Laser Digital, the digital assets subsidiary of Japanese financial services group Nomura, has advised ZIG Finance on the risk framework for zEMS, a tokenized private credit pool targeting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Saudi Arabia. Launched on BNB Chain, the initiative aims to connect blockchain-based investment infrastructure with a substantial financing gap in the Kingdom’s small-business sector.
The project represents an expansion of real-world asset (RWA) tokenization in the Gulf region, moving beyond established categories such as real estate into private credit. By bringing SME financing onto blockchain infrastructure, ZIG Finance aims to create additional opportunities for capital formation and investment in a segment that continues to face challenges accessing funding.
The zEMS initiative targets a financing shortfall exceeding $80 billion in Saudi Arabia’s SME sector, using tokenization to connect private credit opportunities with blockchain-based financial markets.
Laser Digital’s involvement centers on advising ZIG Finance on the product’s risk framework, an important component of private credit operations. Unlike tokenized real estate products, which generally represent ownership or economic interests in physical assets, private credit investments require more extensive underwriting, borrower assessment, and ongoing servicing.
Private Credit Brings New Opportunities for Gulf Tokenization
Saudi Arabia’s SME sector represents a significant potential market for alternative financing solutions. Smaller businesses frequently encounter difficulties obtaining sufficient funding through conventional banking channels, creating opportunities for private credit providers and alternative investment structures.
Tokenized private credit pools could help address some of these limitations by connecting eligible investors with financing opportunities through blockchain-based infrastructure. Such arrangements can potentially improve the accessibility, transparency, and operational efficiency of investment products.
Through zEMS, ZIG Finance is seeking to apply this model to Saudi SME lending. Deploying the product on BNB Chain provides a blockchain foundation for issuing and managing tokenized investment interests.
However, the success of private credit tokenization depends on more than the ability to create digital representations of financial assets. Borrower creditworthiness, underwriting standards, repayment structures, and ongoing portfolio monitoring remain essential to managing investment risks.
Laser Digital’s advisory role in establishing the risk framework therefore highlights the importance of institutional financial expertise in developing tokenized credit products.
Secondary Market Liquidity Remains a Major Challenge
Although issuing tokenized private credit products can establish an initial connection between borrowers and investors, developing active secondary markets presents a more difficult challenge.
Private credit investments are generally less liquid than publicly traded securities. Their underlying loans often involve individualized agreements, borrower-specific risks, and repayment schedules that can complicate transfers between investors.
Good to see Saudi digital asset ACTION. Keep monitoring.
The Gulf’s tokenisation story has been mostly real estate. zEMS is the better test of it, because credit is harder than property.
It pools Saudi SME loans into a single token, against a financing gap of more than $80bn. A wrapper does not close that gap; underwriting and servicing do. That is why the name that matters here is Laser Digital, Nomura’s digital assets arm, sitting on the risk framework rather than on the marketing.
Issuance is the easy half. A secondary market in Gulf SME credit is the half nobody has solved yet.
https://t.co/rJllmHJGKy
— Charles d’Haussy (@charlesdhaussy) November 15, 2026
Tokenization can simplify the technical process of recording ownership and transferring digital assets. However, it does not automatically create sufficient buyer demand, reliable pricing mechanisms, or regulatory clearance for secondary trading.
Building sustainable secondary-market liquidity for Gulf SME credit remains a major challenge, requiring effective risk management, investor participation, and infrastructure that supports the transfer and servicing of tokenized loans.
For ZIG Finance, establishing a functioning market beyond the initial issuance could be an important factor in determining the product’s longer-term adoption. Investors may require reliable information about underlying borrowers, consistent valuation methods, and clear mechanisms for entering or exiting positions.
Institutional Participation Could Strengthen RWA Adoption
Laser Digital’s participation also reflects the growing involvement of established financial institutions in blockchain-based investment products. As Nomura’s digital assets division, the company brings experience in traditional financial markets and digital asset infrastructure to the expanding tokenization sector.
The zEMS launch illustrates how blockchain applications in the Gulf are gradually extending into more complex financial products. While real estate tokenization has attracted considerable attention, private credit introduces additional opportunities for financing businesses and diversifying investment portfolios.
The initiative’s longer-term prospects will depend on the quality of its underwriting, loan servicing capabilities, regulatory arrangements, and ability to attract investors.
By combining ZIG Finance‘s tokenized SME credit offering with Laser Digital’s risk advisory expertise, zEMS seeks to establish a blockchain-based approach to financing Saudi businesses while addressing the broader challenge of bringing institutional-quality private credit products into digital markets.