allowing accredited investors to subscribe in fiat or stablecoins and move their positions across blockchains.

Rebranding as KAIO reflects an ambition to go further.  Instead of simply mirroring traditional funds onchain, KAIO wants to turn them into DeFi‑ready primitives: tokens that can plug into lending, borrowing and yield protocols, enabling new strategies and liquidity channels.  The “RWA 2.0” vision is about strategy, not just storage, as KAIO COO Olivier Dang put it in the announcement.  The goal is to create an interoperable space where real‑world and crypto yields coexist and enhance each other.

Tokenizing institutional‑grade yield - the Laser partnership

A cornerstone of KAIO’s strategy is its deep partnership with Laser Digital, the digital‑asset arm of Nomura.  Laser Digital bridges traditional and crypto markets and is authorized by Dubai’s Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority (VARA) to offer virtual‑asset broker‑dealer, management and investment services. In February 2025, Libre and Sui announced that institutional investors on the Sui network would gain access to a suite of tokenized funds, including Laser Carry Fund (LCF), a market‑neutral strategy that captures funding rates and yield opportunities in the digital‑asset market. LCF leverages Laser Digital’s expertise in capital markets and risk management to generate enhanced returns while maintaining compliance.

Cross‑chain interoperability - LayerZero, Chainlink and more

True composability requires assets to move seamlessly across blockchains.  In April 2025 Libre announced a future integration with LayerZero’s omnichain messaging infrastructure.  The integration means future institutional funds issued through Libre can exist on 120+ blockchains, maintaining a single unified supply across chains.  LayerZero’s Omnichain Fungible Token standard eliminates liquidity fragmentation and enables institutions to deploy, transfer and manage assets securely and efficiently.

KAIO has also partnered with Chainlink.  Using Chainlink’s Cross‑Chain Interoperability Protocol (CCIP), Proof of Reserve and Smart Data products, KAIO can power tokenized funds that offer exposure to assets managed by BlackRock and Laser Digital.  Chainlink’s infrastructure provides onchain reserve and net asset value (NAV) data, enabling DeFi protocols to build around verified information.  Together, these integrations make KAIO’s tokens truly omnichain, and compliant, capable of circulating on Ethereum, Solana, Aptos and many other networks.

A portfolio of partners - building the onchain capital market

Beyond Laser Digital, KAIO has forged partnerships across the blockchain ecosystem:

- Polygon, Solana, NEAR, and Aptos - Expanding the Ecosystem: KAIO’s collaborations span privacy‑focused zero‑knowledge projects, cross‑chain liquidity providers and high‑performance L1s. Each partnership adds a piece to the puzzle of building an open, compliant and programmable capital market.

- Sui Network - Onchain Fund Access: In February 2025, Sui and Libre began unlocking institutional access to real-world assets onchain. Investors can now view fund positions natively on Sui, marking a key milestone in expanding transparency and accessibility across decentralized markets. The collaboration sets the stage for the Libre Gateway to power future composable use cases such as collateralized lending and capital-efficient DeFi integrations, leveraging Sui’s performant Move-based architecture.

- TON - Tokenized Telegram Bond Fund: In April 2025, Libre and the TON Foundation announced a US $500 million tokenized Telegram Bond Fund. The fund, managed by Libre's regulated fund manager,  will provide onchain exposure to Telegram’s outstanding bonds and serve as collateral for onchain borrowing. The initiative underscores KAIO’s ability to bring large, real‑world debt instruments into DeFi, offering compliant, onchain yield products to institutional investors.

- Avalanche - High‑Performance Tokenization: The May 2025 integration brought the Laser Carry Fund to the Avalanche network, joining existing tokenized funds from BlackRock, Hamilton Lane and Brevan Howard. Avalanche’s speed and sub‑second finality provide a scalable foundation for DeFi strategies.

- Chainlink - Trusted Data and Interoperability: Chainlink’s CCIP and Proof of Reserve services provide the data infrastructure needed for institutional adoption. KAIO can offer verified reserve and NAV data, unlocking automated risk management and DeFi integrations.

- LayerZero - Omnichain Connectivity: By adopting LayerZero’s messaging and Omnichain Fungible Token standard, Libre ensures tokenized assets maintain a single supply across more than 120 chains. Institutions can deploy and manage assets across different blockchains without facing liquidity fragmentation or compliance issues.

- RISC Zero - zkVM Enabled Privacy - Preserving compliance and allowing KAIO to issue onchain credentials while keeping investor information private, all while maintaining regulatory standards.

Why it matters – the rise of RWA 2.0

Institutional investors have been cautiously exploring digital assets for years.  Surveys show a majority of investors believe tokenization can transform asset management.  Yet bridging regulatory requirements, risk management and DeFi composability has remained challenging.  KAIO’s approach addresses these challenges:

1. Regulated access: Working with licensed fund managers like Laser Digital, KAIO ensures its funds meet regulatory standards. Accredited investors can subscribe and redeem through onchain gateways while satisfying compliance requirements.

2. Cross‑chain liquidity: Integrations with LayerZero and Chainlink make KAIO’s tokens omnichain, allowing assets to move across networks without friction.

3. Composability: Once tokenized, funds become building blocks for DeFi strategies, collateral for lending, elements in yield optimization or components of synthetic instruments.

4. Real‑world yield: By tokenizing money market funds, private credit and even corporate bonds like the Telegram Bond Fund, KAIO bridges stable, traditional yield‑bearing assets into DeFi via the KAIO Gateway.

5. Interoperability and scale: Support from major networks like Sui, Avalanche, TON and others ensures that KAIO’s assets can scale with demand, reaching users across the globe.

Looking ahead

As regulatory clarity improves and the appetite for tokenized assets grows, KAIO is positioning itself as the backbone of a compliant, interoperable financial future.  The platform’s strategy blends TradFi structure - institutional managers, regulated fund vehicles, robust risk management; with DeFi flexibility - composability, cross‑chain liquidity and programmable yield.  By turning institutional‑grade funds into tokens that can plug into the global DeFi ecosystem, KAIO is helping build the capital markets of tomorrow.

For investors and builders alike, KAIO’s announcement is a milestone.  It demonstrates that real‑world assets can be issued, traded and used as building blocks across blockchains without compromising regulatory standards or risk management.  As more funds, credit products and yield strategies come onchain, the line between traditional finance and DeFi will blur - and KAIO aims to stand at that frontier providing the technological backbone to this intersection.

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes and does not constitute financial advice.  All investments carry risk, and readers should perform their own due diligence.