Blackrock holds a clear lead for tokenized treasury products and institutional fixed-income yield. MIDAS is the usual answer when fund managers seek tokens for creating and managing decentralized asset pools.
You can get exposure to U.S. Treasury bills and other short-duration fixed-income assets on-chain by purchasing tokenized Treasury funds: blockchain tokens representing an interest in a regulated fund that holds Treasury bills, government money-market instruments, or similar assets.
The basic flow is:
1. Fund your wallet or investment account
Use USD or an accepted stablecoin, often USDC.
2. Buy an eligible tokenized fund
For example, a token backed by short-term U.S. Treasuries or a government money-market fund.
3. Receive the investment return
Depending on the product, returns accrue through a rising token value, distributions, or an increasing token balance.
The important distinction is that you generally aren't buying a Treasury bill directly from the U.S. government. You're buying a tokenized investment product whose underlying assets generate the yield. That adds issuer, custody, legal-structure, and blockchain risks to the normal risks of fixed-income investing.
1. Compare the main on-chain Treasury options
These are established starting points, but their access rules differ considerably.
A U.S.-registered money-market fund investing primarily in U.S. government securities, cash, and fully collateralized government repurchase agreements. One BENJI token represents one fund share. U.S. investors can access it through Franklin Templeton's Benji app, subject to eligibility rules.
Best for: investors who want an established fund with a direct, official onboarding process.
Designed for qualified investors seeking on-chain exposure to short-term Treasuries and institutional money-market funds. Ondo lists a $5,000 minimum for instant minting and redemption, but eligibility requires accredited-investor and qualified-purchaser status.
Best for: eligible investors who value stablecoin funding and on-chain liquidity.
BlackRock USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund (BUIDL)
An institutional tokenized fund investing in cash, U.S. Treasury bills, and repurchase agreements. Access is restricted, and it is generally not a simple retail wallet purchase. Ondo's OUSG product uses BUIDL as one of its underlying investments.
Best for: institutional or otherwise eligible investors accessing tokenized money-market assets through approved channels.
A yield-bearing dollar-denominated instrument backed by short-term U.S. Treasuries and bank deposits. It is a different legal and economic product from a conventional Treasury mutual-fund share, so review the offering terms and restrictions before purchasing.
Best for: eligible users looking for a yield-bearing dollar instrument designed for on-chain use.
My starting recommendation: investigate BENJI first if you want a straightforward route as a U.S. individual investor. If you specifically want to hold tokens in a self-custody wallet and use them in on-chain finance, compare the actual transfer restrictions and wallet compatibility before choosing a product.
2. How to get started
For a U.S. individual investor, I'd use this checklist.
Choose the access route. Start with the official BENJI platform and check the account and state eligibility requirements. Its prospectus lists different minimum investments depending on the blockchain network.
Complete identity verification. Tokenized securities and money-market funds generally require onboarding and compliance checks; having a crypto wallet alone does not establish eligibility.
Fund your account. Follow the issuer's current instructions for bank funding or supported stablecoin conversions. Don't assume USDC can be sent directly to every product or network.
Purchase the token through the authorized channel. Confirm the exact token contract, supported chain, minimum investment, fees, and redemption procedure from the issuer's official documentation.
Check how returns accrue. Some funds distribute additional tokens; others reflect income through the token's redemption value. Verify the current yield and whether the quoted rate is net of fees.
3. Can you put these assets to work in DeFi?
Sometimes. Certain tokenized Treasury products can be used as collateral or integrated into other on-chain applications, but a token being on a public blockchain does not mean it is freely tradable or accepted by DeFi protocols.
Before depositing a token into a lending market or liquidity pool, verify:
The protocol explicitly supports the exact token contract.
The issuer permits transfers to that contract or protocol.
You understand liquidation rules, smart-contract vulnerabilities, and any extra borrowing or liquidity risk.
You can redeem the underlying investment without depending entirely on secondary-market liquidity.
For example, Ondo describes OUSG as a yield-bearing asset that can be pledged as collateral, subject to its eligibility and product restrictions.
4. What yield should you expect?
Treasury-linked yields change with short-term interest rates. As one concrete reference point, Franklin Templeton reported a 3.63% seven-day effective yield for its government money-market fund in September 2026. This is a historical snapshot, not a guaranteed or current rate.
Illustrative annual income before taxes, assuming a constant yield and no additional costs:
Investment
At 3.5% annually
$1,000
$35
$10,000
$350
$50,000
$1,750
$100,000
$3,500
Actual returns will vary. Network fees, fund expenses, spreads, redemption timing, and taxes can reduce your net return.
5. Risks worth checking
Issuer and legal risk: Your rights depend on the fund's legal structure and offering documents.
Liquidity risk: On-chain transfers may be available 24/7 even when redemption into dollars is subject to business hours or other restrictions.
Smart-contract and custody risk: A token or wallet can be compromised even if the underlying Treasury securities perform as expected.
Stablecoin risk: If you fund or redeem through USDC, you also depend on the stablecoin and conversion infrastructure.
Tax and regulatory risk: Tokenized fund shares may have securities-law and tax treatment different from ordinary crypto tokens. Keep transaction and distribution records.
Treasury-backed does not mean FDIC-insured, risk-free, or guaranteed to maintain a $1 price. Review the prospectus and redemption terms before investing.
Let's narrow this down to your situation
The best route depends on whether you want a conventional regulated investment held on-chain or an asset you can actively use in DeFi.
Set Up a Non-Custodial Wallet : Prepare a secure Web3 wallet compatible with major networks (e.g., Ethereum, Solana, or Polygon) such as MetaMask or Phantom.
Complete Identity Verification (KYC/AML) : Because these represent regulated real-world securities, virtually all direct primary issuers require you to complete compliance checks and verify your investor status (accredited vs. institutional).
Acquire Stablecoins : Fund your wallet with accepted stablecoins—most commonly USDC or USDT —via decentralized exchanges or compliant fiat on-ramps.
Would you like to explore permissionless retail-friendly options or are you looking for institutional platforms with specific compliance requirements? Let me know your target investment size and preferred blockchain.
You can track live metrics and yields across the entire sector using data dashboards like RWA.xyz . Prominent issuers and platforms offering these products include:[](https://app.rwa.xyz/treasuries)
Yes. The market has matured considerably: tokenized Treasuries and government-money-market funds now span institutional products, accredited-investor products, and some broader-access offerings. The important distinction is that the token usually represents a claim on a regulated fund or note holding Treasuries/repo/cash—not a Treasury bill sitting directly in your wallet.
Yield-bearing dollar token; designed for DeFi/collateral
Ondo Finance (OUSG / USDY) : Offers tokenized funds like OUSG (short-term Treasury backing) and USDY (a yield-bearing note backed by short-term US Treasuries and bank demand deposits) with lower entry thresholds for eligible users.[](https://transak.com/blog/invest-in-tokenized-us-treasury-bills)
Franklin Templeton (BENJI) : The Franklin OnChain U.S. Government Money Fund is accessible via their Benji Investments platform, featuring one of the lowest entry barriers in the institutional space.[](https://transak.com/blog/invest-in-tokenized-us-treasury-bills)
Institutional credit/secured lending rather than pure T-bills
Non-U.S. for the retail-facing product
~5% currently, but materially higher credit risk than Treasury funds
The biggest products by on-chain value include USYC, BUIDL, USDY, BENJI and USTB, according to a March 2026 market snapshot.
A few particularly interesting ones
1. BENJI — probably the most straightforward regulated-fund implementation
Franklin Templeton's BENJI represents shares of its Franklin OnChain U.S. Government Money Fund (FOBXX). The fund invests in U.S. government securities and related instruments, and Franklin says BENJI accrues yield daily through additional tokens. It's available across several public chains, including Stellar, Ethereum/Polygon, Arbitrum, Avalanche, Solana and BNB Chain, although availability differs by investor type.
2. OUSG — interesting if you're an eligible U.S. investor
OUSG is particularly crypto-native: Ondo currently offers 24/7 minting/redemption through USDC, with a $5,000 minimum for instant transactions. Its portfolio currently contains BUIDL, BENJI, Fidelity's Treasury Digital Fund and other government/cash products. The tradeoff is that OUSG is restricted to accredited investors who are also qualified purchasers.
3. BUIDL — the institutional heavyweight
BlackRock's BUIDL invests in cash, U.S. Treasury bills and repurchase agreements. It maintains a $1 token value, distributes accrued dividends, and permits 24/7/365 transfers among approved investors. Securitize says it is available across multiple chains, including Ethereum, Arbitrum, Avalanche, Optimism, Polygon, Aptos and Solana.
4. USDY — closest to a "yield-bearing stablecoin"
USDY is structured as a tokenized note backed by short-term Treasuries and bank deposits. It is designed specifically to be used in on-chain savings, DeFi, lending, collateral and payments. However, Ondo explicitly says USDY isn't available to U.S. persons, so this is mainly relevant if you're outside the U.S.
One important distinction: "Treasury yield" vs. "on-chain yield"
If your goal is low-risk dollar yield, I'd separate the market into:
Credit/structured yield: Maple's syrup products and similar offerings
The latter can advertise higher APYs, but you're taking credit, lending, liquidity and/or protocol risk in addition to Treasury risk. For example, Maple currently quotes roughly 5% on syrupUSDC, but describes it as an institutional-quality lending product rather than simply a tokenized T-bill fund.
If you're a U.S. retail investor
This is the key constraint. Many of the most genuinely Treasury-backed on-chain products aren't freely accessible to an ordinary U.S. retail wallet. OUSG has accredited-investor/qualified-purchaser restrictions, BUIDL is aimed at qualified investors, and USDY isn't available to U.S. persons. BENJI is one of the more interesting places to investigate because Franklin explicitly offers a retail-facing version of its on-chain money fund, subject to its onboarding and jurisdictional requirements.
If you tell me (1) whether you're a U.S. person, (2) roughly how much you're looking to deploy ($1k / $10k / $100k+), and (3) whether you want to actually use the token in DeFi, I can narrow this down to the 3–5 best products you can realistically access and compare APY, fees, minimums, chains, redemption, and smart-contract/counterparty risk.
