Kamino appoints Michael Weisz CEO for institutional expansion

Solana lending protocol Kamino, which manages up to $1.4 billion in assets, has appointed Yieldstreet co-founder Michael Weisz as its new CEO. Weisz is tasked with leading Kamino's institutional push and U.S. expansion, which includes establishing a 20,000-square-foot headquarters in New York City. The move aims to bridge the gap between Solana's $4 billion in tokenized real-world assets and active credit markets, as current on-chain RWA debt on Kamino remains under $3 million despite successful integrations like the $600 million PRIME market.

Michael Weisz CEO appointment

• ▪Solana-based lending protocol Kamino appointed Michael Weisz, co-founder of alternative investment platform Yieldstreet, as its chief executive officer on September 15, 2026
• ▪Michael Weisz was tasked with leading Kamino's institutional growth, credit expansion, and U.S. market strategy
• ▪At the time of Michael Weisz's appointment as CEO on Sept. 15, Kamino held approximately $1.35 billion to $1.4 billion in assets and had processed over $650 billion in cumulative transaction volume over four years

New York institutional expansion

• ▪Kamino is forming a new institutional team in New York City, recruiting professionals across finance, law, product, compliance, and business development, including plans to hire a chief financial officer and head of legal
• ▪Kamino announced the establishment of a New York City headquarters and is looking at roughly 20,000 square feet of office space to bring its on-chain credit business closer to Wall Street

Solana RWA lending utilization

• ▪Solana's total real-world assets reached over $4 billion in August 2026 across more than 350,000 wallets, representing 32% of on-chain RWA spot trading and 47% of all RWA transactions during the one-year period ending August 18, 2026
• ▪Despite Solana's $4 billion in tokenized real-world assets, Kamino's August 2026 data showed that total real-world asset and liquid-staking-token debt on the protocol remained below $3 million
• ▪A Galaxy Research report noted that tokenized capability on Solana currently runs ahead of adoption, stating that H2 2026 will test whether lending markets can turn the emerging pool of tokenized real-world assets on Solana into sustainable loan demand

Figure PRIME market partnership

• ▪Kamino partnered with Figure Technologies as the exclusive partner for on-chain credit and lending services for Figure's RWA consortium on Solana established in December 2025, linking to Figure's blockchain-based home equity loans
• ▪Deposits in Kamino's PRIME lending market, developed with Figure Technologies and Hastra, surpassed $600 million within 107 days of its launch
• ▪Kamino's PRIME market reported $13.6 million in net outflows in August 2026, and was overtaken by ONyc as the top real-world asset by supplied value on the protocol

Tokenized asset collateral infrastructure

• ▪Kamino's onchain credit infrastructure is utilized by Nasdaq-listed Solana treasury firm Forward Industries and digital asset manager Galaxy for tokenized equity and U.S. Treasury positions
• ▪Kamino's curator tooling allows professional risk managers to design custom lending strategies, deploy isolated lending markets with unique risk parameters, and route depositor assets across reserves

Debatable claims

• ▪DeFi protocols must adopt traditional compliance frameworks to attract institutional capital
• ▪On-chain credit markets are necessary to unlock the utility of tokenized real-world assets
• ▪Solana's blockchain infrastructure is ready to support institutional-grade financial transactions