Introducing Libre, Polygon CDK-Powered Institutional Web3 Chain for Alternative Assets

WebN and Laser Digital are launching a new institutional Web3 infrastructure regulated institutions worldwide can use to create and issue their own onchain tokenized assets

Polygon Labs

January 10, 2024

Libre, a new alternative investments infrastructure designed for asset managers and distributors, is launching a dedicated chain built with Polygon Chain Development Kit (CDK) to enable unparalleled access to global alternative investment funds.

Libre is designed for the legal and regulatory compliant issuance and automated lifecycle management of alternative investments. It empowers regulated institutions globally to create and issue their own onchain tokenized assets. Leading alternative investment management firm Brevan Howard and leading private markets investment management firm Hamilton Lane will be the first issuers to strategically partner with Libre.

WebN Group, an incubation hub for fintech and Web3 innovators backed by Alan Howard, and Nomura-backed Laser Digital, are launching Libre to unlock broader distribution capabilities for asset managers and wealth advisors by safely and securely streamlining legal, regulatory, and operational workflows. Libre is also working on enabling access to value-add services in the alternative assets ecosystem such as collateralised lending and automated rebalancing of separately managed accounts (SMAs).

Tokenization promises to revolutionize access to alternative investments, potentially fueling $400 billion in additional annual revenue for the alternatives industry, according to Bain & Co. Individual investors own about $150 trillion of the $290 trillion global wealth pool, but complexity has limited allocation to alternatives to just 5% of their wealth, the research shows.

This is a significant milestone for the alternative investments industry, demonstrating growing institutional interest in leveraging blockchain technology to allow a broader pool of investors to access alternative investments.

Libre will go live in Q1 2024 and has partnered with several top-tier global distributors. Access for distributors is simplified through API connectivity, which enables seamless integration into Libre’s comprehensive suite of wealth management services, data and infrastructure.

“It’s been an honor working with some of the most respected institutions in the traditional finance and Web3 space on bringing the Libre vision to life,” said Dr. Avtar Sehra, CEO and founder of Libre. “While our MVP objective is to increase AUM by launching the primary issuance service and driving distributor integrations, we are also working closely with our partners and clients on our 2024 product roadmap, which includes collateralised lending and automated portfolio rebalancing - building the future of wealth APIs.”

Libre joins a growing number of projects already using and testing Polygon CDK, including OKX, Astar, Canto, Gnosis Pay, Immutable, Palm Network, and IDEX. Polygon CDK makes it easy for developers to design and launch ZK L2s on Ethereum. In the future, Polygon CDK-deployed chains can be interoperable and unified within a broader web of ZK-powered L2s in the Polygon ecosystem.

“We are thrilled to see Libre select Polygon CDK’s scalability and security to revolutionize the alternative investments space,” said Sandeep Nailwal, a co-founder at Polygon. “Libre demonstrates the immense potential of blockchain technology to unlock new opportunities for investors globally.”

Learn more about Libre, tune into the Polygon Labs blog and our social channels to keep up with updates about the Polygon ecosystem.

Together, we can build an equitable future for all through the mass adoption of Web3.