VanEck is the latest asset manager to launch a tokenized treasury fund, the VanEck Treasury Fund (VBILL) with Securitize as its partner for tokenization, fund administration and transfer agency. Securitize is also BlackRock’s partner for its BUIDL money market fund. “By bringing U.S. Treasuries on-chain, we are providing investors with a secure, transparent, and liquid tool for cash management, further integrating digital assets into mainstream financial markets,” said Kyle DaCruz, Director of Digital Assets Product at VanEck. “Tokenized funds like VBILL are enhancing market liquidity and efficiency, underscoring our commitment to providing value to our investors.” The British Virgin Island fund targets institutional and qualified investors with minimum subscriptions starting at $100,000 for investments on Avalanche, BNB Chain, and Solana, and $1,000,000 on Ethereum. Most demand for tokenized money market funds comes from within the digital asset community, especially stablecoin issuers looking to use tokenized assets for their reserves. For example, just two stablecoin issuers (Sky and Ethena) account for $2.1 billion or 72% of BlackRock’s BUIDL fund.
TokenFi launches real-world asset tokenization platform with smart identity framework that links token ownership to verified investor identities
TokenFi, a tokenization project by the Floki ecosystem, has launched its real-world asset (RWA) tokenization platform, aiming to make it easier for businesses to bring physical and financial assets on-chain in a fully compliant way. The platform, which will go live on May 23, offers a no-code platform for companies to create and issue regulatory-compliant tokens backed by real-world assets. These tokens are built on the ERC-3643 standard, embedding compliance capabilities directly into the token itself. The platform’s core is ONCHAINID, a smart identity framework that links token ownership to verified investor identities, allowing companies to issue tokens that can only be held or traded by qualified investors who pass KYC and meet regulatory requirements. The platform works across all EVM-compatible blockchains, giving projects flexibility on where to launch.
DTCC is mulling the potential of issuing a stablecoin; a fully-authorized bank subsidiary, limited purpose bank charter and access to central bank account to make execution hassle-free
The DTCC is exploring the potential of issuing a stablecoin. It is “monitoring policy developments in the U.S. Congress and regulatory agencies, and will continue to assess our options, including the potential of issuing a DTCC stablecoin, if needed.” For the DTCC specifically, implementation would be relatively straightforward from an infrastructure standpoint. It already has a bank subsidiary, which unlike Fnality Bank US, has full authorization. The Depository Trust Company (DTC), which is one of its main subsidiaries, operates as a limited purpose trust company under New York State banking law. It has access to a central bank account because it enables huge volumes of settlement using Federal Reserve money. Hypothetically, if the DTCC were to issue a stablecoin it could be a very high quality one, using a similar model to Fnality. In other words, perhaps backed by central bank money. Typically stablecoins are mainly backed by Treasury bills, which are usually very stable. But there have been volatile episodes in the money markets, and central bank reserves side steps this risk.
Green Dot provides embedded banking services to Crypto.com, easily funding accounts with USD digitally or with cash across the Green Dot Network
Crypto.com will leverage Green Dot’s embedded finance platform, Arc, as an on-ramp and off-ramp for customers’ Cash Accounts and enable them to earn interest and easily fund accounts using U.S. dollars digitally or with cash at thousands of Green Dot Network cash access locations nationwide. Additionally, Crypto.com will launch a new interest-earning savings vault powered by Arc, with additional features and functionality planned for the future. “Increasing everyday utility of cryptocurrencies and providing customers more ways to enhance their financial lives are both central to our vision and roadmap at Crypto.com,” said Joe Anzures, General Manager, Americas and EVP of Payments, Crypto.com. “We are thrilled to partner with Green Dot, a true leader that shares our vision for digital payment utility and financial empowerment, in offering banking services to Crypto.com’s U.S. customers.” With more than 350 cryptocurrencies on its platform*, Crypto.com has one of the largest selections in the industry. By providing an on-ramp and off-ramp to fund Crypto.com Cash Accounts, either digitally or with cash, at thousands of convenient cash-in and cash-out locations at retailers nationwide via the Green Dot Network, Green Dot is enabling Crypto.com customers to utilize cryptocurrencies more easily and affordably. The Cash Account’s new savings vault will also allow Crypto.com customers to earn interest on the funds they are already using to purchase cryptocurrency. “We are thrilled to partner with Crypto.com to enhance the customer experience for their millions of users in the U.S. with more seamless and affordable means of buying and selling cryptocurrencies,” said Renata Caine, GM/SVP of Embedded Finance, Green Dot. “Crypto.com has been a trailblazer in safely and securely advancing the adoption of cryptocurrency in the U.S., and we are looking forward to innovating on behalf of their customers for years to come.”
BIS and NY Fed study says central banks could deploy smart contracts when commercial banks have widely adopted tokenisation for wholesale payments and securities settlement
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York and the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) have published a joint research study that explored how central banks could continue to implement monetary policy operations in tokenised wholesale financial markets. Dubbed Project Pine, the study found that central banks could deploy policy implementation tools using programmable smart contracts in a potential future state where commercial banks have widely adopted tokenisation for wholesale payments and securities settlement. The project generated the prototype of a generic monetary policy implementation tokenised toolkit for potential further research and development by central banks across jurisdictions and currencies. The BIS and the Fed say the prototype can fulfil a common set of central bank implementation requirements, including paying interest on reserves, open market operations, and collateral management. The toolkit was tested against ten hypothetical scenarios that applied historical data inputs on past market events, such as interest rate tightening and easing cycles, quantitative easing and tightening cycles, and periods of strained market liquidity or broader market disruptions. “The prototype successfully responded and instantaneously carried out the intended operation under the varying market conditions,” states the BIS. “Project Pine’s findings highlighted areas for further research and analysis related to interoperability and data standardisation.”
Santander applied for a European cryptocurrency license under the Mica Regulations and may enable retail access to digital assets and stablecoin, crypto offering
Banco Santander is mulling introducing euro and dollar stablecoins, or potentially making a third party coin available to clients, citing sources. This move aligns with broader crypto ambitions, as its digital bank, Openbank, has reportedly applied for a European cryptocurrency license under the Mica Regulations and may enable retail access to digital assets. Should Santander confirm plans to launch a stablecoin, it will be the fourth global systemically important bank (G-SIB) to do so. Santander’s involvement could extend beyond an individual initiative. The bank is a shareholder in The Clearing House, where US banks are exploring the potential to create a joint stablecoin. If a US initiative took that route it could involve nine more G-SIBs including Bank of America, Barclays, BMO, BNY Mellon, Citi, HSBC, JP Morgan, TD Bank and Wells Fargo.
Ubyx aims to provide a clearing system enabling anyone to easily on and off-ramp between bank accounts and stablecoins supporting corporates that want to use stablecoins for cross border payments
Ubyx announced a $10 million seed funding round led by Galaxy Ventures. Other backers in the round include Founders Fund, stablecoin issuer Paxos, Payoneer and others. Ubyx aims to provide a clearing system enabling anyone to easily on and off-ramp between bank accounts and stablecoins. This is a particular issue for corporates that want to use stablecoins for cross border payments, but might find the accounting for holding them on their balance sheet tricky. This challenge has created opportunities for infrastructure providers to fill the gap. While the likes of stablecoin issuer Circle has the scale to build its own Circle Payments Network, not all stablecoin issuers have that luxury. Plus, numerous other stablecoin infrastructure startups are also duplicating effort in building their own distribution. Ubyx aims to provide this distribution and redemption service for numerous stablecoins. “Stablecoins become ubiquitous when there is a shared acceptance network, just like cards. Traditional banks and fintechs should provide wallets to accept a wide range of regulated stablecoins on many public-permissionless blockchains,” said Mike Giampapa, General Partner of Galaxy Ventures.
Apple Pay’s integration with Mesh to enable merchants to accept stablecoin payments without building their own crypto infrastructure through a plug-and-play solution
Mesh, the first truly global crypto payments network, today unveiled its Apple Pay integration live on stage at Token2049 during Co-Founder and CEO Bam Azizi’s keynote address. This marks the first public demonstration of the new capability – available later in Q2 – that will enable merchants partnered with Mesh to accept crypto payments through Apple Pay without building their own crypto infrastructure. The new Apple Pay integration leverages Mesh’s proprietary SmartFunding technology, which allows users to pay with the crypto of their choice, such as BTC, ETH, or SOL, while merchants settle in the stablecoin of their choice, such as USDC, USDT, PYUSD, and others. Breaking down this inherent misalignment of incentives between consumers and merchants topples the largest barrier preventing crypto payments from becoming a mass market product to date. Users simply select the Apple Pay option at checkout, authenticate with Face ID, and complete the transaction as they would with any fiat payment. “We believe that as soon as crypto payments are as seamless as fiat payments, nothing is left to stop the mass migration of global commerce onto blockchain rails. Crypto already offers countless benefits over fiat, and Mesh is solving the UX and convenience pieces,” said Bam Azizi, CEO and Co-Founder of Mesh. “With our Apple Pay integration, we’re solving crypto’s existential last-mile problem, bringing to life a plug-and-play solution that turns on global crypto payments through our existing partners.” As demonstrated live moments ago by Azizi, Merchants with physical retail locations will now be able to leverage Apple Pay’s NFC capabilities, offering customers the same frictionless experience in-store as they experience online. And this innovation isn’t limited to point-of-sale terminals – it extends to e-commerce, too. Mesh’s latest innovation comes on the heels of its $82 million Series B fundraise, led by Paradigm, with participation from Consensys, QuantumLight Capital, Yolo Investments, and others. With over 300 integrations – including Coinbase, Binance, MetaMask, Phantom, and more – Mesh’s infrastructure ensures broad access and seamless connectivity across the crypto payments ecosystem.
BlockFills on-chain execution platform to enhance its automated DeFi trade execution capabilities on behalf of institutional and VC clients
BlockFills has deployed Definitive’s advanced on-chain execution platform to enhance its automated trade execution capabilities on behalf of institutional and venture capital (VC) clients and expand the variety of tokens BlockFills can trade on behalf of its clients. The partnership brings new benefits to clients of both firms. Patrick Zielbauer, Managing Director of Sales at BlockFills, said: “Definitive’s platform gives us an incredibly powerful tool to offer clients – including asset managers, hedge funds and VC firms – the ability to smoothly and efficiently enter or exit an altcoin position or token while protecting their anonymity and minimizing market impact. As a result of the partnership, we’re finding that even in the weeks since we deployed the platform, clients have brought more order flow to us, enabling them to take or exit from a significant position in even the most illiquid tokens, memecoins or other assets generally considered difficult to trade in nontrivial sizes.” Jai Prasad, Co-Founder of Definitive, said “Our platform uses sophisticated trade algorithms that aggregate liquidity across liquidity pools on multiple chains and optimize trades to leverage the deepest liquidity, minimize price impact and achieve superior execution for on-chain transactions. While our platform is enhancing BlockFills’ capabilities offered to its clients, our clients and prospects that require access to deep OTC liquidity in the spot, derivatives* and lending markets can turn to BlockFills to augment and enhance their on-chain trading activities.”
BIS quantifies stablecoin impact on Treasury rates- stablecoin issuers have surpassed China to be the third largest purchasers of Treasuries bills as market influence grows
New research from the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) reveals striking statistics about stablecoin market influence. While stablecoin issuers have been noted as major holders of short term Treasuries, surpassing the holdings of countries such as China, the BIS highlights that during 2024, they were the third largest purchasers of Treasuries bills*. That figure is based on the net increase in stablecoin reserves. Regarding the impact on Treasury rates, the BIS study notes that a naive analysis of a $3.5 billion change in stablecoin holdings of Treasury bills implies a 25 basis point (0.25%) change in short term Treasury yields. However, it says this significantly overstates the impact, because many factors will simultaneously influence both stablecoin demand and Treasury rates. To try to isolate the impact of stablecoins, it explored major crypto events unrelated to movements in interest rates. Based on its research, the BIS concludes that the impact of sales of $3.5 billion of Treasuries by stablecoin issuers causes an increase in Treasury bill yields of six to eight basis points (0.06% – 0.08%). This is a much bigger effect than purchases, because sales are frequently more urgent given they may involve a mini crisis. A similarly sized purchase of Treasuries would result in a decline in Treasury rates of three basis points (-0.03%). The paper also noted that stablecoins are still comparatively small and the research is based on current volume levels. As stablecoins grow, the relative impact will increase. This will also create financial stability risks because of their effect on Treasury rates if there’s a run on a stablecoin. Additionally, with larger volumes of stablecoins, it will reduce the ability of the Federal Reserve to influence interest rates.