Brevan Howard-Backed Tokenization Firm Libre Arrives on NEAR Blockchain

NEAR Protocol’s cross-chain signing feature will allow users on multiple blockchains to transact with Libre’s selection of tokenized credit and hedge funds.

Tokenization platform Libre, backed by Brevan Howard and boasting over $100 million in assets under management (AUM), has integrated several tokenized funds with the NEAR blockchain.

This integration, enabled by NEAR's cross-chain signing feature, allows users across multiple blockchains to seamlessly transact with Libre's lineup of tokenized credit and hedge funds.

Libre, a startup venture born from a collaboration between Nomura's Laser Digital, Brevan Howard's WebN group, and private markets giant Hamilton Lane, is known for its efforts in tokenizing financial assets. With this latest move, the startup is bringing several digitized funds to the NEAR blockchain, facilitating the transfer of tokenized real-world assets (RWAs) across different blockchains.

According to a statement from Libre on Monday, users of the NEAR protocol will now have access to a Hamilton Lane credit fund, the Brevan Howard Master Fund, and the Blackrock ICS Money Market Fund.

The startup, which went live four months ago, has also crossed the $100 million mark in assets under management.

Institutional firms interested in the crypto space have shown a strong preference for creating blockchain-based versions of financial assets. Adding RWA funds to NEAR is a crucial aspect of Libre's multichain aspirations, largely thanks to that blockchain's "Chain Signatures" feature. This feature allows users to transact on other ledgers without requiring cross-chain bridges.

“Chain Signatures is a tool that allows you to purchase assets on NEAR, and then transfer them and manage them on any other blockchain,” explained Avtar Sehra, CEO of Libre, in an interview.

Sehra hinted at the introduction of new features by Libre later this year, including collateralized lending and secondary transfer of some assets.

“We're also launching a new fund with the Laser Digital team, and that's a market-neutral fund across all the networks at the same time, which will be live in October this year,” he added.

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Ian Allison is an award-winning senior reporter at CoinDesk. He holds ETH.