Galaxy Digital Leads $7M Funding in Tenbin Labs, Betting on Tokenized Gold & AI Data Center Boom

In a strategic one-two punch, Galaxy Digital, led by Mike Novogratz, is aggressively positioning itself at the convergence of finance and technology. Its venture arm, Galaxy Ventures, has spearheaded a $7 million seed investment in Tenbin Labs, a startup redefining tokenized real-world assets (RWA) by using CME futures to create superior gold and foreign exchange tokens.

Simultaneously, Galaxy’s core business is gaining bullish Wall Street recognition, with Benchmark reiterating a Buy rating and an $80 upside target, largely fueled by the untapped potential of its massive Helios AI data center campus in Texas. This dual focus signals Galaxy’s conviction in two of the most promising crypto-adjacent frontiers: institutional-grade on-chain finance and AI compute infrastructure.

The Tenbin Investment: Reinventing Tokenized Gold and FX Markets

The promise of tokenization—bringing real-world assets like gold and currencies onto the blockchain—has often been marred by practical shortcomings. Many existing solutions suffer from poor liquidity, sluggish settlement times, and prices that deviate from their real-world benchmarks, creating friction rather than fluidity. Tenbin Labs, a New York-based startup, is challenging this status quo with a novel architectural approach that has attracted a $7 million seed round led by Galaxy Ventures, with participation from Wintermute Ventures, GSR, and FalconX.

Tenbin’s core innovation lies in its departure from custody-based “wrapper” models. Instead of simply holding physical gold or bank deposits and issuing a corresponding token, Tenbin utilizes CME Group futures contracts as its pricing and exposure engine. This methodology offers several critical advantages. First, it ensures the token’s price tracks the global, institutional benchmark with high fidelity. Second, and more importantly, it allows the protocol to capture the “futures basis yield”—the typical price difference between a futures contract and the spot market. This yield is then passed on to token holders, effectively creating a native yield-bearing asset without requiring users to navigate complex local banking systems.

“For users seeking alternatives to U.S. dollar stablecoins, this opens up a world of opportunity,” explains Yuki Yuminaga, Tenbin’s CEO. “We can capture yields from markets like the Brazilian real or Mexican peso and offer them to DeFi users entirely on-chain, without ever touching a Brazilian bank. The entire process is managed through our proprietary CME hedging system.” The startup plans to launch a tokenized gold product imminently, followed by FX tokens tied to emerging market currencies, targeting DeFi users hungry for yield and diversification beyond the dominant dollar-pegged stablecoins.

Why Galaxy Ventures is Backing Tenbin’s Vision

Galaxy Digital’s investment in Tenbin is not a scatter-shot venture bet; it is a calculated move that aligns perfectly with the firm’s overarching thesis of bridging traditional finance (TradFi) with decentralized finance (DeFi). Galaxy, under Mike Novogratz, has consistently positioned itself as an institutional gateway into the crypto ecosystem. Tenbin’s model, which leverages established TradFi infrastructure (CME) to create superior on-chain products, embodies this bridge-building philosophy.

The investment serves multiple strategic purposes for Galaxy. First, it provides direct exposure to the rapidly growing Real-World Asset (RWA) tokenization sector, which is projected to grow into a multi-trillion-dollar market. By backing a protocol focused on commodities and non-dollar FX, Galaxy diversifies its RWA portfolio beyond the more common tokenized treasury bills. Second, Tenbin’s focus on institutional-grade products and derivatives-based mechanics resonates with Galaxy’s core clientele of sophisticated investors and institutions. Finally, as a liquidity provider and trading firm itself, Galaxy is well-positioned to understand and potentially support the liquidity needs of Tenbin’s tokens in the future, creating potential synergies across its business units.

This move also underscores a broader industry trend: the convergence of decentralized finance with the regulated, high-liquidity world of derivatives trading. By using CME futures—the gold standard for institutional risk management—Tenbin mitigates the counterparty and custody risks that plague many custody-based RWA models. Galaxy’s backing lends significant credibility to this approach, signaling to the market that the future of high-quality tokenization may lie in synthetic, derivatives-backed structures rather than direct asset ownership.

Helios Expansion: Galaxy’s Hidden Ace in the AI Infrastructure Race

While its venture arm scouts the next generation of fintech, Galaxy Digital’s existing infrastructure business is capturing the attention of equity analysts. Benchmark’s recent note highlights a potentially undervalued gem in Galaxy’s portfolio: the Helios data center campus in Texas. Following a recent approval by the Texas grid operator ERCOT, Helios now has roughly 1.6 gigawatts (GW) of total power capacity, placing it among the largest single-site AI data center campuses in the United States.

The market’s initial reaction focused on the headline approval of an additional 830 megawatts (MW). However, Benchmark analyst Mark Palmer argues that the deeper value lies in the strategic optionality this uncontracted capacity provides. The first 800 MW at Helios is already locked into a long-term agreement with cloud provider CoreWeave. The newly approved 830 MW, in contrast, is a blank canvas. This gives Galaxy unparalleled flexibility to adapt its build-out to the explosive and evolving demand from hyperscalers and AI companies, optimizing for the most favorable tenant agreements, power pricing, and infrastructure design.

The Strategic Value of Helios’s Uncontracted Capacity

Power as a Premium Commodity: In AI data center development, securing scalable, reliable power is the primary bottleneck. Helios’s 1.6 GW approval is a massive, pre-permitted asset.

Demand Tailwinds: Galaxy CEO Michael Novogratz has cited “huge demand from hyperscalers” pre-2030, confirming a robust pipeline for this capacity.

Revenue Optionality: Benchmark values only the contracted CoreWeave capacity in its base model, treating the remaining ~800 MW as pure, un-priced upside. This capacity can be monetized through joint ventures, lease agreements, or power sales.

Differentiation: This scale and progress distinctly separate Galaxy from other public companies attempting to pivot into AI infrastructure, as they lack comparable permitted, shovel-ready sites.

This infrastructure play provides Galaxy with a non-correlated revenue stream that is directly tied to the secular growth of artificial intelligence. It transforms the company from a pure-play crypto financial firm into a hybrid entity with a foot firmly in the future of compute. As Novogratz noted, the firm is already evaluating additional land in Texas, suggesting this is not a one-off project but a core pillar of Galaxy’s long-term strategy.

Connecting the Dots: Galaxy’s Integrated Financial & Tech Strategy

On the surface, a tokenized gold startup and a Texas data center campus might seem unrelated. However, a closer examination reveals a coherent, dual-track strategy by Galaxy Digital to dominate the infrastructure layer of the next digital economy—both financial and computational.

One track is about building the financial rails for the future. Tenbin represents the evolution of capital markets: faster, more accessible, and globally integrated through blockchain technology. By investing in the protocols that will tokenize everything from gold to emerging market bonds, Galaxy is ensuring it has a stake in the plumbing of this new system. It’s a bet on the digitization and democratization of global finance.

The other track is about powering the literal engines of innovation. The Helios data center is about providing the physical infrastructure—the raw compute power and energy—required to train and run the large AI models that are reshaping every industry. This is a bet on the insatiable demand for processing power in the age of artificial intelligence.

The synergy lies in diversification and resilience. The crypto trading and asset management business, while core, is cyclical and tied to market sentiment. The Helios data center business offers contracted, utility-like revenue with exposure to the secular AI trend. The venture investments in companies like Tenbin provide asymmetric upside exposure to early-stage innovation. Together, they create a more robust and multi-faceted company, reducing overall volatility and providing multiple engines for growth. This integrated model makes Galaxy uniquely positioned as a bellwether for the broader convergence of crypto, AI, and next-gen infrastructure.

FAQ

What is Tenbin Labs and what problem does it solve?

Tenbin Labs is a financial technology startup building institutional-grade tokenized real-world assets (RWA). It solves the common problems in tokenization—such as price deviation, slow settlement, and low liquidity—by using CME futures contracts for pricing and exposure management. This allows its tokens (starting with gold and FX) to track real-world prices closely, settle quickly, and generate native yield from futures markets.

Why is Galaxy Digital’s Helios data center expansion significant?

The expansion approval brings Helios’s total permitted power capacity to about 1.6 gigawatts, making it one of the largest AI data center sites in the U.S. The significance lies in the strategic optionality of the newly approved, uncontracted ~800 MW. Unlike the already leased initial capacity, this gives Galaxy flexibility to partner with top-tier AI hyperscalers on favorable terms, capturing the full upside of the AI compute demand boom, which is not yet reflected in its stock price.

How does Tenbin’s model differ from other tokenized gold projects?

Most tokenized gold projects use a “custodial wrapper” model, where a custodian holds physical gold and mints a corresponding token. Tenbin uses a “synthetic” or derivatives-based model. It does not custody physical gold but uses CME gold futures to track the price and manage economic exposure. This approach eliminates custody risk, improves liquidity and settlement speed, and allows the protocol to capture and distribute the futures basis yield to token holders.

What is the “futures basis yield” that Tenbin captures?

The futures basis yield arises from the typical price difference between a futures contract and the current spot price of an asset. In normal market conditions, futures prices for commodities and currencies are slightly higher than spot prices (contango). Tenbin’s system can earn this differential by managing futures rollovers, and it passes this yield directly to holders of its tokens, creating a passive income stream that traditional spot gold holdings or simple wrapped tokens do not offer.

What are the key catalysts for Galaxy Digital (GLXY) stock according to analysts?

Key catalysts include: 1) The monetization of the uncontracted Helios data center capacity through new tenant agreements, 2) Strong quarterly earnings from its trading and asset management divisions in a recovering crypto market, 3) Regulatory progress in the U.S. on crypto market structure legislation, which would benefit Galaxy’s institutional-focused business model, and 4) The growth and adoption of its venture portfolio companies, like Tenbin Labs, validating its investment thesis in crypto infrastructure.