Mubadala Capital and Kaio's Blockchain Initiative
Mubadala Capital has partnered with RWA infrastructure provider Kaio to study how blockchain rails could support tokenized access to private market strategies. The initiative, announced on Tuesday, will examine how Kaio’s digital framework can serve institutional and accredited investors seeking exposure to Mubadala Capital’s products through onchain channels. No product is being launched yet, but the collaboration opens the door to a potential shift in how the Abu Dhabi-linked asset manager distributes alternative assets. The focus is on whether tokenization can streamline the way investors enter funds that typically involve high minimums, multi-year lockups and jurisdictional limits. For asset managers, tokenized structures may act as both a technological upgrade and a new distribution layer that reaches markets difficult to access through traditional fund formats.
Investor Takeaway
Institutional Access to Real-World Assets (RWAs)
Mubadala Capital oversees, advises and administers more than $430 billion in assets through private equity, credit, real estate and other alternative strategies. It is part of Mubadala Investment Company, one of Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth funds. Its scale and its role in the region give the collaboration added weight. Recent reporting from Bloomberg showed the Abu Dhabi Investment Council — another Mubadala subsidiary — held at least $500 million in BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin ETF. Taken together, these developments point to a broader willingness across Abu Dhabi’s asset management ecosystem to interact with digital assets, whether through tokenized structures or regulated investment products. Fatima Al Noaimi and Max Franzetti, the co-heads of Mubadala Capital Solutions, said the partnership is about testing how “regulatory-aligned infrastructure” can help open access to institutional-grade products. The collaboration will explore how blockchain rails may support more efficient fund administration while enabling new channels for distribution.
Kaio's Role in the Tokenization Push
Kaio has emerged as one of the more active infrastructure providers behind institutional RWA launches. The company has previously supported tokenized feeder structures for BlackRock, Brevan Howard and Hamilton Lane, bringing more than $200 million in institutional assets onchain. Its work spans both public and private markets, with a focus on translating existing fund formats into digital wrappers without altering their regulatory profiles. Kaio CEO Shrey Rastogi said the collaboration with Mubadala illustrates how traditional capital is beginning to scale onchain. The firm sees tokenized investment vehicles as a way to reduce operational friction while keeping investors inside familiar legal frameworks. Cointelegraph attempted to obtain additional details from Kaio but had not received a response at publication time.
Investor Takeaway
RWA Tokenization Trends Through 2026
RWA tokenization has gained traction throughout 2025, especially with onchain U.S. Treasurys. A report from CoinShares earlier this year found that tokenized Treasurys grew from $3.9 billion to $8.6 billion, driven by strong demand for dollar yields and easier blockchain-based settlement. The firm expects this demand to continue into 2026. Alongside asset managers, infrastructure providers are preparing for heavier throughput. Polygon deployed a hard fork on Wednesday to reinforce its stack and boost performance, a move viewed as preparation for high-frequency RWA and stablecoin flows. Networks across the sector have been spotlighting throughput and settlement reliability as fund managers look for chains that can support regulated structures at scale. The collaboration between Mubadala Capital and Kaio fits into that transition. Rather than attempting to overhaul private market funds, the initiative is evaluating whether onchain rails can sit beneath existing structures without disrupting investor protections. If successful, such frameworks could widen access to assets that have historically been restricted to small pools of investors.
Future Outlook for Digitized Fund Structures
The companies have not announced timelines or pilot products, but the partnership signals early groundwork toward digitized fund structures. As regulatory clarity improves in major jurisdictions, large asset managers — including sovereign-linked groups — are testing whether tokenized models can broaden distribution while preserving established oversight. For now, the collaboration remains exploratory. But it adds a new name to the list of heavyweight financial players evaluating tokenized rails as part of their long-term architecture.