Key Takeaways
- • Galaxy Ventures, the venture capital arm of Mike Novogratz's Galaxy Digital (GLXY), leads a $7 million seed funding round for Tenbin Labs, a New York-based tokenized asset startup focused on institutional-grade real-world asset (RWA) markets.
- • Tenbin employs CME futures contracts for pricing and basis yield capture rather than custody-based wrappers, enabling fast settlement, low fees, and price accuracy that closely tracks underlying assets—addressing liquidity and drift issues plaguing existing onchain RWA products.
- • The startup plans to launch a tokenized gold product in early 2026, followed by high-yield foreign exchange tokens tied to emerging market currencies (Brazilian real, Mexican peso), targeting DeFi users seeking alternatives to U.S. dollar stablecoins.
- • Co-investors include Wintermute Ventures, GSR, Variant, Archetype, and FalconX, signaling institutional backing for Tenbin's approach to improving tokenization infrastructure beyond simple asset wrapping.
- • The investment reflects Galaxy Digital's strategic positioning in the institutional blockchain adoption thesis and cryptocurrency infrastructure—an area Novogratz has prioritized since launching Galaxy in 2018 to bring institutions into the blockchain ecosystem.
Summary
Galaxy Ventures, the venture capital division of Mike Novogratz's Galaxy Digital (GLXY), is leading a $7 million seed funding round for Tenbin Labs, a New York-based startup focused on building institutional-grade tokenized markets for commodities and foreign exchange. The funding syndicate includes prominent crypto-focused investment firms Wintermute Ventures, GSR, Variant, Archetype, and FalconX, indicating broad institutional confidence in Tenbin's technology approach.
Tenbin Labs, founded by CEO Yuki Yuminaga, aims to address fundamental shortcomings in existing tokenized real-world asset (RWA) markets. According to Yuminaga, many onchain versions of real-world assets have underperformed, exhibiting thin liquidity, slow settlement times, and prices that drift from actual market values. The startup's core innovation replaces traditional custody-based wrapper models with CME futures contracts, which anchor pricing and allow the capture of futures basis yield. This approach enables fast settlement and low-fee transaction structures while maintaining price accuracy that tracks real-world benchmarks.
The company's near-term product roadmap includes launching a tokenized gold offering in early 2026, followed by high-yield foreign exchange tokens denominated in emerging market currencies such as the Brazilian real and Mexican peso. These FX products are explicitly designed to serve DeFi users seeking yield-generating alternatives to U.S. dollar-denominated stablecoins, addressing a growing demand segment within decentralized finance.
Tenbin's positioning reflects a philosophical commitment to genuine improvement through tokenization rather than simple asset wrapping. As Yuminaga noted, "We don't think tokenization is just about putting things onchain. It's about making those assets better than they were before — faster to settle, more liquid, and more usable." This investment thesis aligns with Galaxy Digital's institutional adoption strategy established when Novogratz founded the company in 2018 with the goal of bringing institutional capital into the blockchain ecosystem.
Tenbin Labs, founded by CEO Yuki Yuminaga, aims to address fundamental shortcomings in existing tokenized real-world asset (RWA) markets. According to Yuminaga, many onchain versions of real-world assets have underperformed, exhibiting thin liquidity, slow settlement times, and prices that drift from actual market values. The startup's core innovation replaces traditional custody-based wrapper models with CME futures contracts, which anchor pricing and allow the capture of futures basis yield. This approach enables fast settlement and low-fee transaction structures while maintaining price accuracy that tracks real-world benchmarks.
The company's near-term product roadmap includes launching a tokenized gold offering in early 2026, followed by high-yield foreign exchange tokens denominated in emerging market currencies such as the Brazilian real and Mexican peso. These FX products are explicitly designed to serve DeFi users seeking yield-generating alternatives to U.S. dollar-denominated stablecoins, addressing a growing demand segment within decentralized finance.
Tenbin's positioning reflects a philosophical commitment to genuine improvement through tokenization rather than simple asset wrapping. As Yuminaga noted, "We don't think tokenization is just about putting things onchain. It's about making those assets better than they were before — faster to settle, more liquid, and more usable." This investment thesis aligns with Galaxy Digital's institutional adoption strategy established when Novogratz founded the company in 2018 with the goal of bringing institutional capital into the blockchain ecosystem.
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