Crypto venture capital firm Hashed has become the main backer of a new digital asset private credit fund targeting $300 million.
The fund was founded by Mohamed Hamdy, the Abu Dhabi-based co-founder of Further Ventures, and will be managed by Thoro Capital Management, where Hamdy is managing partner. Thoro plans to lend US dollars settled through stablecoins directly to digital asset institutions.
Hashed said the fund was created to tackle what it described as a “critical financing bottleneck” affecting institutional businesses in the digital asset sector. Traditional banks remain constrained by regulatory capital requirements, while established crypto lenders generally require asset-backed collateral before providing finance.
“As a result, even profitable, audited market infrastructure firms are forced to rely on expensive, short-term collateralized borrowing rather than credit based on business fundamentals,” Hashed said in a press release.
A different approach to lending
Thoro’s strategy is based on “covenant-based” underwriting, meaning loans will be assessed according to the financial strength and performance of the borrowing business rather than being secured solely against assets.
The approach follows the development of the traditional private credit market after the 2008 global financial crisis. During that period, specialist fund managers expanded their role as banks reduced their lending activity.
“Instead of lending purely against collateral, we assess the borrower as an operating business, looking at its financials, cash flow and management, and we agree on covenants, meaning financial conditions the borrower commits to maintaining for the life of the loan,” Thoro said.
Thoro said the $300 million target reflected both the suitability of the market and the ability to carry out its private credit strategy.
Hashed said tokenized private credit is now the largest real-world asset (RWA) category by cumulative onchain origination. It said the sector had surpassed $14 billion in total loans, although that figure remains a small share of the traditional private credit market, which is worth more than $3 trillion.
Hashed expands Abu Dhabi presence
Hashed’s involvement follows the firm receiving financial services permission from the Abu Dhabi Global Market, the financial hub of the United Arab Emirates.
The firm also signed a memorandum of understanding with the Abu Dhabi Investment Office last week. The agreement is intended to support South Korean institutions and investors looking to expand into the UAE capital.
The new fund gives Hashed a direct role in providing financing to digital asset institutions, while Thoro Capital Management will oversee the lending activity and apply the covenant-based assessment model to prospective borrowers.
