The rapidly growing market for tokenized U.S. Treasuries has a new leader.
Circle (CRCL), better known as the issuer of the stablecoin USDC (USDC), became the largest provider of tokenized Treasury exposure after its USYC token reached approximately $2.2 billion, according to data from RWA.xyz.
This growth has pushed USYC ahead of BlackRock’s USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund (BUIDL) – issued with tokenization specialist Securitize – which currently holds around $2 billion in assets. BUIDL’s market share fell to 18%, from a peak of 46% in May, as competition intensified with the arrival of new entrants.
Tokenized real-world assets, such as Treasuries and money market funds, are gaining traction among crypto traders and institutional investors as a yield-generating collateral and tool for parking on-chain liquidity. Unlike traditional financial infrastructures, blockchain-based tokens enable near-instant settlement, transparent reserves, and 24-hour access.
Treasury-backed tokens also provide an additional benefit: they allow investors to earn interest while using the assets as collateral in trading strategies, potentially improving capital efficiency compared to holding stablecoins or cash.
Circle entered the tokenized funds market after acquiring USYC issuer Hashnote in early 2025.
Issuer BUIDL Securitize did not return a request for comment at the time of publication.
A booming market
Further analysis of the data shows that much of USYC’s recent expansion appears to be linked to activity on the BNB chain, where crypto exchange giant Binance introduced the token as off-exchange collateral for institutional derivatives trading.
Under this structure, USYC can be held with partner banks through Binance Banking Triparty or with Ceffu, Binance’s institutional custody platform.
Since launching in July, USYC’s supply of BNB has reached $1.84 billion, according to the data.
“Tokenized treasuries and repos as collateral are a major emerging use case and we are proud of how quickly this has grown,” Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire said in an article on X on Friday.
The broader tokenized treasury market is also booming, reaching a new record of over $11 billion, according to data from RWA.xyz. The sector has added about $2.5 billion in market value, an increase of 27%, since the start of the year.
Growth accelerated during the crypto market downturn in January, suggesting that some investors may be putting their capital into tokenized Treasuries to earn a stable return while awaiting opportunities to redeploy their funds into digital assets.
