Unit 2 · Level 5 · RWAs & tokenization
Tokenized treasuries
For years, on-chain dollars paid nothing while US treasuries paid ~5% (2023). Tokenized treasury funds closed that gap: park stable value on-chain AND earn the government-bond rate. When BlackRock launched its tokenized fund BUIDL in March 2024, it pulled in hundreds of millions within months, and the tokenized treasury market ran past several billion dollars. The killer app turned out to be the money market fund, of all things.
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What you get asked
Where does the yield on a tokenized treasury token come from?
It's bond interest passed through a wrapper. Run the usual 'where does the yield come from?' test and the answer is unusually clean: a government's borrowing costs.
Why did tokenized treasuries 'change the game' for on-chain cash management?
Classic stablecoin issuers keep the treasury interest for themselves; Tether reported billions in profit doing exactly that. Tokenized treasuries hand the yield to the holder instead.
You hold €5,000 in a tokenized treasury fund yielding 4% a year. Ignoring fees, how much yield is that per year in euros?
5,000 × 0.04 = €200. Modest, real, and explainable in one sentence: the exact opposite of the 20% 'yields' that blew up in 2022.
Match each on-chain 'dollar' to its honest description
Four things that all look like 'a stable euro/dollar', built on four completely different risk and yield machines underneath.
Tokenized treasuries still carry crypto-specific risks. Which list is the honest one?
The bonds are safe by bond standards, but your claim runs through an issuer, a contract, and often a whitelist with redemption terms. Read the wrapper, not just the backing. 🐜
The rest of this unit
Treasuries, buildings, and funds on-chain, and the awkward question of who holds the real thing.