According to U.Today, asset management firm Hamilton Lane has announced the launch of a private credit fund on the Solana blockchain, marking a significant step in the integration of traditional finance (TradFi) and blockchain technology. Hamilton Lane, which manages $920 billion in assets, introduced the Senior Credit Opportunities Fund (SCOPE) on the Solana network, allowing clients to access the fund through this blockchain platform. This initiative represents Hamilton Lane's first institutional fund launched directly on Solana, although the firm has previously engaged with the blockchain ecosystem.
The launch was made possible through a collaboration with Libre, a Web3.0 protocol designed for the issuance and distribution of funds on-chain. Dr. Avtar Sehra, CEO and founder of Libre, highlighted that tokenizing SCOPE enables Hamilton Lane to expand its distribution by reaching mass affluent and crypto-native investors. The partnership leverages Libre’s infrastructure to connect tokenized real-world assets (RWAs) to users, providing accredited, professional, and institutional investors on networks like Solana with direct access to top-tier funds on-chain in a compliant manner. This includes ancillary services for secondary trading and collateralized lending where available.
Sehra emphasized Solana’s low latency and high throughput capabilities, which make it an attractive network for tokenization. This development could elevate Solana's status within the blockchain space. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) approval of spot Ethereum ETFs in May has sparked interest in other altcoins, leading to calls for spot Solana ETFs. Following this trend, VanEck filed for a Solana ETF with the SEC, aiming to offer direct exposure to SOL without the associated crypto risks. Shortly after, 21Shares made a similar filing. Hamilton Lane's latest move could influence the SEC to consider the proposed rule change, potentially leading to the approval of a spot Solana ETF by March 2025.
