- Securitize is moving into lending. The tokenization firm agreed to acquire River One, a New York-based institutional financing firm, adding warehouse financing that lets firms borrow against pools of loans or other assets before they are sold or refinanced, a private market KKR estimated at $6.1 trillion in 2024 and projects to exceed $9 trillion by 2029, CoinDesk reported.
- Revenue grew, but the bottom line stayed deep in the red. Third-quarter revenue rose 13% from a year earlier to $18.6 million, while the net loss reached $66.3 million, including about $60 million of largely non-cash expenses and accounting charges mainly tied to its public listing and business combination, the company said.
- The platform keeps scaling. Average tokenized assets on the platform reached $5 billion in the quarter, up 39% year over year, and transaction volume climbed 20% to $4.3 billion, with clients spanning BlackRock, Apollo, KKR, Hamilton Lane and VanEck.
- Shareholders got a sweetener. Securitize authorized a $50 million share buyback running through December 2027, backed by about $300 million in cash and no debt at the end of September, and its shares rose about 10% after hours Monday but remain roughly 50% below their late-September level.
What Happened?
Securitize announced the River One deal alongside its third-quarter results on Monday. River One was incubated by crypto investment firm Framework Ventures and also received backing from blockchain lending platform Maple Finance; financial terms were not disclosed and the deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter. Founded in 2017 and based in Miami, Securitize provides issuance, transfer agency and fund administration services for tokenized securities, and it became a public company on the New York Stock Exchange in July. CNBC noted that the quarter’s growth came alongside increased operating expenses.
Why It Matters?
The acquisition shows tokenization firms moving beyond issuing digital wrappers into the financing plumbing behind private credit. If Securitize can connect stablecoin capital with traditional lending markets, it could earn financing revenue on top of fees from tokenizing assets, broadening a business that remains small relative to its ambitions. “Credit is one of the most exciting emerging asset classes for blockchain-based financial markets,” CEO Carlos Domingo said. The buyback, paired with a share price that has halved since late September, signals that management sees the stock as undervalued, though rising operating expenses keep sustained profitability distant.
What’s Next?
Investors will watch for the River One deal to close in the fourth quarter and for details on how quickly it can generate financing revenue. Domingo told CoinDesk in July that the company planned to use its roughly $400 million war chest for acquisitions that expand its institutional tokenization platform rather than buying competitors, so more deals are possible. Cost control will be the other test, given that most of the quarter’s loss came from listing-related charges that should not recur but expenses are still rising.
