• Ethena Labs and Securitize are joining forces to launch Converge, a new blockchain for decentralized finance and tokenized assets.
• Converge will be Ethereum Virtual Machine-compatible and serve both retail and institutional DeFi.
• ENA price rose 5% to change hands above $0.38 following the announcement

Ethena Labs and Securitize are teaming up on a venture that will see the crypto projects unveil Converge, a new blockchain built for tokenized assets and decentralized finance.

Announced on Mar. 17, Converge will be a custom-built, Ethereum-compatible blockchain. The developers envision a platform that will cater to both everyday investors and deep-pocketed institutional players.

Per a blog post introducing the new blockchain, the anticipated launch date is Q2 2025.

Ethena, Securitize unveil Converge

According to Ethena Labs, Converge is a blockchain platform designed to bridge the gap between traditional finance and DeFi.

The technology behind the EVM-compatible chain will allow users to leverage user-friendly decentralized applications for retail investors. Converge will also offer a suite of top tools aimed at institutional investors.

Both Ethena Labs and Securitize plan to tap into the new blockchain to advance the DeFi and asset tokenization ecosystem. In this case, the partnership will see Ethena bring its burgeoning DeFi to Converge.

Securitize will also revamp its traction in the real-world asset (RWA) tokenization space. With nearly $2 billion minted, Securitize stands out as one of the top platforms championing the growth of tokenized assets.

Converge’s unveiling will bring an EVM-compatible settlement layer, driving new adoption for stablecoins and tokenized assets.

“We’re developing Converge to fill a clear gap in the market as the go-to settlement layer for institutional-grade DeFi and tokenized assets,” Guy Young, founder of Ethena Labs, said in a statement.

According to Young, “storage and settlement of stablecoins and tokenized assets” is set to be a massive opportunity in the coming years.

Stablecoins, blockchains and exchanges are a “holy trinity of crypto protocols” the Ethena Labs founder posted on X.

Further comments came from Carlos Domingo, the co-founder and CEO of Securitize. He noted:

“By combining Ethena’s innovation in DeFi with Securitize’s leadership in tokenizing real-world assets, Converge sets a new standard for how institutions can confidently engage with on-chain financial markets.”

Converge’s initial launch partners

The two firms will look to advance Converge via key industry collaborations. Helping the cause are initial launch partners, including Pendle, Aave Labs (via its Horizon project), Morpho, Ethereal and Maple Finance.

Converge’s RWA traction will also benefit from custodial support from Anchorage, Copper, Fireblocks and Zodia among other institutional-grade custody providers.

Also key will be interoperability partners LayerZero and Wormhole. Meanwhile, Converge will tap into oracle support from Pyth Network and RedStone.

Furthermore, Converge will use Ethena’s native governance token ENA for staking and security. The latter will tap into a permissioned validator set. The USDe and USTb stablecoins will power network transactions as gas tokens.

The news saw the ENA token jump more than 5% to trade above $0.38.

• Securitize and Apollo have teamed up to launch a diversified credit fund.
• The Apollo Diversified Credit Securitize Fund, ACRED, goes live on Aptos, Avalanche, Ethereum, and Solana blockchains.

Tokenization platform Securitize has partnered with $730 billion alternative asset manager Apollo to bring a new tokenized credit fund on-chain.

Securitize announced on Jan. 30 that it had collaborated with the NYSE-listed Apollo to launch the Apollo Diversified Credit Securitize Fund on several major blockchains.

The fund, ACRED, will offer tokenized access to a diversified credit strategy, with support available on Solana, Ethereum, Aptos, Ink, Avalanche and Polygon networks.

BREAKING: APOLLO TOKENIZES $1.2B PRIVATE CREDIT FUND

The $730B investment giant just launched ACRED, on-chain access to their Diversified Credit Fund, across 6 chains:

Ethereum, Solana, Ink, Aptos, Avalanche, Polygon

11.7% yield in 2024, managed by one of the world’s top… pic.twitter.com/1PpIwpyQkV

— RWA.xyz (@RWA_xyz) January 30, 2025

It’s the first time the ACRED fund is available on-chain to qualified institutional investors.

“This tokenization not only provides an on-chain solution for Apollo Diversified Credit Fund, but also could pave the way for broader access to private markets through next generation product innovation, greater secondary liquidity, and efficiency over time,” Apollo partner Christine Moy said.

On-chain private credit market

To enable multichain support, Securitize is leveraging its integration with interoperability provider Wormhole.

Bringing fixed income and private credit on-chain adds to the tokenization momentum that has seen major players such as BlackRock, Franklin Templeton, Hamilton Lane and KKR among others bring funds on to the blockchain.

In a comment, Securitize co-founder & CEO Carlos Domingo noted;

“The next wave of demand for tokenized assets has emerged around fixed income, including private credit. Apollo’s expertise in private credit makes them an ideal partner in tokenizing this category of real-world assets (“RWA”), unlocking broader opportunities for investors.”

The tokenized private credit market allows investors to earn real yield from providing loans to global businesses, with the sector a $1.6 trillion market in the traditional finance ecosystem.

Currently, the tokenized private credit market accounts for about $21 billion in total on-chain loans, about $11.7 billion of which is active on various protocols.