Tokenized US Treasuries crossed $30B in 2026, growing roughly 3× from 2024. The products diverge sharply by who can hold them and what composability they unlock.
BlackRock BUIDL: institutional-only, multi-chain
BUIDL holds short-term Treasuries (avg ~3 month maturity) and yields ~4.7%. Available on Ethereum, Aptos, Avalanche, Arbitrum, Optimism, Polygon. Restricted to qualified institutional investors. Composable with Pendle, Frax, and other DeFi via wrapped versions. The institutional anchor of on-chain Treasury markets.
Franklin Templeton BENJI
The on-chain version of Franklin's Government Money Market Fund. Available on Stellar and Polygon to qualifying investors. Yield similar to BUIDL. Slightly more conservative branding; more traditional retail-facing.
Ondo USDY: retail-accessible (non-US)
USDY is Ondo's permissionless tokenized Treasury — accessible to non-US retail and qualified US investors. ~4.7% yield. Composable across DeFi (Pendle, Aave, Morpho, dozens of integrations). The closest thing to a Treasury ETF for non-US crypto users.
Ondo OUSG: US institutional
OUSG is Ondo's US-restricted version, available to qualified US investors. Holds short-term Treasuries and corporate bonds. Used by US-based DeFi treasuries and institutional desks for short-term cash management.
Comparison
- Yield — All ~4.5–4.8% gross, varying slightly by reserve composition and fees.
- Access — USDY is the most retail-accessible globally; BUIDL is institutional-only.
- Composability — USDY > BUIDL > BENJI; all are improving rapidly.
- Issuer prestige — BlackRock (BUIDL) > Franklin Templeton (BENJI) > Ondo (USDY/OUSG).
Why tokenize at all?
A Treasury ETF settles on T+2, trades only during market hours, and cannot be used as DeFi collateral. A tokenized Treasury settles on-chain instantly, trades 24/7, and integrates into protocols like Pendle or Morpho. The added composability is the entire value proposition.
See our RWA tokenization guide and yield-bearing stablecoins decoded.
