NYLIM, Centrifuge Tokenize Bonds
NYLIM Tokenizes High-Yield Bond Fund with Centrifuge, Bringing Fixed Income On-Chain
Anonymous
Key Points
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Centrifuge has ongoing institutional relationships beyond NYLIM, including Apollo Global Management and Janus Henderson, and its assets are being integrated into DeFi ecosystems like Aave and Morpho; Coinbase is a strategic investor in Centrifuge.
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NYLIM may be Centrifuge's largest partner to date in tokenization, signaling a deepening collaboration and scale for NYLIM’s first on-chain offering.
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HYB is part of an early wave of tokenized high-yield funds, as major insurers and asset managers begin moving fixed-income strategies onto blockchain-enabled infrastructure.
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Centrifuge operates an AAA-rated CLO portfolio exceeding $700 million in assets under management, illustrating the scale of assets that could be tokenized on its platform.
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The broader trend shows several heavyweight firms — including BlackRock, Franklin Templeton, Apollo, and Janus Henderson — already offering on-chain funds, signaling sector-wide adoption of tokenized assets.
New York Life Investment Management, one of the world's largest asset managers with $807 billion under management, has launched its first tokenized fund. The product — called the NYLIM Anemoy U.S. High Yield Corporate Bond Segregated Portfolio (ticker: HYB) — went live June 30, 2026, on Centrifuge's blockchain platform, according to Business Wire.
Investors subscribe and redeem using USDC, a digital dollar. The launch marks a notable shift in the tokenization market — away from safe Treasury funds and toward higher-risk, higher-yield credit strategies. Thomas Sy, NYLIM's Head of Multi-Asset Solutions, called tokenization "a compelling evolution in how investment solutions can be accessed, managed and distributed," Morningstar reported.
How the HYB Fund Actually Works on Chain
NYLIM keeps full control of its existing U.S. High Yield Corporate Bond Strategy. It does not change the underlying portfolio. Instead, Centrifuge wraps the fund's shares into blockchain tokens through its Anemoy Capital arm, a web3-native manager operating under a British Virgin Islands Segregated Portfolio structure, FinanceFeeds reported.
Settlement happens in USDC, issued by Circle. That replaces the traditional T+1 or T+2 clearing process with near-instant, around-the-clock settlement. Centrifuge CEO Bhaji Illuminati and Co-Founder Anil Sood framed the move as building "infrastructure that is more transparent, more efficient, and more composable," according to FinanceFeeds. The fund is restricted to non-U.S. professional investors under Regulation S.
NYLIM Is Centrifuge's Biggest Partner Yet
Centrifuge already works with major financial firms. Apollo Global Management and Janus Henderson are among its partners. Janus Henderson launched the Anemoy AAA CLO Fund (JAAA) on Centrifuge in June 2025. That fund now manages $700 million in assets, Business Wire reported. Coinbase is a strategic investor in the platform.
NYLIM's $807 billion AUM makes it by far the largest institution to tokenize a product on Centrifuge. Bank of America analysts said partnerships like this validate the model where big managers keep their investment process while outsourcing the blockchain layer to crypto-native platforms, according to Investing.com. Centrifuge's total value locked stood between $1.7 billion and $2.0 billion during the first quarter of 2026.
Wall Street's Tokenization Wave Reaches Riskier Assets
Tokenized real-world assets — financial products moved onto blockchain rails — have grown to a $30 billion market as of June 2026, according to RWA.xyz. Early efforts by BlackRock and Franklin Templeton focused on U.S. Treasuries, which are low-risk and cash-like. HYB is different. High-yield bonds, sometimes called "junk bonds," carry higher credit risk but pay higher returns.
The shift reflects growing investor appetite for yield on-chain. The Ethena protocol recently put $200 million into similar tokenized funds to back its synthetic dollar product, PYMNTS noted. These tokens are also being used as collateral inside DeFi platforms like Aave and Morpho, making them productive assets rather than just passive holdings.
Regulatory Gaps and Systemic Risk Warnings Shadow the Launch
HYB is only available to non-U.S. professional investors. That means U.S. retail investors cannot access a fund backed by U.S. corporate bonds. Legal experts cited by American Banker call this a "regulatory loophole" that could push financial innovation offshore. The passage of the CLARITY Act in early 2026 gave some structure to stablecoin and tokenized securities rules, but gaps remain.
The Bank Policy Institute issued a warning in May 2026. Its white paper said yield-bearing tokenized assets could pull $3.7 trillion out of traditional bank deposits by 2030. That would shrink banks' ability to make loans. If NYLIM scales HYB successfully, peers like Vanguard and PIMCO may face pressure to launch their own on-chain funds, according to news.bitcoin.com.
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