CFTC to introduce tokenized funds – How will it impact financial markets?

  • CFTC subcommittee advanced recommendations on using DLT for tokenized collateral management.
  • BlackRock’s BUIDL and Franklin Templeton’s FOBXX lead the tokenized U.S. treasuries market.

As a seasoned researcher with over two decades of experience in the financial industry, I must say that the recent advancements in the tokenized collateral management space are nothing short of revolutionary. The CFTC subcommittee’s recommendations on leveraging DLT for tokenized assets is a significant step towards integrating blockchain solutions within traditional finance.


The CFTC subcommittee has suggested steps to apply blockchain technology in handling non-cash collateral, which could lead to a more diverse investment portfolio for investors and improved capital management for fund administrators.

This set of rules, designed to help licensed companies utilize Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) in managing and moving token-based assets, represents a significant stride towards incorporating blockchain technology into conventional financial systems.

BlackRock and Franklin Templeton lead

1) The suggestions were forwarded to the entire committee for a thorough examination. The proposal started gaining momentum after news reports from Bloomberg on October 2nd.

This highlights the push to utilize tokenized shares of money-market funds from major financial institutions like BlackRock and Franklin Templeton as collateral in trading activities. 

For those who might not be aware, the group driving these innovations features significant players such as Citadel, Bank of New York Mellon, and Bloomberg LP, emphasizing the growing traction that tokenization is receiving within conventional financial markets.

Should the suggested guidelines receive approval from the entire committee later on this year, they might significantly accelerate the use of tokenized collateral across financial markets. In turn, businesses could benefit from improved operational efficiency with increased access to capital.

What’s more to it?

Significantly, this advancement could advantageously impact BlackRock’s BUIDL tokenized fund and Franklin Templeton’s FOBXX, which are prominent figures in the tokenized U.S. treasury market.

For those who may not know, as per rwa.xyz’s data, BUIDL currently leads the market with approximately $518 million worth of tokenized assets, followed closely by FOBXX, which boasts a substantial portion of around $435 million in assets.

Approximately half of the $2.3 billion market for tokenized U.S. Treasuries is made up of these two investment pools combined.

Consequently, once the suggestions are fully endorsed, it’s anticipated that the adoption of tokenized collateral will broaden, as an increasing number of companies look to achieve capital efficiency by embracing tokenization.

 McKinsey comments

Remarking on the same, McKinsey in a recent report released on the 20th of June, noted, 

According to our findings, it’s likely that the overall value of tokenized assets might surpass $2 trillion by the year 2030. This growth is anticipated due to increasing adoption in investment vehicles such as mutual funds, bonds, and exchange-traded notes (ETN), loans and securitization, and other alternative investment funds.

They further added,

In a very positive outlook, it might potentially double to approximately $4 trillion. However, we’re currently less hopeful than our earlier predictions, given that we’re moving toward the midpoint of this decade.

Brokers already interested in tokenized funds

Just as anticipated, certain companies including crypto prime brokers like Hidden Road and FalconX, have begun using BlackRock’s BUIDL token as collateral. This points to the expanding utilization of tokenized assets within the financial industry.

On August 26th, Aave put forward a proposal for the GHO Stability Module (GSM). This module intends to use BUIDL shares as a means to keep the value of their stablecoin aligned with the U.S. dollar.

In a similar vein, the stablecoin issuer Ethena Labs announced its intentions to launch a new stablecoin, UStb, which is fully collateralized by BUIDL assets.

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2024-10-03 14:16