Key Takeaways
- • ZIG Finance launched the zEMS Vault on 11 November 2026, giving eligible institutional investors exposure to a diversified pool of Saudi SME private credit on BNB Chain, with a target raise of $100 million.
- • The vault is the first product from ZIG Finance's strategic partnership with Laser Digital, the digital assets subsidiary of Nomura, which acts as risk framework advisor.
- • Saudi SME lending reached SR468 billion (about $124.6 billion) at the end of 2025, up 33% in a year, while Vision 2030 targets raising SMEs' share of total credit from 11.5% to 20%.
- • Tokenized private credit reached about 44% of the $51 billion tokenized real-world asset market, and onchain private credit has typically offered yields of roughly 8% to 12% versus 4% to 5% for tokenized Treasuries.
- • Subscriptions and redemptions are settled in stablecoins, with the vault excluding US persons and residents of Canada and Australia and carrying no principal protection or return guarantee.
Summary
ZIG Finance launched the zEMS Vault on 11 November 2026 to give eligible institutional investors access to a diversified pool of Saudi small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) private credit on BNB Chain. Subscriptions and redemptions are made in stablecoins. The vault is the first product from ZIG Finance's strategic partnership with Laser Digital, the digital assets subsidiary of Japanese bank Nomura, which serves as risk framework advisor. The zEMS onchain strategy targets a raise of $100 million, with the companies setting a minimum target of $100 million in total value locked across several onchain credit products.
The opportunity rests on the growth of both private credit and tokenization. Moody's puts global private credit assets under management above $2 trillion, with a forecast of close to $4 trillion by 2030. Private credit overtook US Treasury products in 2026 to become the largest category of tokenized real-world assets, at about 44% of a $51 billion market, against 30% for Treasuries. Lending to Saudi SMEs reached SR468 billion at the end of 2025, up 33% in a year, and Vision 2030 aims to lift SMEs' share of total credit to 20% from 11.5%. Banks provide about 95% of SME credit, leaving room for non-bank lenders. Private debt deployed across the Gulf Cooperation Council rose from about $0.5 billion in 2024 to $4.1 billion in 2025, according to the article, with Saudi Arabia accounting for about $3.9 billion.
The vault's structure involves several partners. Beehive, a Dubai-founded peer-to-peer lender regulated by the Dubai Financial Services Authority, originates the loans and has funded more than $1 billion for over 2,100 SMEs across the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Oman; its Saudi entity is subject to regulatory approval. Zamanat provides structuring and Sharia advisory, while ZIG Markets handles issuance, curation and distribution on BNB Chain. KAIO, the tokenization platform built by Laser Digital and WebN, runs tokenization, compliance and KYC checks. The vault is issued by a segregated portfolio of ZM Structured Products SPC Limited, a British Virgin Islands company, and Merritt Administrators, trading as ZIG Finance and regulated by South Africa's Financial Sector Conduct Authority, acts as curator. Investors hold vault tokens rather than the underlying loans.
The vault launches on BNB Chain, where tokenized real-world assets grew from about $3 billion in March 2026 to $5.2 billion in July, according to the article's figures. The article states that Laser Digital and Nomura do not guarantee, underwrite or rate the loans, and that credit selection and risk management rest with ZIG Finance and the originator. The vault does not guarantee returns, is not principal-protected and is not a deposit. The article characterizes a $100 million raise as roughly 10% of the more than $1 billion Beehive has funded since 2014, and about 0.08% of Saudi SME credit outstanding. The first test will be the $100 million raise and the loan pool's performance through its initial cycles.
The opportunity rests on the growth of both private credit and tokenization. Moody's puts global private credit assets under management above $2 trillion, with a forecast of close to $4 trillion by 2030. Private credit overtook US Treasury products in 2026 to become the largest category of tokenized real-world assets, at about 44% of a $51 billion market, against 30% for Treasuries. Lending to Saudi SMEs reached SR468 billion at the end of 2025, up 33% in a year, and Vision 2030 aims to lift SMEs' share of total credit to 20% from 11.5%. Banks provide about 95% of SME credit, leaving room for non-bank lenders. Private debt deployed across the Gulf Cooperation Council rose from about $0.5 billion in 2024 to $4.1 billion in 2025, according to the article, with Saudi Arabia accounting for about $3.9 billion.
The vault's structure involves several partners. Beehive, a Dubai-founded peer-to-peer lender regulated by the Dubai Financial Services Authority, originates the loans and has funded more than $1 billion for over 2,100 SMEs across the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Oman; its Saudi entity is subject to regulatory approval. Zamanat provides structuring and Sharia advisory, while ZIG Markets handles issuance, curation and distribution on BNB Chain. KAIO, the tokenization platform built by Laser Digital and WebN, runs tokenization, compliance and KYC checks. The vault is issued by a segregated portfolio of ZM Structured Products SPC Limited, a British Virgin Islands company, and Merritt Administrators, trading as ZIG Finance and regulated by South Africa's Financial Sector Conduct Authority, acts as curator. Investors hold vault tokens rather than the underlying loans.
The vault launches on BNB Chain, where tokenized real-world assets grew from about $3 billion in March 2026 to $5.2 billion in July, according to the article's figures. The article states that Laser Digital and Nomura do not guarantee, underwrite or rate the loans, and that credit selection and risk management rest with ZIG Finance and the originator. The vault does not guarantee returns, is not principal-protected and is not a deposit. The article characterizes a $100 million raise as roughly 10% of the more than $1 billion Beehive has funded since 2014, and about 0.08% of Saudi SME credit outstanding. The first test will be the $100 million raise and the loan pool's performance through its initial cycles.
Go deeper than the headline
Research every firm in this story, track the ones that matter and get the daily briefing — free for 7 days.