On-Chain Asset Management

On-chain asset management is moving beyond simple token exposure. Curated vaults, automated strategies, tokenized funds, liquid restaking strategies, vault-based lending markets, and RWA-backed products are creating new ways to manage, allocate, and access digital asset exposure.

These products operate on the blockchain, but they still must fit within existing legal and regulatory frameworks. A vault, curator model, tokenized fund interest, managed strategy, or protocol-based investment product may raise questions under fund regulation, collective investment rules, portfolio management, securities laws, custody requirements, financial promotion rules, crypto-asset service regimes, and AML/KYC obligations.

Legal structuring must define more than the product mechanics. It should clarify who controls the strategy, who bears risk, how assets are held, how investors enter and exit, what rights attach to tokens or fund interests, and how on-chain mechanics connect to off-chain rights and obligations.

Aurum advises asset managers, vault curators, private credit managers, funds, DeFi protocols, tokenization platforms, and RWA operators on the legal architecture and compliance strategy behind on-chain asset management products.

Legal Structuring for On-Chain Asset Management Products

On-chain asset management products often combine several legal layers: an issuer, vault or fund vehicle, a manager or risk curator, interface that facilitates access to blockchain infrastructure, custody and security arrangements, investor-facing terms, offering documentation and risk disclosures.

The legal structure needs to connect these layers into a product that can be launched, operated, explained to investors and service providers, and assessed against applicable regulatory frameworks. This includes considering whether the product may be treated as a fund, collective investment undertaking or scheme, alternative investment fund, managed account, structured product, tokenized security or hybrid arrangement, and mapping the regulatory risks and exposure across key markets and jurisdictions.

Vaults, Curators and Strategy Infrastructure

Blockchain vaults have become one of the core primitives of on-chain asset management. They are used to create discretionary and automated strategies, lending markets, staking and restaking products, and other forms of managed exposure.

The legal analysis depends on how the structure operates in practice. A risk curator, strategy provider, manager, or protocol participant may influence strategy selection, risk parameters, collateral eligibility, integrations, leverage, liquidation paths, and counterparty exposure. Those functions may affect the legal characterisation of the product and the regulatory obligations associated with it.

The access layer can be equally important. Dashboards, front-ends, APIs, marketplaces, and other interfaces may facilitate access to a protocol, display performance, rank strategies, generate transactions, collect user confirmations, or control eligibility. Depending on their role, these interfaces may require separate legal and regulatory analysis.

Tokenized Funds and Investment Products

Tokenized funds and tokenized investment products are becoming a natural extension of digital asset and on-chain asset management. A tokenized interest may improve transferability, investor administration, settlement, and access to investment products through blockchain infrastructure.

The structure must address the relationship between token records and the underlying legal rights. This includes investor eligibility, subscription and redemption mechanics, transfer restrictions, custody arrangements, disclosures, secondary transfers, service-provider roles, and the maintenance of official records.

RWA-Backed Asset Management Products

Tokenization is increasingly being used to provide exposure to real-world assets, including private credit, fixed-income products, funds, commodities, and other asset classes. These products often combine traditional financial assets with blockchain-based distribution, administration, and transfer mechanisms.

The legal analysis extends beyond the token itself and typically includes ownership structures, asset segregation, servicing arrangements, investor rights, custody, transferability, and regulatory treatment across relevant jurisdictions.