Tokenization is supposed to make markets faster and more accessible. But many on-chain versions of real-world assets have failed to deliver on that promise, offering limited liquidity, slow settlement, and prices that deviate from reality, says Yuki Yuminaga, co-founder and CEO of Tenbin Labs.
His New York-based startup wants to change that by creating institutional-grade tokenized assets that closely track real-world prices, settle quickly, and generate returns.
Tenbin raised $7 million in seed funding led by Galaxy Ventures, the venture capital arm of Mike Novogratz’s Galaxy Digital (GLXY), with backing from Wintermute Ventures, GSR, Variant, Archetype, FalconX and others.
“We don’t think tokenization is just putting things on chain,” Yuminaga said in an interview with CoinDesk. “It’s about making these assets better than they were before: faster to settle, more liquid and more usable.”
Rather than relying on custody-based wrappers, Tenbin uses CME futures to anchor prices and manage exposure. This allows the protocol to more closely track real-world prices, while also capturing futures yield – the difference in price between the futures and spot markets. This yield is passed on to users, without requiring direct access to banks or local governments.
“We can capture all these returns and offer them to users without even touching the Brazilian bank,” Yuminaga said. “All of this is done through our proprietary CME coverage system.”
Tenbin’s design allows for rapid minting and redemptions, avoids fees in most conditions, and allows token holders to move freely between decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols. The first assets the company plans to introduce are gold and emerging market currencies like the Brazilian real and Mexican peso.
Its first product, a tokenized gold asset, is expected to launch early this year with the support of leading brokers including Hidden Road and StoneX. Currency-denominated tokens come next, providing high-yielding carry trade opportunities for on-chain users, Yuminaga said.
With interest growing in alternatives to U.S. dollar-denominated stablecoins, Tenbin is targeting what Yuminaga called the next group of decentralized financial investors interested in “more profitable opportunities than just holding U.S. dollars.”
The project is betting that demand for more liquid, yield-generating tokenized assets will increase as crypto users look beyond core dollar exposure and begin seeking greater access to global markets without the friction of traditional financial rails.
“If we can offer real prices, instant liquidity and yield in one token,” Yuminaga said. “This is where tokenization is really effective.”
