New York-based asset manager VanEck has launched VBILL, its tokenized U.S. Treasury fund. The initiative makes on‐chain exposure to short‐term government debt accessible around the clock on Avalanche, BNB Chain, Ethereum, and Solana.
Treasury Funds are investments in government securities and are generally considered low-risk. Many offer high liquidity, and depending on the fund, can be short-term (treasury bills) or long-term (treasury bonds). These funds can be used for investment purposes or for managing cash flows.
VanEck Debuts First Tokenized Fund
Following its debut, qualified investors can subscribe to the fund using a minimum of $100,000 on most networks and $1 million on Ethereum. Speaking about the launch, VanEck’s director of digital assets product, Kyle DaCruz, highlighted the significance of tokenizing Treasuries. He believes it will provide “a secure, transparent and liquid tool for cash management.”
The launch of VBILL marks a milestone in the tokenization of fixed‑income products. The Asset management firm believes the fund will lower barriers for institutional investors. Eligible participants can gain programmable access to short‑term U.S. Treasuries.
Not a Solo Initiative
Securitize is the issuance platform for VBILL, acting as an SEC‐registered broker‑dealer and transfer agent. It also operates a trading system to digitize treasury bills into on‑chain tokens. The platform handles investor onboarding, compliance, and lifecycle management. It ensures that the United States Treasury bill backs each VBILL token.
VBILL relies on RedStone’s gas‑efficient, multi‐chain oracle infrastructure to maintain accurate mark-to-market valuations. The technology delivers daily price feeds referenced against the U.S. Treasury rate. Recall that Securitize selected RedStone as its primary blockchain oracle partner earlier this year.
The tokenized fund employs the Wormhole messaging protocol for cross-chain transfers. Interestingly, Securitize integrated the platform as its exclusive interoperability solution. To date, it has processed over $55 billion in cross‑chain volume. It claims Investors can move VBILL tokens between four blockchains while preserving security and settlement speed.
Not the First Attempt
Modern blockchain tokenization began in 2008 with Satoshi Nakamoto’s Bitcoin, which introduced decentralized digital coins as a medium of exchange. In 2014, USDT became a widely adopted “stablecoin” designed to function as a tokenized version of the U.S. dollar.
In November 2015, Ethereum developer Fabian Vogelsteller proposed the ERC-20 standard to enable fungible tokens on a smart-contract platform. Fast-forward to today, and tokenization spans multiple blockchains and asset classes. Recently, CTW reported that Tether launched its gold-backed stablecoin (XAUT) in Thailand.
