Kamino appoints Michael Weisz as CEO
Solana-based lending protocol Kamino is bringing in fintech veteran Michael Weisz as its new chief executive officer as the DeFi platform prepares for a larger push into the U.S. financial market.
Kamino announced the appointment on Sept. 15, saying Weisz will lead its expansion in the United States, strengthen relationships with institutional asset managers and financial platforms, and help develop infrastructure around tokenized assets. The company says it has processed more than $650 billion in cumulative transaction volume over more than four years.
Weisz previously co-founded Yieldstreet, an alternative investment platform now known as Willow Wealth. Kamino said the business deployed more than $6 billion alongside firms including Goldman Sachs, Carlyle, KKR, Ares, Fortress and StepStone.
Kamino is also evaluating approximately 20,000 square feet of office space in New York City and plans to hire a chief financial officer and head of legal as it builds its institutional team.
“Being in New York puts us at the intersection of the asset managers and institutions alongside which we want to build the next phase of Kamino,” Weisz said.
The appointment gives Kamino an executive with experience connecting alternative investments, institutional capital and distribution with its existing blockchain-based lending infrastructure.
Why New York matters for Kamino
Kamino's move to New York comes as the company attempts to expand beyond its established role in Solana DeFi and become part of the infrastructure supporting tokenized financial assets.
Tokenization refers to representing financial or real-world assets on a blockchain. For Kamino, however, simply putting an asset onchain is only one part of the process. The company is targeting the financial infrastructure that can allow eligible tokenized assets to be distributed, used as collateral and connected to credit markets.
Kamino's existing lending system already allows users to supply collateral and borrow assets. Its official documentation explains that lending markets use parameters such as loan-to-value ratios, interest rates and liquidation thresholds to manage positions.
Kamino's official lending documentation
The company now wants to apply similar infrastructure to a broader range of assets while developing relationships with asset managers, financial platforms, regulated service providers and institutional capital providers.
Weisz said the challenge is not simply creating an asset but building the surrounding infrastructure for distribution, compliance, asset management, credit and liquidity.
Kamino expands into tokenized real-world assets
One of Kamino's main examples is its PRIME market, which is designed around real-world assets.
Kamino's documentation identifies Prime as an institutional-grade market supporting real-world assets. Unlike Kamino's main lending market, Prime is separated from other markets, meaning liquidity and risk parameters are isolated between different lending environments.
PRIME was developed through a partnership involving Figure Technologies and Hastra. Figure's announcement about the RWA Consortium identified Kamino as the exclusive onchain credit and lending partner for PRIME on Solana. The partnership was designed to connect Figure's real-world lending activity with Solana-based liquidity and lending infrastructure.
Figure's official RWA Consortium announcement
According to Kamino, the PRIME market surpassed $600 million in deposits within 107 days of launch. The market uses Figure's blockchain-based home-equity lending assets as underlying collateral, giving the Solana ecosystem exposure to a form of tokenized real-world credit.
This represents an important distinction between tokenization and tokenized finance. Once an asset is represented onchain, lending protocols can potentially provide additional functions around it, including collateralization and access to liquidity.
Tokenized equities are becoming part of Kamino's lending infrastructure
Kamino's expansion is also reaching tokenized public equities.
Forward Industries has worked with Superstate to bring tokenized FWDI shares onto Solana. The integration allows eligible investors outside the U.S. to use those tokenized shares as collateral on Kamino and borrow stablecoins while maintaining exposure to the underlying equity.
Forward Industries' tokenized FWDI announcement
Galaxy Digital has taken a similar approach with its GLXY shares. Galaxy and Superstate launched tokenized Galaxy public shares on Solana in 2025, with the structure designed to provide blockchain-based access to the company's equity. Galaxy's announcement says the tokenization provides the potential for around-the-clock markets and near-instant settlement.
Galaxy's official tokenized GLXY announcement
The tokenized-equity integrations show how Kamino's lending infrastructure can extend beyond cryptocurrencies. Instead of treating tokenized stocks only as tradable representations of traditional securities, the platform is also positioning eligible assets as potential collateral within onchain credit markets.
Kamino's lending infrastructure
Kamino already operates multiple lending markets with different risk parameters. Its documentation describes the markets as isolated collections of reserves, meaning collateral supplied to one market cannot be used to borrow from another. The platform currently lists Main, JLP, Altcoins and Prime markets.
Kamino's official market documentation
The protocol's lending system supports core functions including deposits, borrowing, repayments and withdrawals. Kamino also provides developers with APIs and SDKs for integrating lending functionality into applications built on Solana.
This infrastructure gives Kamino a foundation for expanding into markets where traditional assets and blockchain-based liquidity intersect. The company says its institutional strategy will cover areas including distribution, legal and compliance tools, asset-manager workflows, credit and liquidity.
For institutions, that means the focus is shifting from simply issuing tokenized assets toward building systems that can support those assets after issuance.
Weisz to lead Kamino's institutional push
Weisz's appointment comes as Kamino attempts to build a larger presence among traditional financial institutions while continuing to operate from its Solana foundation.
Kamino says it has recorded more than $650 billion in cumulative transaction volume and has expanded its real-world asset business alongside its broader lending and liquidity products. The company also says its platform has undergone more than 30 independent audits.
The planned New York headquarters is intended to bring Kamino closer to asset managers, financial platforms, service providers and other participants in traditional finance. The company expects its new team to span areas such as finance, product, legal, compliance and business development.
For Kamino, the next stage is therefore less about adding another lending market and more about building the infrastructure around tokenized assets. With Weisz leading the effort, the Solana-based protocol is positioning lending, collateral and liquidity as key components of the growing tokenized-asset market.
