This week, WebN and Laser Digital launched Libre, a new institutional Web3 infrastructure powered by Polygon for distributing alternative asset funds. Alternative investment management firm Brevan Howard and private markets investment management firm Hamilton Lane plan to be the first issuers to strategically partner with Libre.
Libre is an institutional Web3 protocol designed for the legal and regulatory-compliant issuance and automated lifecycle management of alternative investments. It unlocks broader distribution capabilities for asset managers and wealth advisors to safely and securely streamline legal, regulatory, and operational workflows.
Using tokenization and smart contracts, Libre enables investment execution, lifecycle management, and scalable provisioning of value-add services such as collateralized lending and automated rebalancing of separately managed accounts (SMAs).
Libre is scheduled to go live in the first quarter of 2024 and has partnered with several global distributors. Access for distributors is simplified through API connectivity, enabling integration into Libre’s comprehensive wealth management services, data, and infrastructure suite.
Libre brings together the knowledge of WebN Group, an incubation hub for fintech and Web3 innovation backed by Alan Howard, and Nomura’s digital assets arm, Laser Digital. Libre leverages the Polygon Chain Development Kit (CDK) as its blockchain backbone, which enables the development of purpose-built and ZK-powered layer-two blockchains.
Founder and CEO Dr. Avtar Sehra began working in securities tokenization and real-world assets in 2014 – first on Bitcoin and then on Ethereum. He founded Nivaura, a tokenization and workflow automation platform with broker-dealer and custody licenses from the FCA.
“While our MVP objective is to increase AUM by launching the primary issuance service and driving distributor integrations, we are also working closely with our partners and clients on our 2024 product roadmap, which includes collateralized lending and automated portfolio rebalancing – building the future of wealth APIs,” Sehra said.
“Laser Digital is dedicated to delivering secure and compliant digital asset products and infrastructure for institutional users,” its CEO Dr. Jez Mohideen added. “We firmly believe that Libre’s groundbreaking approach to tokenized funds holds the potential to greatly boost investor confidence and foster increased adoption of blockchain technology and tokenization within the alternative investments industry and across broader capital markets.”
“At Hamilton Lane, we believe that tokenization has the potential to revolutionize the way investments are managed and traded and are focused on strategically partnering with other leading firms to improve compliance and streamline access to the private markets through initiatives like Libre,” Hamilton Lane’s head of digital assets Victor Jung said. “We are excited by the possibilities the launch of Libre will bring and are thrilled to be collaborating with these innovative partners to help transform the private markets landscape.”
“The tokenization of funds allows us to offer investors a new way to access our strategies, providing them with optionality, and further develops our platform to serve client needs,” said Brevan Howard’s head of strategy and client partnerships group Natalie Smith. “For this reason, we have been deeply involved in Libre.”