WisdomTree, Inc. (NYSE: WT) has launched a new platform that aims to unlock tokenized real-world assets (RWA) access to users.
The vision for WisdomTree Connect is to enable customers over time “to interact with any WisdomTree-issued token, in any wallet, across supported blockchains.”
WisdomTree Connect marks the first time WisdomTree digital funds “will be available directly to clients with their own wallet infrastructure, including businesses and other institutional users.”
Features of this platform will enable WisdomTree to, “over time, offer access to digital funds to other customer-facing platforms and apps (B2B2C distribution) and retail users with self-hosted wallets.”
Supported by the same proprietary tokenization platform and technology infrastructure as the direct-to-retail app, WisdomTree Prime®, WisdomTree Connect is its “direct-to-business counterpart and together the two platforms offer complementary digital assets solutions across the entire customer spectrum.”
The platform solves a key problem “for firms seeking integration between traditional and decentralized finance.”
For example, a crypto-native institution looking “to purchase a traditional money market fund for a treasury or cash management solution would typically have to sell its stablecoins, send fiat currency to its bank, and then separately purchase a money market fund.”
WisdomTree Connect aims to solve this for firms “to access yield-generating products, such as the WisdomTree Government Money Market Digital Fund (WTGXX), on chain with blockchain-integrated recordkeeping through an easy-to-use gateway focused on security.”
Users will receive a digital record of the WisdomTree digital funds “into their own wallets, which can be self-hosted wallets or held with a third-party custodial wallet service.”
Digital funds purchased via WisdomTree Connect will “be able to be transferred on-chain on a peer-to-peer basis to other onboarded and eligible users 24/7/365.”
WisdomTree Connect will initially be available “via web portal and API. In the future, WisdomTree is exploring other novel methods of interaction via decentralized application (dApp).”
Once onboarded, institutional users will be able to purchase or redeem via US dollars, which can also be facilitated via USDC, a stablecoin that “is redeemable 1:1 for US dollars.”
A separate stablecoin conversion service is “made available by WisdomTree Digital Movement, Inc., in which stablecoins (i.e., USDC) are converted into fiat currency (i.e., US dollars) to facilitate a purchase of WTGXX’s shares via WisdomTree Transfers, Inc., WTGXX’s transfer agent, and vice versa on redemption.”
The inclusion of features that provide fiat-to-crypto on and off ramps “further bridges the gap between traditional and decentralized finance.”
Tokens will be initially minted on Ethereum “with additional blockchains anticipated to be added over time. With respect to WTGXX, WisdomTree Transfers, Inc. maintains the official record of share ownership via a blockchain-integrated system with respect to each token on the Ethereum blockchain.”
Smart contracts associated with WisdomTree’s “tokenized real world assets were created leveraging Token Factory, part of a suite of digital infrastructure capabilities DTCC Digital Assets offers.”
