Australian Fortlake Asset Management Taps Chainlink, Backed, and Sonic for Inaugural Fund Tokeniz...

Australian investment firm Fortlake Asset Management is seeking to enter the digital asset space by recruiting three crypto firms – Chainlink, Backed, and Sonic (formerly Fantom) – to tokenize its Sigma Opportunities Fund, according to a release.

Crypto data provider Chainlink will help verify fund collateralization and assets under management (AUM) while also enabling cross-chain liquidity, the release states. Tokenization firm Backed will issue the fund tokens on the Sonic platform, a layer one (L1) EVM-compatible blockchain.

The rationale behind the move is to take advantage of non-traditional opportunities within decentralized finance (defi) in areas such as lending and margin trading.

“Partnering with Backed, Sonic, and Chainlink to tokenize the Sigma Opportunities Fund is a substantial development in the way we provide access to our fund for the rapidly growing digital asset investor base,” said Fortlake Founder and CIO Christian Baylis.

A 2023 research report by Bank of America predicts that “traditional asset tokenization may reach $16 trillion plus, transforming infrastructure and markets over the next five to fifteen years.”

The world’s largest investment manager, Blackrock launched its first tokenized fund, the BlackRock USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund (BUIDL) on Ethereum in March.

BUIDL is now the world’s largest tokenized fund at a $550 million market capitalization and has expanded to multiple blockchains such as Avalanche and Aptos.

The Sigma Opportunities Fund has net assets of roughly $124 million Australian dollars (about $80 million USD), according to data from Morningstar.