Start of investment in real assets worth USD 1 billion

To expand the ecosystem of decentralized finance (DeFi) lending protocol Sky, Obex, an incubator supported by Framework Ventures, has begun deploying $1 billion (approximately KRW 1.4 trillion) of funds into real assets.

According to related industry reports, this investment aims to connect USDS, a dollar-linked stablecoin in the Sky ecosystem, with profits generated from real assets such as AI data centers, housing, and energy. This is a strategy to expand contact with the real economy, breaking away from the existing method of generating profits only within the cryptocurrency market.

Why this is important

The first asset class of this investment includes products from eight companies, including Maple, USD.ai, Daylight, Centrifuge, Securitize, River, TVL Capital, and Better. These companies play a role in connecting various sectors of the real economy, such as loans, housing finance, energy, and AI infrastructure, with the cryptocurrency market, and mainly convert these assets into blockchain-based financial products through tokenization technology.

“We are moving beyond cyclical DeFi revenue streams to generate high-quality returns in structured credit markets, fintech, energy infrastructure, AI capital expenditures, real estate and other productive sectors,” said Parker Edwards, partner at Framework Ventures.

Structural turning point in the DeFi market

Sky is one of the oldest DeFi lending protocols and is currently issuing $10 billion worth of USDS. As of 2025, annualized profits amount to $435 million, and we plan to expand USDS supply to more than $20 billion by next year.

Last year, Obex secured the right to generate profits by allocating up to $2.5 billion of Sky's USDS reserves to real assets. This $1 billion deployment represents its first large-scale implementation.

The cryptocurrency lending market has long relied on a structure that circulates profits only within the cryptocurrency ecosystem, such as cryptocurrency collateral loans, staking profits, and liquidity supply rewards. This closed structure has been criticized for being vulnerable to market volatility and having limitations in sustainable growth.

The future of finance led by tokenization [AI analysis]

This move reflects a broader trend called tokenization. Tokenization is a technology that represents assets such as loans, funds, and infrastructure projects as digital tokens on a blockchain network. Supporters argue that this would facilitate the movement of capital, make ownership tracking more transparent, and provide access to a broader base of investors.

If Sky and Obex's strategy is successful, it is highly likely that real asset-linked profit models will spread throughout the DeFi market. In particular, investments in AI infrastructure and energy assets can become a new channel for delivering the benefits of the rapidly growing AI industry to stablecoin holders.

However, tokenization of real assets faces challenges such as regulatory uncertainty, complexity of asset evaluation, and liquidity risk, so large-scale expansion in the short term is expected to be limited. In the future, the policy direction of each country's regulatory authorities regarding tokenized assets is expected to be a key variable in determining the growth rate of this market.