CoinShares Launches OnChain Strategies with Safe and Railnet to Unlock Institutional Stablecoin Yield

CoinShares has launched its OnChain Strategies business, marking a strategic shift from traditional exchange-traded products to native blockchain distribution. By partnering with Safe Labs and Railnet, the asset manager allows institutional holders to access professionally managed stablecoin yields directly from their wallets, bridging the gap between institutional risk management and decentralized finance infrastructure.

What was announced

The first commercial deployment of CoinShares’ OnChain Strategies is a strategic enterprise distribution partnership involving Safe Labs, the developer of Safe{Wallet}, and Railnet, an on-chain infrastructure layer created by Kiln. This collaboration allows enterprise-grade users, including high-profile organizations like the Ethereum Foundation and Circle, to allocate stablecoin holdings into CoinShares-managed strategies. Crucially, these users retain full ownership and control of their assets throughout the investment lifecycle, as the model does not require CoinShares to take custody.

The investment strategies offered through this platform combine decentralized finance (DeFi) yields with returns generated by tokenized real-world assets (RWAs). This framework brings traditional, off-chain income sources onto the blockchain, managed under the same disciplined risk protocols that CoinShares applies to its regulated asset management business. Unlike traditional exchange-traded products (ETPs) that require intermediaries like brokers and financial advisers, these strategies are distributed natively through the digital asset platforms where clients already hold their capital.

The scale of the partnership is significant given Safe’s market footprint. Safe smart accounts currently hold more than US$60 billion in self-custodied digital assets across 63 million accounts. Approximately US$7.5 billion of that total is held in stablecoins, representing roughly 2.5% of the total US$300 billion global stablecoin market. CoinShares intends to expand this distribution model over time to include additional wallets, exchanges, and institutional infrastructure providers. The platform was developed by a small internal team, emphasizing a capital-light approach that generates recurring fee income without requiring significant balance sheet capital or incremental operating investment.

"For more than a decade, CoinShares has built its asset management franchise by delivering investment strategies through traditional financial markets. Today, we are adding a second distribution engine. We believe the next phase of asset management will increasingly involve delivering investment strategies directly through the infrastructure where clients already hold their assets. Our partnership with Safe is an important first step in that evolution."

Jean-Marie Mognetti, Co-Founder, President and Chief Executive Officer of CoinShares.

The companies involved

CoinShares (Nasdaq: CSHR) is a leading global asset manager specializing in digital assets. The firm has historically focused on bridging the gap between traditional finance and the digital asset ecosystem through listed investment products. By launching OnChain Strategies, the company is diversifying its revenue streams beyond the traditional financial infrastructure that has defined its growth for over a decade.

Safe Labs is the entity behind Safe{Wallet}, which has become a cornerstone of the Ethereum ecosystem. Its smart account infrastructure is used by major decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) and corporate entities to manage billions in digital assets. Railnet serves as the on-chain operating infrastructure for this partnership, developed by Kiln, a firm known for its enterprise-grade staking and on-chain rewards technology. Together, these entities provide the technical layer that allows CoinShares to deploy its financial expertise directly onto the blockchain without building its own proprietary wallet or custody solutions.

What FF News has reported before

FF News has closely followed CoinShares’ expansion as it solidifies its position in both European and North American markets. In late 2024, the firm signaled its global ambitions by opening a bureau in New York City to grow its U.S. presence. This was followed by a series of product innovations throughout 2025, including the launch of the SEI ETP, which featured zero management fees and staking yields, and "The Advisor Series" aimed at U.S. wealth managers. Most recently, the company released an ETF offering access to altcoins, demonstrating a continued focus on providing diversified crypto exposure through regulated financial vehicles.

What this means

This move represents a fundamental challenge to the traditional "wrapper" model of asset management. For years, the only way for institutions to access crypto yields was through ETPs or ETFs, which carry layers of fees from brokers and exchanges. By moving the strategy directly into the wallet via smart contracts, CoinShares is effectively disintermediating the traditional financial stack. This puts pressure on legacy custodians and brokerage firms who may find themselves bypassed as asset managers go direct-to-client on-chain. The industry is clearly shifting toward a model where the "product" is no longer a ticker symbol on a screen, but a smart contract integrated into the user's existing infrastructure.