A New Institutional Credit Vehicle for Digital Assets
TREE NEWS reports: Crypto venture firm Hashed has joined a new digital asset private credit fund targeting $300 million, initiated by Abu Dhabi-based investor Mohamed Hamdy and managed by Thoro Capital. The fund is designed to bypass traditional bank lending constraints and provide structured credit to digital asset businesses, introducing covenant-based underwriting as a core risk-management framework.
Why Private Credit Is Moving On-Chain
Private credit has been one of the fastest-growing corners of global finance, and digital assets are now drawing the same institutional logic. Traditional banks remain constrained by capital rules, custody limitations, and reputational caution when lending to crypto-native firms. A dedicated private credit fund can underwrite borrowers that banks cannot, while charging spreads that reflect the risk.
The covenant-based approach is notable. Instead of relying solely on overcollateralization, the fund appears to be structuring loan terms around financial covenants, reporting requirements, and operational triggers. This mirrors the toolkit of traditional private credit but adapts it to blockchain-based collateral, tokenized receivables, and cash-flow streams that may settle on-chain.
Abu Dhabi as a Digital Asset Capital Hub
The involvement of an Abu Dhabi-based initiator is not incidental. The UAE has built a regulatory environment through ADGM and VARA that gives institutional credit funds a clearer legal perimeter than many jurisdictions. For a fund lending against digital asset exposure, that clarity matters as much as yield.
Hashed’s participation brings venture-grade deal flow and technical diligence. Venture firms increasingly see credit as a complement to equity: it lets them support portfolio companies and ecosystem borrowers without taking additional equity risk, while generating recurring yield.
Implications for RWA and DeFi Convergence
This fund sits at the intersection of real-world asset tokenization and decentralized finance. If private credit positions can be represented, serviced, and monitored through blockchain infrastructure, the result is a more transparent credit market with programmable covenants and faster settlement. That convergence is exactly what institutional RWA adoption needs: not speculative tokens, but cash-flowing credit instruments with legal enforceability.
The $300 million target is modest by global private credit standards, but it is meaningful as a template. If the model works, expect more funds that combine traditional underwriting discipline with on-chain collateral and reporting.
What to Watch
- Whether the fund discloses target yields, borrower sectors, and collateral types.
- How covenants are enforced legally and technically, especially across jurisdictions.
- Whether Hashed’s involvement signals broader venture participation in crypto credit.
- Regulatory treatment of the fund’s lending activity in the UAE and beyond.
The broader signal is clear: digital asset credit is maturing from opaque, balance-sheet-heavy lending toward structured, covenant-driven private credit. That shift could bring in the institutional capital that earlier crypto lending cycles failed to retain.
