Fission Raises $10 Million to Solve Tokenized Fund Liquidity
New York startup Fission enables near-instant exits for investors in tokenized private funds.
1Addressing Tokenization Liquidity Gaps
While asset managers increasingly use blockchain to tokenize private fund shares, liquidity remains a significant barrier for investors. Fission, a New York-based startup, secured $10 million in Series A funding to tackle this specific problem. The round was led by Pantera Capital, with participation from Circle Ventures, Borderless Capital, and Ari Rubenstein.
2The 200-Day Exit Problem
Investors in tokenized funds often face wait times of up to 200 days to liquidate their positions. Fission aims to reduce this process to 90 seconds or less by acting as the buyer. This mechanism allows investors to bypass traditional fund withdrawal processes, providing immediate access to capital for a fee.
3Institutional Market Context
Major firms like BlackRock, Apollo, and JPMorgan have aggressively expanded their tokenized product lineups throughout 2024. Despite this growth in issuance, secondary markets for these assets remain underdeveloped. Most investors currently rely on direct fund withdrawals, highlighting a critical gap in the infrastructure for digital asset trading and secondary market liquidity.
4Founding Team and Vision
CEO Jonathan Shaffer, CRO Steve Bendit, and CTO Chris Humphrey founded Fission in 2024. Shaffer previously identified these liquidity inefficiencies while working at Point72, while Bendit brought expertise from Securitize. The trio spent over two years analyzing why fund liquidity remained elusive before officially launching the startup to build their solution.
5Operational Mechanics and Clients
Fission handles the complex legal and trading mechanics behind the scenes when users connect their digital wallets. The platform currently serves institutional clients, including hedge funds with private-credit holdings and crypto organizations managing treasuries. A growing segment of wealthy individual investors also utilizes the platform to manage their personal digital asset holdings.
6Regulatory and Market Landscape
Global financial regulators have noted that firms prioritize token issuance over creating secondary markets. While partnerships like Federated Hermes and Prometheum signal future brokerage integration, current infrastructure is heavily focused on the bridging and issuance layers. Fission distinguishes itself by specifically targeting the post-tokenization phase that most market participants currently ignore.
7Funding and Growth Trajectory
The $10 million Series A follows a previous $1.6 million pre-seed round led by SALT Fund and Kraynos Capital. Existing backers, including Anthony Scaramucci and New Form, participated in the latest round. Fission currently operates with eight employees based in Long Island and Los Angeles, focusing on scaling its liquidity platform for institutions.
8Strategic Importance for Finance
Fission represents a shift toward solving the practical utility of tokenized assets beyond simple issuance. By providing a secondary market mechanism, the startup addresses a fundamental friction point that could hinder broader institutional adoption. Their success will depend on their ability to manage the legal complexities of instant settlement for private funds.
Original article: Fortune | FORTUNE — Fission Raises $10 Million to Solve Tokenized Fund Liquidity