December 8, 2025, Abu Dhabi, UAE: SemiLiquid, a custody-native infrastructure layer for institutional credit, today announced the launch of its Programmable Credit Protocol (PCP) at Abu Dhabi Finance Week 2025. The groundbreaking infrastructure enables institutions to activate credit against digital and tokenized assets held in custody – without transferring collateral, marking a critical advancement in the evolution of digital capital markets. Developed and launched in Abu Dhabi, the protocol is now planned to be rolled out globally, underscoring the emirate’s rise as a leading hub for digital assets and a launchpad for  financial innovation.

The launch is backed by a successful pilot conducted with Franklin Templeton, Zodia Custody, Avalanche, Presto Labs, M11 Credit & CMS. As part of the pilot, Franklin Templeton’s daily-yielding tokenized money-market fund, BENJI, was used as collateral, which remained encumbered throughout the loan lifecycle, under pre-agreed terms and automated triggers. This simulated proof-of-concept allowed institutions to retain full daily yield while granting lenders enforceable security over the assets – eliminating counterparty risk without any collateral movement.

"Programmable assets require programmable credit," said Rico van der Veen, Co-Founder and CEO of SemiLiquid. "PCP delivers the missing rail that institutions need - a standardized, custody-native & shared legal framework that merges the trust of traditional finance with the efficiency of programmable assets. This marks a shift from incremental upgrades to foundational infrastructure for institutional credit. Abu Dhabi Global Market’s environment has enabled us to develop our solution within a risk-aware framework optimized for digital asset innovation. ”

“SemiLiquid’s PCP brings together innovative industry leaders in an effort to address the inefficiencies in institutional credit,” said Anoosh Arevshatian, Chief Product Officer at Zodia Custody. “Through our participation, Zodia Custody hopes to establish custodial infrastructure as the trust layer for scalable and programmable credit.”

“Programmable credit demonstrates how institutional lending can operate natively within custody without compromising enforceability, compliance, or settlement speed. Avalanche’s high-performance, institutional-grade infrastructure, combined with SemiLiquid’s programmable credit protocol, creates a clear path to scaling institutional adoption - developed in a region that has become a launchpad for next-generation on-chain financial markets,” said Khalid Dannish, Head of MENA at Ava Labs.

“Private credit is going digital, and this pilot proves how it can be done legally and compliantly,” said Matthew Nyman, Digital Assets Lead at CMS. “CMS is proud to support the infrastructure bringing automated, custody-native credit to institutional markets.”

While tokenised assets are projected to reach $10 trillion by 2030, credit infrastructure has remained trapped in legacy workflows. More than 70% of institutional bilateral financing still involves bespoke, deal-by-deal paperwork & collateral transfers across fragmented accounts and systems, creating counterparty risk and friction that prevent tokenized assets from functioning as scalable, financeable collateral.

SemiLiquid's pilot has shown that the technology & legal framework is mature and institutions are ready. The company is advancing to Phase II, launching in early 2026, which will expand integrations across additional custodians, collateral types, and jurisdictions. Future capabilities will include under-collateralized lending supported by verified solvency attestations & and a unified framework for enforceability across markets.

"Credit is the lifeblood of capital markets," added Rico van der Veen, Co-Founder and CEO of SemiLiquid. "With PCP, programmable credit has arrived - and it's ready for institutional deployment."