An important part of the traditional financial sector has just moved further into the chain. Securitize has expanded its tokenized AAA CLO fund, known as STAC, to the Solana blockchain, and the announcement carries serious institutional weight. Ethena Labs plans to commit $250 million to the fund, making it one of the largest allocations to tokenized structured credit in the Solana ecosystem to date.
The deal brings together two very different worlds: the slow-moving, multi-trillion-dollar credit market and the fast programmability of public blockchain rails. Just as important is the Securitize the tokenized AAA CLO fund Solana The expansion signals how institutional finance is beginning to use blockchain infrastructure for regulated credit products, rather than just speculative assets.
In practice, this is important because STAC is not a crypto-native experiment dressed up as finance. It is a high-quality credit fund, backed by institutional partners, now available through one of the most active blockchain ecosystems in the world.
Securitize tokenized AAA CLO fund Solana expansion brings structured credits into the chain
What STAC invests in
STAC – the Securitize Tokenized AAA CLO Fund – is a tokenized investment vehicle focused exclusively on AAA-rated collateralized lending obligations. These are among the most creditworthy instruments in the structured credit market, which has more than $1.3 trillion in issuance worldwide, according to data from Bank of America Global Research.
The fund invests substantially all of its assets in US dollar denominated AAA CLO tranches sourced from both the primary and secondary markets. The strategy is based on fundamentals and aims to deliver attractive risk-adjusted returns through exposure to floating rate structured credit without leverage.
That conservative, high-quality approach is part of what makes the move to Solana remarkable. This is not a speculative crypto product. Instead, it is traditional institutional credit, now accessible via blockchain rails.
Why BNY’s role matters
STAC was developed in collaboration with BNY, the financial services provider that acts as custodian for the fund’s underlying assets and as a sub-adviser through BNY Investments. That relationship ensures that the fund remains anchored in conventional regulatory and custodial frameworks, even though the shares exist as digital securities on a public blockchain.
Carlos Domingo, co-founder and CEO of Securitize, summed up the opportunity directly: “Tokenization is most powerful when it combines quality assets with the speed, efficiency and accessibility of blockchain infrastructure. Expanding STAC to Solana brings one of the largest fixed income markets in the world to one of the most active blockchain ecosystems.”
Securitize itself manages more than $4 billion in assets under management as of April 2026. Its tokenized fund partnerships include Apollo, BlackRock, Hamilton Lane, KKR and VanEck, which helps explain why STAC is part of a broader institutional product suite that has steadily grown in size and credibility.
Ethena Labs’ $250 million allocation adds institutional weight
Ethena Labs’ $250 million commitment outweighs its size. Ethena is the creator of USDe, which has become the fastest growing USD-denominated crypto asset in history, and USDtb, with integrations between major centralized exchanges and DeFi applications. The company is backed by Fidelity, Franklin Templeton, Dragonfly, Binance Labs, Bybit and OKX.
Guy Young, founder of Ethena, explained the rationale: “Our planned allocation to STAC reflects our belief that institutional-quality credit products can become fundamental components of the onchain economy.”
That framing is important because Ethena’s interest in STAC is not just a one-time transaction. Rather, it reflects a broader thesis that tokenized real-world assets will become structural pillars of onchain finance, not peripheral experiments. When a company with Ethena’s backing list puts $250 million behind this statement, the market tends to pay attention.
Regulated digital securities infrastructure gives STAC a greater reach
One of the less discussed but strategically important parts of this expansion is Securitize’s regulatory positioning. The company operates regulated entities on both sides of the Atlantic, giving it a rare dual jurisdiction in the digital securities infrastructure.
In the United States, Securitize operates through several subsidiaries:
- Securitize Markets, LLC — an SEC registered broker-dealer that operates an SEC-regulated alternative trading system
- Securitize Transfer Agent, LLC — an SEC registered transfer agent
- Securitize Capital LLC – an exempt reporting advisor
- Securitize Fund Services, LLC – provides fund administration and digital asset reporting
In Europe, the company operates through Securitize Europe Brokerage and Markets, SA, fully authorized as an investment firm and operates a trading and settlement system under the EU DLT Pilot Regime. Securitize is currently the only company licensed to simultaneously operate a regulated digital securities infrastructure in both the US and EU, a distinction that is becoming increasingly relevant as institutional capital seeks compliant on-chain pathways.
Eligible investors can subscribe to STAC directly through the Securitize platform, with shares being issued as digital securities. The platform integrates KYC, AML and investor accreditation controls, in addition to transparent administration and onchain ownership via the transfer agent infrastructure.
Why Solana makes sense for institutional onchain financing
The choice of Solana for this expansion was not random. The network’s speed, transaction throughput and low costs make it well suited to the operational demands of institutional credit markets, where settlement efficiency and distribution scale matter.
Nick Ducoff, Head of Institutional Growth at the Solana Foundation, described the momentum: “The launch of STAC on Solana highlights the growing convergence between traditional financial assets and blockchain-based markets.”
That convergence is the core story here. Tokenization reduces the operational friction that has historically made institutional credit investing cumbersome, including slow settlement cycles, manual reconciliation, and limited distribution reach. By moving CLO exposure upstream, STAC opens the door to more efficient distribution and ownership registration, without sacrificing the credit quality and custody standards that institutional investors require.
For Solana, STAC’s landing is also a statement. The network has increasingly positioned itself as an infrastructure for real-world asset tokenization, and an institutional credit product backed by BNY, built by Securitize and anchored by a $250 million allocation to Ethena Labs is a meaningful proof point for that ambition.
The broader picture is hard to ignore. With the global CLO market at $1.3 trillion and tokenization still in its infancy, the gap between what exists on-chain today and what could eventually migrate there remains enormous. Products like STAC are part of the early infrastructure layer: regulated, credible, and built with the kind of partners that give institutional allocators the confidence to get involved.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Securitize Tokenized AAA CLO Fund (STAC)?
STAC is a tokenized investment fund that invests primarily in US dollar-denominated tranches of AAA-rated collateralized loans from both the primary and secondary markets. It issues shares as digital securities through Securitize’s regulated platform, with BNY acting as custodian and sub-adviser through BNY Investments.
Why was Solana chosen for the expansion of the STAC fund?
Solana was selected for its high transaction speed, strong throughput capacity and low transaction costs. These features make it well suited for institutional on-chain financing, where settlement efficiency and scalability are priorities.
Who are the most important partners involved in STAC?
Key partners include Securitize as a tokenization and platform provider, BNY as a custodian and sub-adviser through BNY Investments, and Ethena Labs as a major institutional allocator that has committed $250 million to the fund.
What are the investment objectives of the STAC fund?
STAC aims to deliver attractive risk-adjusted returns through exposure to floating rate structured credit in AAA CLO tranches, using a fundamentals-based, non-leveraged approach.