Nomura Bank introduces a protocol for asset tokenization based on Polygon CDK

Libre will also provide lending and account rebalancing services to regulated financial institutions

10.01.2024 - 12:25

2 min

What’s new? Nomura Laser Digital, the crypto division of investment bank Nomura, has partnered with fintech startup incubation hub WebN to introduce its own institutional protocol, Libre, with support for smart contracts. Libre is built using the Polygon Chain Development Kit (CDK), which enables the development of Layer 2 (L2) solutions on the Ethereum blockchain using zero-knowledge proof (ZKP) technology.

Press release

What else is known? Libre is designed for the release and automated lifecycle management of alternative investments in compliance with legislation and regulatory requirements. With its help, regulated financial institutions around the world can issue their own tokenized assets.

Libre will also offer additional services in the alternative asset ecosystem, such as collateralized lending and automated rebalancing of separately managed accounts (SMAs). The protocol is scheduled to launch this quarter.

Asset managers Brevan Howard and Hamilton Lane will be Libre’s first issuers and strategic partners.

The WebN development company is backed by Laser Digital and Brevan Howard co-founder Alan Howard. Libre founder Avtar Sehra has been working in the real-world asset (RWA) tokenization space since 2014. He is the founder of the UK-based tokenization platform Nivaura, which is licensed by the local financial regulator FCA.

Polygon CDK is already used by OKX, Astar, Canto, Gnosis Pay, Immutable, Palm Network, IDEX, and other crypto companies. In the future, networks deployed on Polygon CDKs can be unified as part of a broader ZKP-based L2 network in the Polygon ecosystem to ensure interoperability.

In November, Standard Chartered’s SC Ventures unit launched Libeara, an asset tokenization platform. Its custodian is Fireblocks, Fazz provides conversion between stablecoins and fiat, and Chainalysis and Chekk provide regulatory compliance.

Cardano blockchain developers also announced plans to develop RWA tokenization direction in their 2024 roadmap.

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