Kamino CEO Michael Weisz lays out the case for the KMNO token

An open letter ties KMNO value to the Kamino Foundation and sets a goal of over $50 billion in loans by 2030

Tue 3 Nov 2026 · 13:21 EST · 4 min read

Kamino’s new CEO has some explaining to do, and he chose to do it in writing. Michael Weisz published an open letter to KMNO tokenholders on November 2, 2026, setting out what the token is for and how it connects to the Kamino Foundation.

The headline ambition is big. Kamino aims to reach over $50 billion in concurrent loans by 2030, betting heavily on growth in Solana’s real-world asset sector.

What Weisz actually promised

Weisz took the top job on September 15, 2026. Less than two months later, he is trying to answer the question that dogs most DeFi governance tokens: what exactly does a holder own?

His answer is unusually direct. According to the letter, the Kamino Foundation retains all intellectual property and all revenue tied to its operations.

That structure makes KMNO the only token through which value accrues to holders. There is no competing equity layer quietly sitting off to the side.

The Foundation is also putting money behind the pitch. It has committed at least $20 million over the next 24 months to product expansion, asset support and distribution.

Then there is the incentive structure. Future token allocations for the team and executives are tied to sustained fully diluted valuation milestones at $1 billion, $2 billion, $3 billion, $5 billion and $10 billion.

Fully diluted valuation, or FDV, measures what a project would be worth if every token that will ever exist were already circulating. Tying pay to sustained FDV levels means insiders get rewarded for keeping the value up, not for a brief spike they can sell into.

The numbers behind the 2030 target

Kamino’s growth plan rests on a market projection. The protocol estimates that tokenized real-world asset lending could potentially reach $2.3 trillion by 2030.

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Its internal target is $50 billion in outstanding borrowings by 2030, capturing a 10-20% market share of that projected market. That would represent roughly a fifty-fold increase from current levels.

Since launching in 2022, the protocol has processed over $615 billion in cumulative transaction volume. It has originated over $21 billion in loans along the way.

Kamino also reports zero security incidents and zero bad debt over that period.

The letter also points to a physical expansion. Kamino is preparing to establish a significant presence in New York City as it builds out its institutional capabilities.

Why the token question matters

Token value accrual has become one of the touchiest subjects in DeFi. Many protocols launched governance tokens while revenue and IP stayed with a separate development company.

Weisz’s letter is a clear attempt to put Kamino on the other side of that debate. By stating that the Foundation owns the IP and revenue, and that KMNO is the sole value channel, he is removing a common source of doubt.

What this means for KMNO holders and Solana DeFi

For tokenholders, the letter offers clarity more than a guarantee. A defined value-accrual path and milestone-based insider allocations reduce two common risks: hidden equity claims and early insider dumping.

The FDV milestones deserve close attention. Because allocations unlock at higher sustained valuations, any team tokens released in the future would come with dilution, but only after the market has already priced the protocol higher. Holders should watch how “sustained” gets defined and measured in practice.

The $20 million commitment is the more immediate signal. Product expansion and new asset support are what will determine whether borrowers actually show up in the volumes the 2030 plan requires.

The biggest open variable is the market itself. Kamino’s $2.3 trillion estimate for tokenized RWA lending is a projection, and the protocol’s own wording frames it as a potential outcome rather than a certainty.

For now, Weisz has given the market a framework to judge Kamino against: loan growth toward $50 billion, Foundation spending of at least $20 million over two years, and insider rewards that only arrive if the valuation holds.

Disclosure: This article was edited by Estefano Gomez. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.