Standard Chartered-Backed Libeara Set to Launch a US Treasuries Fund with FundBridge Capital

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Sead Fadilpašić

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Sead Fadilpašić

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Sead specializes in writing factual and informative articles to help the public navigate the ever-changing world of crypto. He has extensive experience in the blockchain industry, where he has served...

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October 30, 2024

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Libeara, a real-world asset (RWA) tokenization platform backed by SC Ventures, the venture building and fintech investment arm of banking giant Standard Chartered, joined hands with FundBridge Capital, a regulated platform provider for fund managers, to introduce the Delta Wellington Ultra Short Treasury On-Chain Fund (aka ULTRA Fund).

According to the press release shared with Cryptonews, the tokenized units will soon be available on Arbitrum, Avalanche, and Solana.

Libeara’s CEO Aaron Gwak commented that this strategic collaboration is “a significant step forward” in expanding the firm’s tokenization ecosystem.

“This new fund, modelled after the SGD Delta Fund—which became the first tokenized fund to receive a rating of Aa from Moody’s—brings the same level of institutional credibility to USD-denominated investments.”

The team explained that they established the novel ULTRA Fund under FundBridge’s Delta Master Trust structure.

The Delta Master Trust, it continues, integrated with Libeara’s fund tokenization system Delta platform. The latter will provide the subscription, issuance, transfer, and redemption of tokenized units in the ULTRA Fund.

Additionally, the team initially deployed the platform on the Ethereum Mainnet, supporting USDC and fiat.

It utilizes distributed ledger technology (DLT) to enable secure experience, as well as improve transparency, auditability, and efficiency, the team said.

Margaret Harwood-Jones, Standard Chartered’s Global Head of Financing and Securities Services, stated that this major banking group will continue supporting clients in the digital asset ecosystem.

“By collaborating with Libeara and our other SC Venture companies, we aim to foster innovation and growth across the digital asset landscape,” Harwood-Jones said.

Standard Chartered announced Libeara in February this year.

Wellington Manages $1.2 Trillion

According to the announcement, Wellington Management Singapore Pte. Ltd. will act as sub-manager for the ULTRA Fund.

This is one of the largest independent investment management firms globally. It serves more than 2,500 clients in over 60 countries.

As of September 30, 2024, it managed more than $1.2 trillion for pensions, endowments, foundations, insurers, family offices, fund sponsors, global wealth managers, and other clients, it said.

The ULTRA fund, said the teams, combines Libeara’s Delta platform and Wellington’s asset management capabilities. They aim to produce “next-generation fund management solutions tailored to the needs of the Web3 community.”

Furthermore, its creators claim this Fund “has been warmly received by the Web3 community.”

They noted early interest from stablecoin issuers, exchanges, and decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs).

They named Mountain Protocol, Drift, and Ondo Finance as some of the first teams to utilize the novel product.

“Tokenisation represents a new frontier in asset management,” said Mark Garabedian, Director of Digital Assets and Tokenization for Wellington Management. “We are excited to continue the journey by collaborating with Libeara, FundBridge, and Standard Chartered Bank, as custodian, on this pioneering initiative.”

Martin Carrica, CEO and Co-Founder at Mountain Protocol, added that, by participating in the Fund, the team gains exposure to a fully on-chain short-term treasury solution.

“We believe this fund and the tight relations with sponsoring entities allow for great operational efficiency and are a step forward in further institutionalizing crypto,” Carrica argued.