As institutional engagement with digital assets continues to expand, expectations around these investments are changing, and institutions are asking how to integrate digital assets into more structured investment frameworks. While the first wave of institutional adoption was primarily directional, focused on gaining exposure to Bitcoin and Ethereum as an emerging asset class, a new category of firms has emerged, capable of translating decentralized finance into institutional-grade investment systems. That is the space INDIGO Fund is attempting to occupy. Led by Nathanael Cohen, Thomas Puech, and co-founder Vivie-Ann Bakos, internationally known as BLOND:ISH, INDIGO Fund approaches digital asset yield not as a speculative side effect of DeFi, but as an emerging investment category requiring its own operational structure, governance framework, and liquidity architecture. What makes INDIGO stand out is not just its strategy, but also its work culture, as it has developed strong connections beyond traditional finance, particularly within the global music and entertainment ecosystem.
In traditional markets, yield plays a central role in how capital is allocated, offering both income and stability within diversified portfolios. Translating that concept into digital assets requires not only access to opportunities but also the infrastructure to support them. At INDIGO Fund, this challenge is approached through a combination of strategy and structure. INDIGO has been working around the thesis that digital assets shouldn’t just be held, but should be deployed efficiently, in a controlled, liquid, and risk-managed way.“The shift became clear around 2021–2022. What we began to see next was a structural evolution in demand. Investors were no longer asking ‘how do we get exposure?’ but rather ‘how do we make this capital work?’ Our focus from day one has been to transform yield into a structured investment category, aligned with institutional expectations,” claims co-founder Thomas Puech.
The broader market trend also supports this shift. Industry research from Coinbase and EY-Parthenon’s institutional investor surveys has shown growing interest among institutional allocators in generating yield from digital assets rather than holding passive exposure alone. At the same time, stablecoin adoption and tokenized treasury products have continued expanding, reflecting a wider institutional push toward structured, income-generating blockchain-based financial infrastructure.
INDIGO Fund approaches yield not as a byproduct of DeFi, but as a standalone investment category, and believes institutionalizing yield is fundamentally about removing friction without compromising performance. In practical terms, it means offering managed account structures, standardized onboarding (KYC/AML), clear reporting and performance visibility, and seamless capital deployment without direct interaction with blockchain infrastructure. “Where most market participants fall short is in abstraction. They expose investors to the underlying complexity, wallets, protocols, and smart contracts, instead of delivering a clean, investable product that integrates into existing workflows. At INDIGO, the goal is simple: make digital asset yield feel as intuitive as any traditional financial product,” says co-founder Nathanael Cohen.
Decentralized finance offers sophisticated mechanisms, but institutional capital requires clarity and standardization. INDIGO Fund claims to translate complex on-chain strategies into frameworks that institutional allocators can actually trust and adopt. It’s both a technical and a framing exercise. For example, to translate on-chain strategies into familiar financial concepts, liquidity provision becomes market-neutral, spread-based positioning; yield is presented net of fees, with clearly defined liquidity terms; and risk is expressed in terms of exposure and capital allocation, not protocol mechanics.From the investor’s perspective, the experience is deliberately simple: performance, liquidity, and transparency, without operational complexity, and the clarity is what makes adoption possible, claims Thomas Puech.
INDIGO Fund integrates different yield strategies into a cohesive system by designing it as a unified system. “Capital is typically deployed through stablecoin-based strategies, which allow for efficient entry and exit. From there, allocation is distributed across primarily market-neutral strategies such as liquidity provision and hedged positions. The key is centralized risk management by diversification across protocols and counterparties, strict exposure limits, and continuous monitoring of liquidity and risk. What matters is not the individual trade, but the consistency of the overall framework,” says Nathanael Cohen.
Yield in digital assets is often perceived as opaque or risky. To address this, INDIGO claims to have focused on clarity, discipline, and real-time risk management. It is built around transparent performance reporting, simple and aligned fee structures, clearly defined liquidity terms, and a conservative, risk-managed strategy framework. “In addition, we integrate real-time blockchain monitoring systems that allow us to track protocol-level activity and potential risks continuously. This infrastructure enables us to react immediately and reallocate capital if any anomaly or threat is detected on-chain. We don’t aim to eliminate risk; we structure, monitor, and actively manage it. That alignment with institutional standards, combined with real-time oversight, is what builds long-term trust,” Thomas Puech explains.
With Vivie-Ann Bakos (BLOND:ISH) as a co-founder, INDIGO has taken an unusual route to extend its network beyond traditional finance. This has played a significant role in shaping both their investor base and how they approach the market. This has led to relationships with artists, entrepreneurs, and large-scale event operators, including festivals, who often manage significant cash flows and are increasingly interested in optimizing their treasury. “In parallel, we also provide yield solutions on both crypto and fiat capital. For example, clients can deposit USD or EUR, which we convert into stablecoins (USDT/USDC) and deploy into our strategies to generate yield on-chain,all within a structured and managed framework. This combination of cultural access and institutional structuring has allowed us to reach a broader category of investors while maintaining a professional, investment-grade approach,” says Nathanael Cohen.
Believing that the next phase of the market will be defined by how effectively digital asset strategies are packaged, governed, and delivered to institutional capital, the INDIGO founders are betting on structuring innovations at the protocol level. But the bigger challenge, they admit, will be making them investable at scale. “The opportunity exists,but the constraint is infrastructure. Institutional investors require robust legal structuring, reliable custody and asset segregation, transparent reporting, and predictable redemption processes. Without these elements, even strong returns are not investable at scale. Once they are in place, adoption accelerates significantly,” Nathanael Cohen concludes.
Within this transition, INDIGO Fund represents a case study in how digital asset markets are evolving from speculative ecosystems into structured financial environments. By focusing on yield, liquidity, operational clarity, and infrastructure, the firm aligns itself with a growing institutional view that crypto is no longer simply an emerging asset class, but part of a larger transformation in how capital itself is deployed, managed, and optimized.
