Historically, stablecoins have reigned supreme in the crypto world for temporarily storing liquidity. But in 2024-2025, the lines are shifting. More and more investors now prefer to park their dollars in tokenized Treasury funds—digital versions of ultra-secure products such as money market funds or US sovereign bonds.
The figures speak for themselves: according to RWA.xyz, outstanding tokenized Treasury products have jumped 80% since the beginning of the year to $7.4bn. And traditional giants such as BlackRock, Franklin Templeton, and Janus Henderson are already in the loop, with assets tripling over the period.
RWA.xyz
Why all the hype?
There are three main reasons:
- Return: Stablecoins such as USDT and USDC are practical... but they don't generate any returns. Their purpose is simply to maintain parity with the dollar (1 USDC = $1), without generating any gains. In contrast, tokenized Treasury funds offer an annual return of 4-5%. Why? Because they replicate traditional products such as US Treasury bills, which are considered safe and profitable in a high interest rate environment, without exposing investors to excessive volatility.
- Growing utility: These assets are not just used to "store cash": they are becoming increasingly used building blocks in the crypto infrastructure. For example, they can be used as collateral in derivative transactions such as swaps, options, and futures. In other words, they guarantee leveraged or complex transactions in decentralized finance.
- Native blockchain integration: Because these products are tokenized (digitized in the form of tokens), they benefit from the technical advantages of blockchain: Near-instantaneous transactions (settlement in minutes versus several days in traditional finance). Lower transaction fees. Less capital tied up for intermediaries, resulting in greater efficiency.
The Trump effect and regulatory acceleration
The election of Donald Trump, who is very supportive of crypto innovations, has reignited the belief that tokenization is the next financial revolution. The focus is on modernizing the bond market, which is still heavily dependent on archaic processes. In this context, the tokenization of Treasury products represents a serious attempt to reconcile traditional finance and blockchain infrastructure.
McKinsey anticipates a potential market of $2 trillion for tokenized bonds, mutual funds, and ETFs—nearly one-third of the current outstanding amount of US money market funds (estimated at $7 trillion).
Stablecoins themselves are changing sides
Another key driver is that stablecoin issuers are reallocating their own reserves. A prime example is Sky Money, the world's third-largest stablecoin issuer, which is the main client of Janus Henderson's tokenized fund (JTRSY), with $409m. In short, even companies that create "digital dollars" now prefer to hold their collateral in tokenized yield products.
The momentum doesn't stop there. More and more traders are using these funds as collateral in margin trades, particularly in OTC markets (such as interest rate swaps). The advantage is that all of this can now be done 24 hours a day, without relying on banking hours.
As a result, traditional financial giants are betting big. In May 2025, a consortium including Goldman Sachs, Citadel Securities, BNP Paribas, DRW, and Tradeweb injected $135m into Digital Asset, the company behind the Canton Network, a blockchain dedicated to tokenized asset management. Even former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao, through his family office YZi, participated in the funding round.
Caroline Pham, acting chair of the CFTC, sums up the enthusiasm best: "The real revolutionary use case for tokenization is collateral management. " Because if tokenized bonds can circulate as quickly as cryptocurrencies, everything changes: margin calls are almost instantaneous, pressure on capital decreases, and administrative costs plummet.
But... not quite the Holy Grail yet?
However, not everything is perfect yet. Tokenized bonds remain less liquid than traditional bonds. We are still in the early stages. Another obstacle is that most clearing houses still refuse to accept money market funds as collateral for futures contracts due to bank redemption delays. But experiments are multiplying. JPMorgan tested a swap transaction with tokenized collateral through its subsidiary Kinexys in 2023 and even launched a 100% tokenized US municipal bond in 2024.
Another sticking point remains: low liquidity during weekends, when crypto markets are open but major stock exchanges are closed. This is a barrier to widespread adoption. But the trend is there. Global finance is entering an era where cash no longer sleeps, collateral moves in real time, and even the most conservative instruments are becoming programmable.
