TL;DR:
- Animoca Brands and Nuva Labs launched NUVA, an Ethereum marketplace connecting approximately $19 billion in tokenized Figure assets to DeFi.
- The platform will debut with two products: nvYLDS, a vault linked to Treasury bonds, and nvPRIME, a token tied to an $18.4 billion mortgage credit portfolio.
- Anthony Moro, former BNY executive and CEO of Nuva Labs, aims to create a global distribution layer for institutional assets accessible in the DeFi market.
Animoca BrandsĀ and Nuva Labs launched NUVA, anĀ Ethereum-based marketplaceĀ designed to connect approximatelyĀ $19 billion in tokenized real-world assetsĀ āoriginated within the Provenance blockchain ecosystemā with decentralized finance markets. The initiative aims to transform institutional financial products intoĀ instruments that any retail user can trade,Ā lend, or use as collateral within the DeFi ecosystem.
The tokenized assets linked to NUVA originate fromĀ Figure Technologies Solutions, the blockchain firm founded by Mike Cagney, former CEO of SoFi. TheĀ ProvenanceĀ ecosystem, on which Figure operates, has becomeĀ one of the leading on-chain private credit issuers globally.
The wait is over. NUVA is now live: https://t.co/Pkc2DnxrUt š
With one click, gain exposure to institutional-grade RWAs that are composable, with no lockups or minimums.
š Now open on Ethereum: nvYLDS & nvPRIME, underlying assets issued by @Figure. pic.twitter.com/FgMBU5T4hT
— NUVA Finance (@NUVAFinance) May 13, 2026
A Distribution Layer for Institutional Assets
The platform will debut with two products. The first,Ā nvYLDS, is a yield vault linked to YLDS, an SEC-regulatedĀ stablecoinĀ from Figure, with a supply exceedingĀ $500 millionĀ that offers a money market-equivalent yield.
The second,Ā nvPRIME, is a token backed by Figure’s home equity line of credit (HELOC) portfolio, valued at $18.4 billion, currently offering yields aboveĀ 7% annually, though access remains largely restricted to institutional and accredited investors.
The mechanics are straightforward.Ā Users deposit stablecoins into the vaults and receive ERC-20 tokensĀ representing their share of the underlying assets. Those tokens can then beĀ traded, lent, or used as collateralĀ in DeFi protocols on Ethereum.
NUVA Aims to Expand Beyond Ethereum
Anthony Moro, CEO of Nuva Labs and former executive atĀ BNY, emphasized that the goal is not to create digital versions of traditional products, but toĀ build natively on-chain financial assets. “Nobody really has that unified global distribution layer for blockchain-native assets,” Moro stated. “What was missing wasĀ a platform where users could access institutional-quality assets in a simple, composable format.”
Moro questioned tokenization models that still rely on off-chain infrastructure and manual reconciliation, noting thatĀ long-term goals include onboarding assets from multiple issuers and expanding to other networks beyond Ethereum.
