According to digital asset data tracker CoinGecko, tokenized Treasurys in the United States experienced a significant growth spurt of 641% in 2023, with traditional finance companies joining in. CoinGecko’s 2024 report titled “Rise of Real World Assets in Crypto” highlighted the progress in tokenizing real-world assets (RWA). The report revealed that tokenized Treasurys increased from $114 million in January to $845 million by the end of the year, indicating a 641% growth within a year for blockchain-based digital tokens representing U.S. Treasury securities.
Tokenized securities are digital tokens that are backed by RWAs such as stocks and bonds. For example, the Ondo Short-Term US Government Bond Fund utilizes the OUSG token to represent ownership of a share of the fund and its yield.
CoinGecko emphasized that Franklin Templeton, an asset management firm, is currently the largest issuer of tokenized Treasurys, having issued $332 million worth of tokens through its On-Chain U.S. Government Money Fund, which accounts for 38.6% of the market. Franklin Templeton was one of the 10 exchange-traded fund (ETF) issuers that launched a spot Bitcoin ETF in the U.S. in January. They are also vying to launch an Ethereum ETF and have submitted an application to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Additionally, other protocols featuring yield-bearing stablecoins backed by U.S. Treasury bills are gaining popularity. Mountain Protocol’s USDM tokens, for example, have seen significant growth, increasing from $26,000 to $154 million since their launch in September 2023.
Most tokenized U.S. Treasurys are based on the Ethereum network, with 57.5% of the tokens being on Ethereum. However, companies like Franklin Templeton and WisdomTree Prime have issued tokenized securities on Stellar, giving the network a 39% market share.
While tokenized treasuries experienced explosive growth in 2023, their growth rate slowed down in 2024, with only a 1.9% increase in January. As of February 1, the market capitalization of tokenized treasuries stands at $861 million.
In addition to tokenized treasuries, CoinGecko also highlighted the rise of commodity-backed tokens, which have reached a market capitalization of $1.1 billion as of February 1. Tether Gold (XAUT) and PAX Gold (PAXG) dominate the market capitalization for tokenized precious metals, accounting for 83% of the total.
Furthermore, a new project has emerged that aims to tokenize uranium, enabling the redemption of the precious metal through digital tokens.