Chinese state-owned bank system broker RWA's debut, CMB International launches Solana on-chain fund

Original author: Wenser, Odaily

Reprinted: Mars Finance, Daisy

On August 13 (Wednesday), Solana officially announced the collaboration between CMB International and DigiFT and OnChain to issue an on-chain fund. The article mentioned: "CMB International will tokenize its Hong Kong and Singapore mutual recognition fund on the Solana blockchain, with the token code CMBMINT. Furthermore, this is also the world's first public offering fund on the Solana ecological chain."

The wave of fund tokenization is coming, and leading funds in the Asia-Pacific region are joining in.

Speaking of CMB International, one cannot help but mention its parent company, China Merchants Bank.

According to reports, China Merchants Bank holds 100% equity of China Merchants International through China Merchants International Capital and China Merchants Yonglong Bank, while China Merchants International has China Merchants International Securities under its umbrella. According to China Merchants Bank's 2024 annual report, China Merchants International has total assets of HKD 80.813 billion, achieved a net profit of HKD 1.307 billion in 2024, and has an asset management business scale of RMB 130.327 billion, which is a 14.86% increase compared to the end of last year, completing a total of 38 Hong Kong IPO projects.

On July 14 this year, China Merchants International officially obtained approval from the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC), becoming the first Chinese-funded brokerage firm to acquire relevant licenses for virtual asset trading services in Hong Kong. This move marks the formal entry of traditional financial giants into the Hong Kong digital asset market, following the upgrades of virtual asset licenses by Chinese brokerages such as Guotai Junan International and Tianfeng International Securities.

Now, CMB International has officially entered the RWA field, partnering with the Singapore licensed RWA exchange DigiFT and Solana ecosystem service provider OnChain to successfully tokenize its US dollar money market fund on-chain. The fund has an outstanding historical performance - according to public data, since its establishment in February 2024 until the end of July 2025, its cumulative return rate has consistently ranked first among similar funds in the Asia-Pacific region.

The collaboration between CMB International and DigiFT, OnChain this time combines the technical, compliance, user experience, and other advantages of traditional financial institutions and on-chain financial service providers, including:

First, the fund has received simultaneous recognition from regulatory authorities in Hong Kong and Singapore.

Secondly, this token product is the first to support deployment on public chains such as Solana, Ethereum, Arbitrum, and Plume, and it is also the world's first token product on the Solana chain that is linked to the performance of publicly offered money market funds.

Third, this token product supports both fiat and stablecoin redemption.

Fourth, the token product provides real-time redemption for the tokens through a self-developed liquidity management contract.

DigiFT is the first on-chain digital asset platform to obtain recognition from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) as a Recognized Market Operator (RMO) and a Capital Markets Services (CMS) license, while OnChain is a specialized RWA service provider in the Solana ecosystem. The collaboration between the two and CMB International is a strong alliance.

Moreover, this move by China Merchants Bank International may have a broader and deeper impact, serving as a significant demonstration effect on the development of the digital asset industry in Hong Kong, the flow of funds in inland regions, and the Solana ecosystem.

Analysis of Subsequent Impacts: Hong Kong and Mainland China Flourish Together, Solana Ecosystem Achieves Dreams in the Internet Capital Market

From a regional perspective, the tokenization of public funds by China Merchants International not only opens up the investment imagination ceiling for professional investors in Singapore but also brings new ideas for investment choices and industrial development in the inland and Hong Kong regions; for the cryptocurrency industry, the Solana ecosystem may become a landing area for more traditional financial sector veteran funds.

For Hong Kong: Promote industrial development and attract investment funds.

As emphasized in the official announcement from DigiFT, "CMB International Asset Management actively responds to the call of the 'Hong Kong Digital Asset Development Policy Declaration 2.0' through innovative practices of issuing and distributing product tokenization on the DigiFT blockchain. This innovative initiative breaks down the barriers between on-chain and off-chain, completely reshaping the traditional models of fund sales, operations, and investments, enabling investors to conveniently invest in high-quality financial products in Hong Kong, thereby enhancing Hong Kong's competitiveness in the global digital asset management field."

In other words, this move allows more funds to enter Hong Kong through the tokenization channels of funds, becoming part of the liquidity in the development process of Hong Kong's digital asset industry; and it has, to some extent, enhanced Hong Kong's attractiveness to RWA investors.

Towards the Solana Ecosystem: Promoting the Rapid Development of Internet Capital Markets

For a long time, the development focus of Solana's official and ecosystem has been centered around the concept of "Internet Capital Market", and the emergence of the CMB International Tokenized Fund has added a significant highlight to this concept.

As a leading fund institution in the Asia-Pacific region, China Merchants International has chosen Solana as one of the important ecosystems for fund tokenization, and it also provides a sample for the subsequent development of the RWA sector in Solana. As mentioned in the tweets and comments by Solana officials and Raydium, an important infrastructure in the Solana ecosystem: "This is evidence of the internet capital market occurring within the Solana ecosystem."

For inland areas: More Chinese-funded securities firms may layout RWA.

For inland areas, although it is difficult for investors to obtain similar investment opportunities in the short term, China Merchants International, as a subsidiary of a Chinese bank, plays a certain demonstrative role, which may attract more brokerages and subsidiaries of Chinese banks to layout in the RWA sector.

According to reports, in addition to China Merchants International, the current Chinese-funded bank-affiliated brokerages in Hong Kong include ICBC International, CCB International, ABC International, Bank of China International, and Bank of Communications International, which are under state-owned banks, as well as institutions such as Pudong Development Bank International under joint-stock banks. Following internet giants like Ant Group and JD Group, Chinese-funded banks will also participate in the market competition for the RWA track.

Conclusion: Fund tokenization is expected to further expand the global investment landscape.

With the continuous development of the RWA industry, the RWA assets encompassed by on-chain tokenized products will be further expanded, and the global investment landscape will also be further broadened. As it develops to a certain extent, the liquidity of the cryptocurrency industry will be deeply coupled with the capital depth of the traditional financial sector, allowing for efficient utilization of capital liquidity. Professional investors from around the world will be able to freely participate in fund and stock investments in different regions.

At that time, tokenized products will become mainstream in the financial investment sector.