By 2024, tokenized US Treasuries had become the fastest-growing RWA category, with over $2 billion in onchain assets. The race to tokenize government bonds attracted an unlikely mix of competitors: BlackRock (BUIDL), Franklin Templeton (BENJI, one of the first tokenized funds, launched on Stellar and later Polygon), Ondo Finance (OUSG/USDY), Mountain Protocol (USDM), and several others.
The appeal was obvious. US Treasuries are the safest, most liquid asset in the world. Tokenizing them makes that safety accessible to DeFi: a yield-bearing token backed by government securities that can serve as collateral, earn interest, and settle instantly. For DeFi protocols that needed safe collateral, tokenized Treasuries were a dream come true — all the benefits of stablecoins with the added bonus of risk-free yield.
Franklin Templeton deserves special mention for being first. Their BENJI fund launched on Stellar in 2021 — years before BlackRock or anyone else entered the space. By the time the tokenized Treasury narrative went mainstream in 2024, Franklin Templeton had already proven the concept worked and expanded to multiple chains. The fund grew steadily and demonstrated that a traditional asset manager could operate entirely onchain without any of the feared regulatory complications.
The tokenized Treasury race matters because it’s the beachhead for broader RWA tokenization. If Treasuries work onchain — and they clearly do — then corporate bonds, money market funds, and eventually equities follow. Each new asset class that successfully tokenizes validates the model and makes the next one easier. The boring billions in Treasury tokens are laying the infrastructure for the exciting trillions that come after.
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