Tokenized U.S. Treasurys Surpass $600M as Crypto Investors Capture TradFi Yield

The market value of blockchain-based investment products that wrap U.S. Treasury bills, bonds and money market funds into a form of a token total $614 million, according to real-world asset data firm RWA.xyz’s compilation.

Demand for tokenized Treasurys among digital asset investors has been steadily growing as the yield on U.S. government bonds, widely considered as a risk-free interest rate, surpassed yields in decentralized finance (DeFi).

DeFi yields plummeted as demand for borrowing and leverage collapsed during the crypto market downturn. Meanwhile, bond yields in traditional finance (TradFi) rose significantly as the Federal Reserve Bank jacked up interest rates to the highest level since 2007 to combat rampant inflation.

This year, a slew of new entrants such as OpenEden, Ondo Finance and Maple Finance released blockchain-based Treasury products targeting sophisticated investors, digital asset firms and decentralized autonomous organizations.

“The entire macroeconomic backdrop has shifted,” Jack Chong, guest researcher at RWA.xyz, noted in a report. “This naturally attracts investors to shift their exposure from crypto assets into US Treasuries.”

Tokenization of real-world assets has become one of crypto’s hottest trends and could reach $5 trillion market value over the next five years, wealth management firm Bernstein said in a research last month.