In the midst of the recent crypto market correction, tokenized U.S. Treasury products have become a safe haven for digital asset investors. The total market cap of these tokenized treasuries has increased by $800 million since the end of January, achieving an unprecedented $4.2 billion on Wednesday, according to data from rwa.xyz.
Token offerings from Ondo Finance (ONDO), such as OUSG and USDY, which are backed by short-term bonds, have seen their combined market value grow by 53% over the past month, nearing the $1 billion mark. BUIDL, a joint venture between BlackRock and Securitize, saw a 25% increase over the same period, surpassing $800 million. Franklin Templeton’s BENJI token grew by 16% to reach $687 million, while Superstate’s USTB increased by over 63% to hit $363 million.
However, not all tokens performed well. USYC from Hashnote experienced a 20% market cap reduction to $900 million, largely due to a decline in DeFi protocol Usual’s performance after investor backlash. The token serves as the primary backing asset for Usual’s USD0 stablecoin, which saw its supply drop below $1 billion from a January high of $1.8 billion.
“This trend of increasing market cap of tokenized treasuries during the crypto downturn signifies a shift towards quality, mirroring how traditional investors move from equities to U.S. Treasuries during economic uncertainty,” explained Brian Choe, head of research at rwa.xyz. Choe’s observation stems from comparing the growth of tokenized treasuries’ market cap with stablecoins from November to January, during the crypto rally, and from February when the market corrected.
Interestingly, tokenized treasuries exhibited faster growth than stablecoins during the downturn, unlike during the bullish phase. As Choe noted, “This suggests that some investors are not leaving the ecosystem but are instead reallocating capital to safer, yield-bearing assets until the market improves.”
