Mubadala Capital eyes tokenised private-market access via KAIO

Abu Dhabi-based investment firm Mubadala Capital has entered into a collaboration with blockchain infrastructure provider KAIO, aiming to explore tokenised access to its private-market investment strategies for qualified institutional and accredited investors. The initiative is designed to assess how KAIO’s regulated digital infrastructure could create secure, compliant routes to alternative investments ordinarily reserved for traditional private-markets participants.

Under the agreement, Mubadala Capital will evaluate whether KAIO’s on-chain systems — originally developed for regulated real-world assets — can be used to represent shares of private equity or credit funds as digital tokens. Such tokenisation could streamline subscription, redemption and transfer processes, potentially reducing overhead and improving execution efficiency. KAIO, which has already brought major institutional funds on-chain, including those managed by global heavyweight Hamilton Lane, appears positioned to leverage its experience in adapting legacy fund strategies to Web3-enabled frameworks.

KAIO, formerly known as Libre Capital, describes itself as the first protocol purpose-built for regulated real-world assets. Its structure combines compliance, legal auditability and blockchain-native execution — ensuring that tokens represent legally valid fund holdings tied to real underlying assets, while still offering the advantages of on-chain settlement and transparency.

Mubadala Capital’s decision to test this model reflects a broader push in the asset management industry to embrace tokenisation as a means of enhancing liquidity and lowering entry barriers in private markets. Traditional private equity and credit investments frequently involve heavy documentation, long lock-up periods and limited secondary liquidity. By contrast, a blockchain-based tokenised alternative could allow investors to access or exit positions more fluidly — albeit only within compliance-approved frameworks for now. The move is in keeping with other high-profile institutional engagements: KAIO recently brought Hamilton Lane’s senior credit fund on-chain via the Sei Network, combining a high-throughput blockchain with regulatory-grade asset management infrastructure.

For Mubadala Capital, the experiment could yield operational efficiencies, better investor experience and easier onboarding for offshore or cross-jurisdictional investors. It may also help the firm tap a new investor base that prefers digital asset-style liquidity but requires traditional fund-level compliance and oversight.

From KAIO’s standpoint, securing collaboration with a heavyweight like Mubadala Capital marks a significant milestone. The firm has already tokenised over USD 200 million across institutional funds of entities including Hamilton Lane, and has integrated with networks such as Sei and Hedera network to expand its institutional fund-tokenisation reach.