ZIG, Laser Digital launch Saudi credit vault targeting $100 million

ZIG Finance and Nomura’s digital-assets subsidiary Laser Digital launched the zEMS Vault on BNB Chain, targeting a $100 million raise for Saudi private credit to small and medium-sized enterprises, according to a statement shared with The Block.

The $100 million figure is a fundraising target, not a disclosed balance of assets or committed capital. Eligible institutional investors can subscribe to and redeem their positions in stablecoins, receiving exposure to a diversified pool of Saudi SME loans originated through Beehive’s lending infrastructure.

Who operates and governs the vault?

KAIO handles tokenization and administers the vault throughout its lifecycle on BNB Chain. The platform enforces know-your-customer checks at both subscription and redemption, while Zamanat structures the investment and provides Sharia advisory.

ZIG Finance said Laser Digital will serve as the vault’s risk framework advisor, helping design its risk-governance structure and providing tokenization advisory. The announcement does not disclose underwriting criteria, loss allocation, fees, leverage or a minimum subscription.

It identifies BNB Chain and stablecoins as the technical rails, but supplies no token standard, contract address or independent audit. Nor does it state whether investors hold a direct loan claim, a fund interest or another legal instrument, leaving legal recourse and redemption priority unstated.

How does ZIG Finance describe the risk?

“The aim isn't to remove credit risk. It's to make that risk transparent and manageable,” ZIG Finance co-founder Abdul Rafay Gadit said. “We see this vault as a way to open a deeper pool of institutional capital to Saudi private credit, with the potential to build on that model across other emerging markets.”

That description makes transparency and governance the claimed benefits, not a claim that tokenization removes credit losses. The statement provides no figures for expected defaults, investor concentration, fees, leverage or minimum subscription size, so the framework remains untested rather than demonstrated.

What does the partnership plan next?

The zEMS Vault is the first product under the strategic partnership between ZIG Finance and Laser Digital, marking the pair’s first Saudi private-credit product. The companies intend to apply the same structure to other emerging markets and credit strategies, pairing local lenders with institutional risk governance, compliant tokenization and onchain distribution.

Additional opportunities across the region and in other asset classes are already under consideration, the statement said. It names no launch timetable, target size or jurisdiction beyond Saudi Arabia, so those extensions remain plans rather than committed deployments.

How does the launch fit Laser Digital’s wider business?

The Saudi launch extends Laser Digital’s institutional investment-product business, which includes a tokenized Bitcoin Diversified Yield Fund launched in January through KAIO. The announcement gives no size for that fund, so the zEMS Vault’s $100 million target should not be read as evidence of a platform-wide pool of assets.

Laser Digital also received conditional approval from the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency in May to establish a national trust bank, subject to pre-opening requirements. Its proposed services include stablecoin intermediation, collateral management and multi-asset custody.

Conditional approval does not mean the bank can operate immediately. The statement sets no completion date for the pre-opening requirements, leaving the timing of those services unresolved.

What must the structure prove next?

The next checkpoints are institutional subscriptions and successful processing at subscription and redemption. With no subscription-close date or expansion timetable disclosed, the $100 million target and any replication beyond Saudi Arabia remain contingent rather than committed; separately, the national trust bank remains subject to the OCC’s pre-opening requirements.