Tokenization is supposed to make markets faster and more accessible. But many onchain versions of real-world assets have fallen short of that promise, offering thin liquidity, slow settlement and prices that drift from reality, argues Yuki Yuminaga, co-founder and CEO of Tenbin Labs.
His New York-based startup wants to change that by building institutional-grade tokenized assets that closely track real-world prices, settle quickly and generate returns.
Tenbin has 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 about putting things on the 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.”
Instead of relying on custody-based wrappers, Tenbin uses CME futures contracts to anchor pricing and manage exposure. This allows the protocol to track real-world prices more closely, while also capturing the yield from the futures basis – the price difference between the futures and spot markets. This dividend is passed on to users without requiring direct access to local banks or governments.
“We can capture all these dividends and offer them to users without touching the Brazilian bank,” Yuminaga said. “It’s all done through our proprietary CME security system.”
Tenbin’s design enables rapid minting and redemption, avoids fees under most conditions, and allows token holders to move freely across decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols. The first assets the firm plans to introduce are gold and emerging market currencies such as the Brazilian real and Mexican peso.
Its first product, a tokenized gold asset, is scheduled to launch early this year with support from prime brokers including Hidden Road and StoneX. FX-denominated tokens are next to offer high-yield carry trade opportunities to onchain users, Yuminaga said.
With increasing interest in alternatives to US dollar-denominated stablecoins, Tenbin is targeting what Yuminaga called the next batch of decentralized finance investors interested in “more profitable options than just holding US dollars.”
The project is betting that demand for more liquid, return-bearing tokenized assets will increase as crypto users look beyond basic dollar exposure and begin to seek better access to global markets without the friction of traditional financial rails.
“If we can offer real pricing, instant liquidity and dividends in one token,” Yuminaga said. “That’s where tokenization actually delivers.”
