Institutional Crypto Investing Matures With Binance and Securitize Offerings

As institutional interest in digital assets continues to grow, major players in the crypto ecosystem are rolling out new tools designed to meet the needs of professional investors. Binance has introduced a fund management solution for portfolio managers, while Securitize and Mantle have launched a diversified index fund designed to generate onchain yield — signaling a broader shift toward more sophisticated investment infrastructure in the digital asset space.

Binance Launches Fund Accounts to Simplify Crypto Asset Management for Institutions

Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, has unveiled a powerful new tool designed to bridge the gap between traditional finance and digital assets. Announced on April 24, the platform's new Fund Accounts offering introduces an institutional-grade solution for portfolio managers, marking a notable step in the ongoing convergence of TradFi and crypto.

The launch of Fund Accounts signals Binance’s commitment to meeting the growing demand from professional investors for sophisticated asset management tools. As institutional interest in crypto continues to swell, driven by the rise of Bitcoin ETFs, real-world asset tokenization, and increasingly robust on-chain financial products, platforms like Binance are rapidly evolving to cater to this new wave of users.

Simplifying Asset Consolidation with Fund Accounts

Fund Accounts are a standard feature in the traditional finance world, particularly among asset managers and brokerage firms. Binance’s iteration allows portfolio managers to consolidate externally-raised investor funds into one or more omnibus accounts, a model that is designed to reduce operational inefficiencies while optimizing trading execution.

According to Binance, these accounts allow trades to be executed on behalf of multiple clients from a centralized structure, minimizing fragmentation and improving oversight. While the exchange did not provide in-depth operational details, such accounts typically rely on a single custodian to manage and settle trades, allowing managers to operate more efficiently within regulatory boundaries.

However, access to this new product isn’t open to everyone. Only eligible fund managers can participate, and they must contact their Binance VIP representative for onboarding. These managers, along with their investors, must also pass strict Know Your Customer (KYC) and Know Your Business (KYB) checks and must be licensed or legally exempted in their jurisdictions.

The Fund Accounts rollout is the latest in a series of updates aimed at expanding Binance’s institutional client base. In December 2024, the exchange revamped its VIP program, lowering thresholds for high-volume traders and adding incentives for private clients and firms. 

The VIP program is structured to support sophisticated investors with features such as lower fees, exclusive services, and priority access to new tools — now including Fund Accounts.

The exchange's renewed focus on institutional infrastructure is timely. Data from CoinMarketCap shows Binance remains the leader in daily crypto trading volumes, but its dominance is being increasingly challenged by competitors offering institutional-focused products.

Top crypto spot exchanges as of April 24 based on daily trading volume (Source: CoinMarketCap)

In parallel to Binance’s developments, the broader crypto industry is also witnessing an uptick in TradFi-style infrastructure and investor involvement.

The Institutionalization of Crypto Accelerates

The introduction of Fund Accounts is more than just a new product — it’s part of a broader narrative. After years of cautious observation, institutional investors are becoming key drivers of crypto market activity.

Mantle’s mETH yields 3.78% (Source: DeFILlama)

From BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF to the tokenization of government bonds and real estate on blockchain networks, traditional finance is moving past the experimentation phase and embedding itself in Web3 architecture. Yield-bearing DeFi products, stablecoin settlements, and programmable asset management platforms are now competing with legacy financial services, creating a new financial paradigm that blends the best of both worlds.

Other players are also taking note. On the same day as Binance’s announcement, onchain trading platform Theo revealed it had secured $20 million in funding to expand its infrastructure to retail users. The round attracted prominent investors from Jane Street, JPMorgan, and Citadel — names synonymous with high-frequency trading and institutional finance.

Theo’s strategy is aimed at providing institutional-grade tooling for everyday traders, suggesting that the lines between institutional and retail crypto services are becoming increasingly blurred.

Securitize and Mantle Launch MI4 Fund, Aiming to Be the ‘S&P 500 of Crypto’

In related news, tokenization leader Securitize has teamed up with decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol Mantle to launch a cutting-edge index fund that aims to offer diversified exposure to top digital assets while generating attractive onchain yields.

The new product, called the Mantle Index Four (MI4) Fund, was announced on April 24 and is being hailed as a major leap in the fusion of traditional fund structures and next-generation blockchain-based yield mechanisms.

A Crypto Index Fund for the Institutional Age

Structured similarly to a traditional index fund that tracks a basket of stocks like the S&P 500, the MI4 Fund offers investors diversified exposure to the crypto market’s biggest players. The fund includes allocations to Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), and Solana (SOL), as well as stablecoins pegged to the US dollar, according to the official press release from Securitize.

What sets the MI4 Fund apart is its integration of liquid staking tokens, including Mantle’s mETH, Bybit’s bbSOL, and Ethena’s USDe. These assets allow the fund to tap into native yield-generating mechanisms on blockchain networks — a feature unavailable in traditional finance.

By combining these innovative DeFi tools with the structure and risk-management standards expected by institutional investors, the MI4 Fund aims to become what Timothy Chen, Mantle’s Global Head of Strategy, describes as the “S&P 500 of crypto.”

The fund’s innovative structure appeals to a growing class of investors looking to hedge macroeconomic risks while capitalizing on the income-generating potential of onchain assets.

For instance, Mantle’s flagship staking token, mETH, currently delivers a 3.78% annual percentage yield (APR), according to DefiLlama. Combined with bbSOL and USDe, the MI4 Fund layers yield-bearing instruments on top of a market cap-weighted portfolio of leading crypto assets — a hybrid that marries the safety of diversification with the profitability of staking and synthetic yield.

These enhancements are particularly attractive in today’s macro environment, where inflation concerns, fiat currency devaluation, and traditional bond market volatility are pushing both retail and institutional investors toward crypto as an alternative store of value.

The partnership between Securitize and Mantle comes at a time of explosive growth in the tokenized asset sector. Securitize currently holds a commanding 71% market share in the institutional tokenization market, according to RWA.xyz, and has become the go-to platform for converting real-world assets (RWAs) into blockchain-based investment products.

The Future of Institutional Crypto Investing

The debut of the MI4 Fund is part of a broader trend: the normalization of crypto within traditional finance. By offering a turnkey solution that combines DeFi-native yield generation with a familiar portfolio format, Securitize and Mantle are effectively demystifying blockchain for institutional asset managers.

Moreover, the fund signals a deeper shift in the evolving identity of crypto — no longer just a speculative play or a hedge against fiat currency devaluation, but a fully integrated component of modern portfolio management.

As tokenized funds continue to attract billions in inflows and staking yields become more accessible to regulated entities, the financial sector is inching closer to a future where blockchain-based assets are foundational, not fringe.

The MI4 Fund may not yet be the S&P 500 of crypto — but with its powerful blend of diversification, yield, and regulatory alignment, it might just be the blueprint.