Zamanat has sponsored a new private credit fund targeting up to $100 million, with ZIGChain providing the blockchain infrastructure for issuing and settling the fund's interests.
Zamanat Fund CEIC Limited is domiciled in the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) and will issue interests as ZM1 Investment Tokens on ZIGChain. The tokens will operate within a regulated and whitelisted environment.
The fund is structured as a DFSA-regulated closed-ended Exempt Fund and classified as a Credit Fund. Truleum Venture Partners Limited will manage the vehicle, while Apex Group will provide fund administration.
The arrangement gives ZIGChain a live use case for its infrastructure, connecting a conventional regulated investment vehicle with blockchain-based ownership and settlement.
Participation will be limited to investors meeting the Dubai Financial Services Authority's Professional Client requirements. According to Zamanat, tokenization changes how fund interests are issued and settled but does not alter the underlying investment strategy or credit exposure.
ZIGChain positions itself as a Layer 1 blockchain focused on regulated and institutional investment products. Its infrastructure is designed to support the issuance of compliant financial products onchain while retaining the regulatory requirements associated with the underlying investments.
The Zamanat fund puts that model into practice by combining private credit with digital issuance on the network.
$250 Billion GCC financing gap
The fund will focus on private credit opportunities across the Gulf Cooperation Council, targeting companies whose financing requirements may not be fully served by traditional lenders.
Zamanat estimates that the GCC has a $250 billion financing gap for small and medium-sized enterprises. The company also cites data indicating that only around 11% of SMEs across the region have access to credit.
The financing gap is particularly relevant in the UAE, where SMEs account for more than half of GDP and employ most of the private-sector workforce but receive less than 10% of total bank lending, according to Zamanat.
The fund's strategy is intended to provide financing to regional businesses while supporting broader economic-development initiatives, including Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 and the UAE Centennial 2071.
For ZIGChain, the project represents a practical application of blockchain technology to private-market finance. Rather than creating a standalone crypto asset, the network is being used as part of the infrastructure supporting ownership and settlement of interests in a regulated investment fund.
The initiative is also part of Zamanat's wider plans for tokenized real-world assets. The company is developing a pipeline of Digital Shariah Assets covering areas including private credit, receivables and real estate.
Zamanat described the DIFC fund as its first live demonstration of regulated fund tokenization and digital ownership. Apex Group will provide fund administration services from the vehicle's launch.
Zamanat founder and CEO Umair Tariq said the fund was created to connect GCC businesses seeking growth capital with institutional investors.
The project consequently serves as a test of ZIGChain's broader proposition: using blockchain infrastructure to support the issuance, ownership and settlement of regulated investment products while keeping the underlying assets within established financial and regulatory structures.
U.Today Editorial Team
Dan Burgin
