Chinese-funded bank-backed securities firms make their debut in RWA, CMB International launches the first Solana on-chain fund.

Written by: Wenser, Odaily

On August 13 (Wednesday), Solana officially announced the issuance of an on-chain fund in cooperation with CMB International, DigiFT, and OnChain. The article mentioned: "CMB International will complete the tokenization of its Hong Kong-Singapore mutual fund on the Solana chain, with the token code CMBMINT. In addition, this is also the world's first public fund on the Solana ecological chain." Odaily will provide a brief analysis of this matter for readers' reference.

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

Speaking of China Merchants International, it naturally cannot be separated from its parent company, China Merchants Bank.

According to reports, China Merchants Bank holds 100% equity in China Merchants International through China Merchants International Capital and China Merchants Yonglong Bank, while China Merchants International has established China Merchants International Securities. 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 the asset management business scale reached CNY 130.327 billion, an increase of 14.86% compared to the end of the previous 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) to become the first Chinese-funded bank-affiliated brokerage in Hong Kong to acquire licenses for virtual asset trading services and related activities. This move marks the formal entry of traditional financial giants into the Hong Kong digital asset market, following the upgrade of virtual asset licenses by Chinese brokerages such as Guotai Junan International and Tianfeng International Securities.

Now, China Merchants Jinling International has officially entered the RWA field, teaming up with the Singapore licensed RWA exchange DigiFT and the Solana ecosystem service provider OnChain to successfully tokenize its US dollar money market fund on-chain. The fund has shown outstanding historical performance – according to public data, from its establishment in February 2024 to the end of July 2025, its cumulative yield has consistently ranked first among similar funds in the Asia-Pacific region. (Odaily Note: The yield is calculated based on the net asset value, including dividend reinvestment income.)

The collaboration between CMB International, DigiFT, and OnChain combines the advantages of traditional financial institutions and on-chain financial service providers in terms of technology, compliance, user experience, and more, including:

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

Second, this token product is the first to support deployment on public chains such as Solana, Ethereum, Arbitrum, and Plume, and is the first token product globally on the Solana chain that is linked to the performance of publicly offered money market funds;

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

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

According to reports, 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 professional RWA service provider in the Solana ecosystem. The collaboration between the two and CMB International is truly a powerful alliance.

Moreover, this move by CMB International may have broader and deeper impacts, 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 Blossoming Together, Solana Ecosystem Realizing Dreams in the Internet Capital Market

From a regional perspective, the tokenization of public mutual funds by CMB 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 inland areas and Hong Kong; for the cryptocurrency industry, the Solana ecosystem may become the landing ground 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 in product tokenization on the DigiFT platform. This innovative initiative breaks down the barriers between on-chain and off-chain, comprehensively reshaping the traditional models of fund sales, operations, and investment, enabling investors to conveniently invest in high-quality financial products in Hong Kong, thus 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 of funds, becoming a part of the liquidity in the development process of Hong Kong's digital asset industry; and to a certain extent, it enhances Hong Kong's attractiveness to RWA investors.

On the Solana ecosystem: Promoting the rapid development of internet capital markets

For a long time, the focus of Solana's official and ecological development has been on the concept of "Internet Capital Markets", and the emergence of the Chow Tai Fook International tokenized fund has added a significant touch to this concept.

As a leading fund institution in the Asia-Pacific region, CMB International chose Solana as one of the important ecosystems for fund tokenization, which also provides a model 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 within the Solana ecosystem: "This is evidence of the capital market on the internet happening within the Solana ecosystem."

For inland areas: More Chinese-funded bank-affiliated securities firms may lay out 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, has a certain demonstrative effect and may attract more brokers and subsidiaries of Chinese banks to layout in the RWA sector.

According to reports, in addition to Zhongyin International, the current Chinese-funded banks in Hong Kong include institutions such as ICBC International, CCB International, ABC International, Bank of China International, and Bank of Communications International under state-owned banks, as well as institutions like 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 of the RWA track.

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

With the continuous development of the RWA industry, on-chain tokenized products will further expand the range of RWA assets, and the global investment landscape will also expand further. When it reaches a certain level of development, the liquidity of the cryptocurrency industry will be deeply coupled with the funding depth of traditional finance, allowing for efficient utilization of capital liquidity, enabling professional investors from around the world to freely participate in fund investments and stock investments in different regions.

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