'Omnichain' tokenization platform Libre brings institutional funds from the likes of BlackRock, Nomura to Layer 1 network Injective

Libre, an "omnichain" solution designed to support “real-world assets,” is supplying access to funds from leading asset managers including Brevan Howard, Hamilton Lane and BlackRock, according to an announcement published Thursday for Libre’s new “web3 protocol for fund issuance and distribution” built on Injective.

The first products include so-called “receipt tokens” linked to a BlackRock money market fund and a market-neutral digital asset strategy from Nomura’s Laser Digital. There also appears to be plans to launch a tokenized version of Hamilton Lane’s SCOPE Senior Credit Fund, a private credit investment fund.

Libre’s platform will offer a way for accredited investors to access the increasingly vast array of onchain hedge funds, private credit and money market products. Tokenization, in theory, enables investors to more easily access secondary markets and do more with their holdings, like portfolio margining, collateralized lending and other programmable tasks.

“This collaboration enables institutional and accredited investors to access a range of regulated, on-chain investment funds,” Libre said in its announcement. White-listed users who meet compliance and onboarding requirements can also access “the underlying institutional-grade assets in a transparent and secure manner.”

In some sense, the move is an attempt at unifying the increasingly fragmented world of tokenized financial products, which are disbursed across multiple blockchains. Injective is a Cosmos-based Layer 1 network built to support cross-chain swaps between different blockchain architectures. Libre also provides cross-chain messaging tools to "seamlessly interoperate between chains."

For instance, Injective offers “plug-and-play modules” for DeFi as well as compliance solutions like “allowlists” that ensure only authorized entities can trade or transfer assets. The “Libre Gateway” also plans to introduce third-party onchain vaults, where users can lock up assets and receive corresponding “receipt tokens” (presumably similar to stETH from Lido) that can be used elsewhere.

Libre, founded last year by early security token pioneer Avtar Sehra, is a collaboration between WebN and Laser Digital. Its first issuers are alternative investment management firm Brevan Howard and leading private markets investment management firm Hamilton Lane. 

Laser Digital is a digital asset subsidiary of Japanese investment bank Nomura. The aforementioned Laser Carry Fund is another example of an increasingly popular blockchain-based investment strategy — a crypto-native cash and carry trade. Like Ethena’s USDe, this fund capitalizes on funding rates and staking yields. 

Built initially on Polygon, Libre’s second blockchain expansion was to Solana. The startup was responsible for the network’s first institutional-grade private credit product after tokenizing Hamilton Lane’s SCOPE Fund. Libre has also launched funds on Aptos, Base and Near, among other networks.