SC Ventures, the innovation and investment arm of Standard Chartered bank, has introduced its tokenization platform named Libeara. Headquartered in Singapore, Libeara emerged as a separate company after undergoing proof-of-concept projects, including participation in the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s Global Retail CBDC Challenge and contributing to digital platform prototypes used by various governments.
Led by founder and CEO Aaron Gwak, a veteran with over 16 years of experience at Standard Chartered, Libeara aims to enhance the accessibility of diverse asset classes through tokenization. Alex Manson, head of SC Ventures, highlighted the significance of Libeara, stating that, with institutional-grade custody and digital asset exchange capabilities provided by Zodia Custody and Zodia Markets, Libeara represents the logical progression to better serve customers.
The platform’s name, “Libeara,” is a fusion of “Liberty” and “Aerarium,” denoting the first retail US Treasuries and the Roman Treasury, respectively. Libeara seeks to empower fund managers, governments, and issuers to tokenize real-world assets or issue “regulated security tokens.”
Libeara’s strategic partnerships include Fireblocks for custody, Chainalysis and Chekk for compliance, and Fazz through StraitsX for efficient conversion between stablecoins and fiat. The platform has collaborated with FundBridge Capital, a Singapore-regulated fund platform, to create the world’s first tokenized Singapore-dollar government bond fund for accredited investors. Gwak emphasized that this initiative marks the inaugural offering of a Singapore Dollar Government Bond Fund in token format, with an international credit rating agency evaluating both the fund’s underlying asset quality and token structure.
Tokenization is gaining traction in the crypto space, attracting interest from traditional financial institutions. Standard Chartered’s move follows recent developments, such as HSBC’s platform for tokenizing ownership of physical gold, UBS Asset Management’s pilot of a tokenized money market fund on Ethereum, and Citi’s introduction of Token Services to tokenize clients’ deposits for instant global transfers. Libeara’s launch signifies the banking sector’s increasing exploration of blockchain-based solutions for enhancing financial products and services.
