US Treasurys are listed at $1B on public blockchains.

US Treasurys tokenized on public blockchains surpass $1 billion as traditional financial firms continue to load securities on-chain amid prolonged high interest rates.

According to data compiled by 21.co and Dune Analytics, tokenized government securities spread across 17 products stood at $1.07 billion in assets as of March 28. Most of the assets are based on the Ethereum, Polygon and Stellar networks.

Leading the providers is investment firm Franklin Templeton, which has more than $360.1 million in assets and a 33.6 percent market share through its Franklin OnChain US Government Fund ( FOBXX ). A token fund using the Polygon and Stellar blockchain was launched in 2021 and is represented by the BENJI token.

Second place is held by BlackRock's USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund, or BUILD, with assets worth $244.8 million, representing 22.8% of government Treasurys on-chain.

Treasuries are debt securities issued by the US federal government. Investors buy these securities and lend to the government, and in return, the government promises to return the principal with interest on a certain date.

As interest rates in the United States have risen in recent years, government Treasuries have become more attractive to investors from a risk-return perspective. As of March, the US Federal Reserve kept interest rates at a 23-year high between 5.25% and 5.50% to control inflation. Blockchain-based digital tokens that represent U.S. Treasury securities will increase by 641 percent by 2023.

Tokenizing US Treasurys on the blockchain involves creating digital tokens that represent ownership of the underlying security. It affects the way securities are issued, traded and managed, providing more liquidity and allowing investors with smaller capital to participate. Major financial institutions such as UBS and JPMorgan have ventured into asset tokens with projects that aim to bridge traditional financial assets and blockchain technology.

Crypto projects are tapping into tokenized US Treasurys to fund their operations. Decentralized financial platform Ondo Finance is now the largest shareholder of BlackRock's BUILD, accounting for 38% of the fund's supply, said Tom Wan, data analyst at 21.co.

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