Tokenized Treasuries Explained: BUIDL, BENJI, USYC and OUSG

Tokenized treasuries are blockchain tokens that represent shares in a fund, or a note, that holds short-term US government debt such as Treasury bills and repo. Most of them are tokenized money market funds: you hold a token, the fund holds T-bills, and the token earns roughly the short-term US interest rate. As of 2 October 2026, tokenized US Treasury products were worth about $14.75 billion across 25 assets and 85,710 holders, with an average 7-day yield of 3.60%, according to rwa.xyz.

This guide explains how the products work, compares the biggest ones (BlackRock's BUIDL, Circle's USYC, Franklin Templeton's BENJI and Ondo's OUSG), shows how they are used as collateral in crypto markets, and sets out the risks that the "on-chain T-bill" label tends to hide.

What are tokenized treasuries?

A tokenized treasury is a normal financial product with a blockchain-based ownership record. The asset manager buys short-dated US Treasuries (and often overnight repurchase agreements backed by Treasuries). Instead of recording who owns the fund only in a transfer agent's database, it issues tokens on one or more blockchains. Each token is a share of the fund or a claim on the issuer.

Three structures are common:

• Tokenized money market funds. The token is a fund share. BlackRock's BUIDL and Franklin Templeton's BENJI work this way. Many hold their value at about $1.00 per token and pay the yield as extra tokens or as a rising balance.
• Funds of funds. The token is a share in a vehicle that itself holds other tokenized funds. Ondo's OUSG, for example, "primarily holds BlackRock's BUIDL fund, along with allocations to Franklin Templeton, WisdomTree, Fidelity, and Wellington/FundBridge vehicles", per its rwa.xyz listing.
• Yield-bearing notes. The token is a debt instrument issued by a company that holds Treasuries as collateral, rather than a fund share. These are usually sold only outside the US.

The appeal is simple. A token can move 24/7, settle in minutes, and plug into smart contracts. A traditional money market fund settles on banking days through brokers. For crypto firms holding large stablecoin balances, a token that earns the T-bill rate and can be moved like a stablecoin is very useful.

How tokenized money market funds work

The life cycle of a tokenized money market fund looks like this:

1. Onboarding. You pass the issuer's investor checks. Almost every product limits who can hold it, by country, investor type or both.
2. Whitelisting. Your wallet address is added to an allow-list. The token contract blocks transfers to addresses that are not on it.
3. Subscription. You send USDC or dollars and receive fund tokens at the net asset value (NAV).
4. Yield. The fund earns interest on its T-bills and repo. Depending on the product, you receive new tokens each month or the price per token rises.
5. Redemption. You send the tokens back and receive stablecoins or dollars, within the issuer's redemption window.

Step 1 is where tokenization meets ordinary securities law. A fund restricted to US "qualified purchasers" must check that every holder qualifies, and a non-US product must screen out US persons and sanctioned parties. Issuers and transfer agents typically use identity-verification and AML-screening vendors such as iDenfy for this onboarding, then link the verified identity to an approved wallet. Our guide to KYC in DeFi explains how these checks sit alongside permissionless protocols.

The biggest tokenized treasury products in 2026

The table below lists the largest tokenized Treasury products by total value, with figures from rwa.xyz as of 2 October 2026.

Sources: rwa.xyz Treasuries dashboard, USYC, BUIDL, BENJI and OUSG pages, all as of 2 October 2026.

BlackRock BUIDL

The BlackRock USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund launched on 20 March 2024. As of 2 October 2026 it held $2.25 billion, down 18.49% over 30 days, with a 7-day APY of 3.69% and just 106 token holders, per rwa.xyz. The token is issued through Securitize, the custodian is BNY Mellon, and it is rated Aaa-mf by Moody's. The $5 million minimum and qualified-purchaser restriction mean BUIDL is an institutional product. Most people meet it indirectly, as the reserve asset behind other tokens.

Circle USYC

USYC is managed by Circle and domiciled in Bermuda. It gives exposure to short-duration Treasuries and reverse repo, is open only to non-US investors, and had $2.40 billion as of 2 October 2026, per rwa.xyz. Most of it sits on BNB Chain. Redemptions settle within one business day, and the trading window is 9am to 2pm Eastern time on US banking days.

Franklin Templeton BENJI

BENJI represents shares in the Franklin OnChain U.S. Government Money Fund (FOBXX). Its inception date is 6 April 2021, making it the oldest product here. rwa.xyz describes it as a US-registered mutual fund that records share ownership on-chain. It held $738 million as of 2 October 2026 and runs on Stellar, Ethereum, Base, Arbitrum, Avalanche, Polygon, Aptos and other chains.

Ondo OUSG

OUSG is a fund that mostly holds other tokenized Treasury funds, BUIDL first. It held $319.7 million with a 7-day APY of 3.65% as of 2 October 2026, per rwa.xyz. Ondo's separate USDY, a yield-bearing note rather than a fund, is the bigger product at $2.28 billion.

For a broader list of issuers and platforms, see our comparison of the best RWA tokenization platforms in 2026.

How tokenized treasuries are used as collateral

Holding a T-bill token is useful, but the real growth has come from using these tokens as collateral and reserves. Here are four verified examples:

• Exchange collateral. On 14 November 2025, Binance listed BUIDL as off-exchange collateral for institutional clients. Traders post BUIDL with a custody partner and trade against it on Binance, CoinDesk reported. BUIDL was also expanded to BNB Chain at the same time.
• Stablecoin reserves. BUIDL made up 90% of the reserves of Ethena's USDtb stablecoin, according to The Block on 18 June 2025. That was when Ethena and Securitize enabled 24/7 swaps between the two.
• Permissioned lending markets. Aave Horizon, launched on 26 August 2025, lets qualified institutions deposit tokenized Treasury and credit funds such as Superstate's USTB and Centrifuge's JTRSY and borrow GHO, RLUSD or USDC. Depositing the RWA needs issuer approval. Supplying the stablecoins does not.
• Funds of funds. As shown above, OUSG holds BUIDL, so one tokenized fund becomes the building block for another.

The pattern is that tokenized treasuries are becoming the "risk-free rate" layer under parts of crypto. For a full introduction to that idea, read our explainer on real-world assets in DeFi.

Tokenized treasuries vs stablecoins

Both are dollar-denominated tokens backed largely by T-bills, so they are easy to confuse. The difference is who gets the interest.

A payment stablecoin passes no interest to the holder. In the US, the GENIUS Act, signed on 18 July 2025, bars permitted issuers from paying holders "any form of interest or yield" solely for holding the stablecoin, as the Congressional Research Service summarises. The issuer keeps the reserve income.

A tokenized money market fund is a security. The holder gets the yield, but in exchange accepts investor restrictions, whitelisted transfers and redemption windows. That is why tokenized treasuries mostly serve institutions, DAOs and crypto treasuries, while stablecoins serve payments and trading. Our guides to the GENIUS Act and to yield-generating stablecoins cover the other side of this split.

Risks of tokenized treasuries

US Treasuries carry very little credit risk. The token wrapped around them adds risks of its own:

• Liquidity and redemption timing. The token moves 24/7, but the fund does not always redeem 24/7. USYC, for example, processes redemptions within one business day and trades only in a US daytime window. In a stressed market, a token can trade below NAV on secondary venues while you wait.
• Size can change quickly. BUIDL fell 18.49% in 30 days to 2 October 2026 and USYC 11.11%, per rwa.xyz. Large single holders can move these funds a lot. BUIDL has only 106 holders.
• Access risk. Allow-lists can be changed. If your wallet is removed, or your status changes, you may be unable to transfer tokens.
• Smart contract and chain risk. Multi-chain deployments rely on bridges or native mints on each chain, and each adds code risk.
• Interest rate risk. The yield follows US short-term rates. If the Federal Reserve cuts, the yield falls. Prices are stable, but income is not fixed.
• Layered exposure. A fund of funds or a stablecoin backed by BUIDL relies on several firms working at once: the manager, the tokenization agent, the custodian and the underlying fund.

Before using any of them, check the documents, the redemption terms and the on-chain reserves. Our checklist on how to check a DeFi protocol is safe applies here too.

Where JewelSwap fits

JewelSwap does not issue or list tokenized treasuries. It is a crypto-native protocol on MultiversX, Sui and Radix, offering liquid staking (JWLEGLD, JWLSUI and JWLXRD) and yield farms, including stablecoin farms on Sui through Scallop and Cetus. Its yields come from staking and on-chain markets, not from T-bills, so they carry different and generally higher risks. Our guide on how to earn yield on stablecoins compares the two kinds of yield.

Frequently asked questions

What is a tokenized treasury?

It is a blockchain token representing a share of a fund, or a note, that holds short-term US government debt such as T-bills and Treasury repo. The token earns roughly the short-term US interest rate and can move on-chain 24/7.

How big is the tokenized treasury market?

About $14.75 billion across 25 products and 85,710 holders as of 2 October 2026, according to rwa.xyz. The largest products were Circle's USYC ($2.40 billion), Ondo's USDY ($2.28 billion) and BlackRock's BUIDL ($2.25 billion).

Can retail investors buy BlackRock BUIDL?

Not directly. BUIDL is limited to US qualified purchasers with a $5 million minimum, per rwa.xyz. Most people are exposed to it indirectly, for example through stablecoins or funds that hold BUIDL as a reserve.

What is the difference between a tokenized money market fund and a stablecoin?

A tokenized money market fund is a security that passes its T-bill yield to the holder but restricts who can hold it. A payment stablecoin pays no interest. Under the US GENIUS Act, issuers cannot pay holders interest for simply holding it, and in return it is freely usable for payments and trading.

Are tokenized treasuries risk-free?

No. The underlying Treasuries are low risk, but the token adds redemption-timing, smart contract, chain, access and issuer risks. The yield also changes with US interest rates.

How are tokenized treasuries used in DeFi?

They are used as collateral and reserves. Binance accepts BUIDL as off-exchange collateral, BUIDL made up 90% of Ethena's USDtb reserves in June 2025, and Aave Horizon lets qualified institutions borrow stablecoins against tokenized Treasury funds.

Keep reading

• Real-world assets (RWA) in DeFi explained
• Best RWA tokenization platforms in 2026
• Tokenized stocks explained
• Tokenized deposits vs stablecoins
• The GENIUS Act explained
• JewelSwap crypto glossary

This article is educational and isn't financial advice. Fund sizes, yields and holder counts are from rwa.xyz as of 2 October 2026 and change daily. Collateral integrations are as reported by CoinDesk, The Block and Aave on the dates given. JewelSwap does not issue, list or custody any of the products described.