Hassan Maishera
TL;DR
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UBS has unveiled its first tokenized investment fund, a money market fund on the Ethereum blockchain.
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The token allows holds to access UBS Asset Management’s institutional-grade cash management solutions.
UBS Launches its Tokenized Money Market Investment Fund
Investment giant UBS, the largest private bank in the world, announced over the weekend that it had launched uMINT, or the "UBS USD Money Market Investment Fund Token," a tokenized investment fund on the Ethereum blockchain.
In its press release, UBS said token holders can now access UBS Asset Management’s institutional-grade cash management solutions, which are underpinned by high-quality money market instruments and based on a conservative, risk-managed framework. However, UBS didn’t disclose the financial instruments that made up the fund.
While commenting on the launch, Thomas Kaegi, Co-Head of UBS Asset Management APAC, said,
“We have seen growing investor appetite for tokenized financial assets across asset classes. Through leveraging our global capabilities and collaborating with peers and regulators, we can now provide clients with an innovative solution.”
UBS’s choice to launch the fund on Ethereum can be attributed to Ethereum’s status as the largest blockchain for real-world asset tokenization. According to RWA.xyz, the Ethereum blockchain currently houses over $3 billion worth of tokenized assets.
According to UBS, the fund launch also forms part of its broader expansion of its tokenization services through UBS Tokenize. In June 2023, UBS originated CNH 200 million of fully digitally structured notes for a third-party issuer. In November 2023, UBS completed the world’s first cross-border repurchase transaction with a natively issued digital bond fully executed and settled on a public blockchain.
Ethereum’s Ether is currently the second-largest cryptocurrency in the world, with a market cap of just under $300 billion.
