SkyBridge Partners with NAX to Offer Algorand-based Platform

Alliance to accelerate decentralized applications on the growing layer-1 protocol.

article-image

Anthony Scaramucci, founder and chairman of Skybridge Capital

share

key takeaways

  • UNLOX will initially comprise a BNPL solution, a digital asset wallet and commerce engine, and a collateralized art lending and fractionalization platform
  • SkyBridge and NAX bring institutional infrastructure and commercial volume, respectively, to new initiative while Algorand provides the layer-1 protocol support

A new partnership between SkyBridge Capital and NAX is set to offer decentralized applications and institutional investment opportunities as part of an initiative using layer-1 protocol Algorand

The alliance will start with a fund between SkyBridge, NAX, and Algorand and an initiative called UNLOX. The fund, to be capped at $250 million, will seek to provide institutions with access to unique decentralized finance opportunities.

With SkyBridge founder Anthony Scaramucci as its chairman, UNLOX will become a core infrastructure to launch large-scale decentralized finance (DeFi ventures), capital raising and a platform for institutions to securitize their assets on the blockchain.  

SkyBridge is a $7 billion alternative asset manager with more than $600 million in crypto assets. Meanwhile, NAX, based in California, creates new markets and ecosystems around corporate assets from seed to securitization.

“SkyBridge is choosing to partner with NAX because of the commercial infrastructure and volume that NAX brings to the initiative,” a SkyBridge spokesperson told Blockworks. “NAX functions as the catalyst that will enable UNLOX ventures to launch at scale by leveraging underutilized corporate assets from its market-leading industry partners.”

UNLOX will initially comprise a buy now pay later, or BNPL, solution, a digital asset wallet and commerce engine, and a collateralized art lending and fractionalization platform, the firms said in a release. NAX estimates that these will augment the user base of Algorand, which will be the protocol of UNLOX, with millions of new wallets by 2023.

Scaramucci called the protocol’s technology impressive in a statement and noted that his firm plans to bring Algorand to the forefront of regulated products, digital securities, currencies and payments.

A competitor of Ethereum and other growing layer-1 protocols such as Solana, Cardano and Avalanche, Algorand currently has more than 30,000 developers and about 800 organizations building on it. 

“Algorand is one of the only layer-1s that can meet global financial transaction requirements, with primitives built directly into the protocol,” the SkyBridge spokesperson said. “Its founder and team are the best in the world at what they do.”

Silvio Micali, Algorand’s founder, designed the protocol to be forkless with high transactions per second, fast finality and security, the representative noted. Its fees are fixed at 0.001 ALGO per transaction, meaning no gas is required like in Ethereum, the firm added, and Algorand is also carbon-negative and Sharia-compliant.

Algorand Virtual Machine was released in June in an effort to improve smart contract development and allow developers to create powerful digital apps while making blockchain application development more accessible.

NAX CEO Jeff Schumacher said in a statement that Algorand’s platform has “unlimited potential,” noting the arrival of AVM. 

“The platform will continue to deliver performance enhancements and interoperability for the growing list of organizations and governments that are leveraging Algorand as the infrastructure for new economic models,” an Algorand spokesperson told Blockworks.

Algorand’s market capitalization, which stands at about $11.8 billion, was the 15th largest among coins as of 2:30 p.m. eastern on Monday afternoon, according to CoinGecko. The price of its native token ALGO was up to $2.28 at that time, which was up 73% from seven days ago, the data shows.


Are you a UK or EU reader that can’t get enough investor-focused content on digital assets?Join us in London on November 15th and 16th for the Digital Asset Summit (DAS) London. Use code ARTICLE for £75 off your ticket. Buy it now.


Tags

Upcoming Events

Old Billingsgate

Mon - Wed, October 13 - 15, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

Industry City | Brooklyn, NY

TUES - THURS, JUNE 24 - 26, 2025

Permissionless IV serves as the definitive gathering for crypto’s technical founders, developers, and builders to come together and create the future.If you’re ready to shape the future of crypto, Permissionless IV is where it happens.

Brooklyn, NY

SUN - MON, JUN. 22 - 23, 2025

Blockworks and Cracked Labs are teaming up for the third installment of the Permissionless Hackathon, happening June 22–23, 2025 in Brooklyn, NY. This is a 36-hour IRL builder sprint where developers, designers, and creatives ship real projects solving real problems across […]

recent research

Research Report Templates.png

Research

We believe DoubleZero, given its symbiotic relationship with validators & searchers, promise to boost overall network efficiency and throughput, lack of competition, and ability to serve many blockchain ecosystems, will command meaningful pricing power and could command a meaningful take of priority revenues across blockchains.

article-image

A new policy framework says decentralization should be judged by control — not vibes

article-image

You know about the Bitcoin Standard — what about the Bitcoin Scholarship?

article-image

Toku’s suit accuses an ex-employee of stealing confidential business information and sharing it with competitor Liquifi

article-image

Partial recovery is already in motion, according to the Loopscale team

article-image

Microsoft, Meta, Amazon and Apple are slated to report Q1 earnings this week, and we’re watching one especially closely

article-image

Tariff concerns on corporate earnings and weakening of the US dollar contributed to the surge, CoinShares exec says