Abu Dhabi Firms Launch Investment Fund to Tokenize U.S. Treasury Bill ETFs

Two Abu Dhabi firms, Realize and Neovision Wealth Management, have launched a fund that tokenizes U.S. Treasury bill exchange-traded funds. The fund aims to attract investors from the Gulf, Europe, and Southeast Asia.

Southeast Asia Investors to Dominate Fund

Abu Dhabi firms Realize and Neovision Wealth Management have unveiled an investment fund that acquires units of U.S. Treasury bill-focused exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and tokenizes them. Known as the Realize T-Bills Fund, the fund will acquire shares of Blackrock’s low-cost ishares and State Street’s SPDR ETFs.

According to a Reuters report, the two firms aim to grow the fund to $200 million. Realize will tokenize units of the fund. Another report suggests a target of $100 million in assets under management within 12 months.

Dominik Schiener, co-founder of Realize, said he expects investors from Gulf states to contribute 20% to 30% of the $100 million, with the remainder coming from Europe and Southeast Asia.

“Southeast Asia is going to be our largest demographic. We also want to do a lot in the Middle East because it has a high penetration of crypto users and wealthy individuals,” Schiener said.

An Efficient T-Bill Buying Strategy

As per the arrangement with its partner, Realize will issue the $RBILL token, which will initially launch on the IOTA and Ethereum blockchains. Schiener said investors interested in acquiring the tokens can do so using either fiat currency or cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum, and IOTA.

Schiener revealed that the fund is targeting wealthy individuals and entities already exposed to crypto who want to diversify and protect their portfolios. More traditional investors and family offices are also on Realize’s radar.

Ryan Lemand, co-founder and CEO of Neovision, argued that tokenizing Treasury bill ETFs is a more efficient strategy than directly purchasing Treasury bills. He noted that buying Treasury bills in the market would involve ongoing transaction costs.

Abu Dhabi Global Markets chief market development officer Arvind Ramamurthy, who announced the fund’s launch, argued that Realize’s tokenized ETFs position the international financial center as “a global leader in real-world asset tokenization.”