First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB) has entered into a partnership with Libre Capital, a leader in asset tokenization supported by Brevan Howard’s WebN Group and Nomura’s Laser Digital. The collaboration, formalized through a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), focuses on developing blockchain-powered collateralized lending solutions utilizing tokens representing real-world assets (RWAs).
Since launching in March, Libre has tokenized approximately $150 million worth of assets, including Brevan Howard funds, Hamilton Lane’s fixed-income products, and a BlackRock money-market fund. Under this agreement, FAB will trial a credit line system allowing approved lenders to offer stablecoin loans, with these tokenized assets serving as collateral.
Crypto investors often leverage their digital assets as collateral to secure loans. Libre’s blue-chip RWA tokens, previously suggested as collateral in MakerDAO’s forums, are now part of this initiative involving FAB, a bank managing $335 billion in assets. FAB will facilitate liquidity by lending against Libre’s tokenized assets across public blockchain platforms such as Ethereum, Polygon, Solana, NEAR, Aptos, and Coinbase’s BASE network.
Libre’s collateralized lending solution is a key component of its initiative, “Project HODL” (High-Yield Optimized Decentralized Liquidity).
“We’ve been focused on enhancing the utility of our assets under management by introducing collateralized lending,” explained Dr. Avtar Sehra, Libre’s founder and CEO. “This on-chain framework enables RWAs to serve as collateral, with loans provided exclusively in stablecoins by existing financial intermediaries such as broker-dealers or Laser Digital. Providers like FAB are now extending credit lines for this purpose.”
At the MoU signing event in the UAE, Sameh Al Qubaisi, FAB’s group head of global markets, highlighted the bank’s dedication to fostering regional innovation.
“This initiative reflects FAB’s commitment to creating secure credit facilities backed by tokenized assets. It leverages automated systems for robust risk management and adheres to full regulatory compliance,” Al Qubaisi said in a statement.
Fariha Karim